UK television news group ITN is to axe up to 60 jobs of its 800-strong workforce, after it won a £250m extension contract to produce ITV’s news coverage for a further six years.
Louise Evans, director of corporate communication at ITN, said part of the £250m deal would see a £15m upfront investment to upgrade the ITN newsroom’s technology platform.
The investment will see a new desktop editing system installed aimed at streamline production. Operational and support areas will be cut back the most, with the company looking for voluntary redundancies.
“We have tried to leave up to 30 internal vacancies open in recent times with the idea of mitigating 60 roles into those 30 left open.
“Any redundancies that occur will likely be made by the end of the year, provided we have the new technology in place,” Evans concluded.
Broadcasting union Bectu said it was ‘extremely disappointed’ with the redundancy proposals.
