Channel 4 has annoucned the axing of two of its news shows.

The move will result in the loss of around 20 jobs although More4 News anchor

The Midday News first went on air during the 2003 Iraq War. It replaced political programme "Powerhouse." More4 News has been a weeknight fixture on the station since its launch. The two programems will come off air at the end of the year.

The two axed shows have been under threat since May when Channel 4 annoucned that it was reviewing the two bulletins.

Channel 4 said that these closures were taking place in order to secure the future of flagship Channel 4 News.

A Channel 4 spokesman said: "Channel 4 has agreed a revised news deal with ITN with a view to preserving the reach and impact of Channel 4 News, by concentrating resources around the peak bulletin, while increasing the range and quality of news content available digitally.

"Under the terms of the revised deal, Channel 4 will continue to broadcast the same number of hours of news in peak. In addition, Channel 4 is investing extra resources in news online to create an improved political news service.

"In order to afford this investment at a time when the advertising downturn is forcing Channel 4 to cut its programme budget, we need to find efficiencies elsewhere in our news budget and have decided to cut More4 news and News at Noon, although we do intend to offer a short summary bulletin at lunchtime.

"We have tried to minimise the impact of these savings on viewers while preserving the quality and integrity of our widely acclaimed evening programme in the face of severe financial pressures.

"These changes come against a backdrop of a severe economic slowdown. We are endeavouring to maximise efficiencies whilst maintaining quality and have had to make the tough but necessary decision to prioritise and protect our award-winning news service."

An ITN spokesperson said: "We are immensely proud of the high-quality programming produced for Channel 4.

"Whilst we are very disappointed that the financial challenges facing the channel have left them with no option but to reduce budgets, we've worked in partnership with Channel 4 to identify savings which will not jeopardise the quality and integrity of the flagship Channel 4 News bulletin. We look forward to continuing to provide the programme for many years to come."

Comments

Add New Search

Write comment
Name:
Email:	do not notifynotify
Title:
	Please input the anti-spam code that you can read in the image.

Powered by !JoomlaComment 3.26

3.26 Copyright (C) 2008 Compojoom.com / Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved."