Warning after drastic television cuts in the North
Ulster Television faces losing its network backbone if drastic measures to cut costs are adopted, it was revealed today.
Umbrella group ITV is considering handing back its licence to provide public service broadcasting after suffering a serious decline in advertising revenue.
Journalists at Ulster Television (UTV) have been offered voluntary redundancy, with station managers blaming the challenging economic environment and communications regulator Ofcom’s recent public service broadcasting proposals for a proposed cut in the number of hours of news.
UTV, was planning to axe around a third of its 118-strong TV division.
Company managing director Michael Wilson told a Stormont committee of Assembly members: “If ITV PLC do choose to hand back their their public service broadcasting licence we would not have a backbone of network programming to support ourselves.
“My personal view is I would be surprised if ITV handed back but there is a risk and while there is a risk I think it is one of those issues that politicians in Northern Ireland need to be aware of it.”
He was giving evidence before the Culture, Arts and Leisure committee at Stormont.
Ofcom has proposed that UTV’s news output may be cut from about five hours a week to four and that non-news output can be reduced from four hours to 90 minutes.
Changes will see the end of UTV Life and the flagship current affairs programme Insight.
Ulster Television has said its commitment to a sustainable level of high-quality production for Northern Ireland remained as strong as ever.
Mary Curry, joint-mother of the National Union of Journalists’ (NUJ) chapel at UTV, told the committee the changes were a tragedy for those facing redundancy and for the North’s fine tradition of news broadcasting.
“UTV was once proudly billed as Your TV – a quality local broadcaster which kept communities abreast of all that was going on,” she said.
“The proposed changes threaten to leave that reputation in tatters.”
She warned the BBC could find itself in an unrivalled position for producing in-depth reportage.
“Insight will be retained in name alone, wheeled out like the best china a mere four times a year. There will be little room for investigative journalism with cheaper alternatives left to fill the void.”
She said UTV had a new motto – Now and Tomorrow.
“For now it remains the choice of most families here – who tune in to hear news, current affairs, sports and the arts in a familiar, friendly and authoritative voice.
“Tomorrow that voice will be silenced.”
Adam Higgitt, a director at regulator OFCOM, said there needed to be urgent action to address financial difficulties.
“ITV’s advertising revenue is declining very rapidly, we actually need to move very fast solutions that at least stabilise the provision on Channel 3. I don’t think putting the conclusions of that back is a realistic proposition.
“This is a discussion about what might happen if Channel 3 as ITV ceased to be a public service broadcaster. You would effectively be left with a UTV service that provided nine hours of its content a week and no network with which to sprinkle that content around.
Denis Wolinski, director of OFCOM, said commercial broadcasting was in huge decline.
“We are now in a situation where ITV has indicated quite openly that it is prepared to hand its public service license back, if that situation happens UTV has no schedule.
“The idea that somehow or other we as regulators are endeavouring to see that there is no public service broadcasting for people in Northern Ireland, nothing is further from the truth.”
