Could ITN News Channel rise from the ashes?

CONFIRMED: THE ITV NEWS CHANNEL WILL CLOSE FRI 23 DEC- discussion from page 6

With the closure of the ITV News Channel looking more and more likely, do you think there is any chance at all ITN may once again launch their own news channel away from the ITV News brand?


ITN launched their own news channel back in 2000, which ITV bought out in 2002 and rebranded the ITV News Channel.

Now, if the ITV News Channel closes do you think that ITN could once again launch their own "24 hour" news channel under the ITN brand, or would the costs involved mean it's not worth it, especially if they have to pay £10m to secure a Freeview slot.

I guess we also have to remember that ITV have a considerable stake in ITN, so the idea might never get off the ground!

However, if ITV carried out their threats to take news in-house, leaving ITN with possibly just C4 News, would 24 hour news be the way forward for them?

I think if you take that aspect seriously at all then you probably wouldn't have started the thread.

I think you're misunderstanding the idea of ITV News being produced ''in-house''.

AFAIK, ITV aren't saying ''we will create our own ITV News division and not bother with ITN''. They are saying ''We will buy ITN and thereby gain control of our own news producer, in the same way that other commercial operators do''.

There's no talk that I know of, of ITV abandoning ITN... quite the opposite, in fact.

It's a bargaining tactic rather than a realistic suggestion, but Charles Allen has said that if the other ITN shareholders won't sell their shares to ITV, he would bring ITV News in-house, thus pulling the rug from under ITN.

You seem to be forgetting why ITV took it over in the first place, because it wasn't successful. ITN would hardly try it a second time.

Remember they wouldn't be able to use ITV reports/presenters etc unless they paid for them which would mean it would cost the same as the ITV News Channel does

I thought the presenters were paid by ITN....

True, but if ITN lost the ITV contract, there main service would be for Channel 4 News and though I don't want C4 News to launch their own news channel (as one of the strengths of C4N is all efforts are put into the bulletins!) ITN may struggle to keep it's head above water with just one main TV contract.

An ITN News Channel may be costly, but due to econmies of scales and all the other stuff I learned in business studies, it's possible that ITN would lose more money without it than with it!

Why should ITV support ITN?
Their involvement is only 40% - chicken feed in the larger scheme of things and insignificant in 2 years when the ITN contract comes to an end.
It would make perfect sense for ITV to make good on their threat and abandon ITN for an in-house operation.

Not all that ''perfect''.

Any separate ITV News organisation would cost an absolute bomb to establish.

Firstly there's getting the journalists in place - some of whom, presumably, would not be happy to leave ITN - then there's finding somewhere to put them all, and London real estate doesn't come cheap. Then they have the issue of buying trucks, equipment, studios, sorting out contracts with other providers, buying offices for foreign bureaux...

If ITV aren't prepared to spent 3.5 million on the News Channel, they're certainly not going to spend upwards of ten times that on establishing an entirely new news organisation.

I think ITV should sell their share of ITN.

ITN is a far more respected name than ITV is - It's a shame to see such a solid brand being pissed upon by ITV.

I seem to remember seeing in an article on Media Guardian that Charles Allen said ITV would either set up their own news service or buy out ITN totally. He also said that if they did the latter they would retain the ITN brand...even promote it!

I remember reading about something like that.

Surely it would take more for them to set up their own news service, and they would then most probably just go and hire all of their reporters currently providing for ITV News under ITN, and then they would use the regions more.

Plus you have the fact to think of where would an ITV News service house in The London Studios.

Surely it would be easier for ITV to spend that bit of extra money on ITN, own it outright, update the technology (i.e. Widescreen and HD), and then start to sell their services on Trains, etc to promote ITV News.

But again, it's about money at the end of the day, and News isn't something that brings in a lot of viewers for ITV.