The Newsroom

The ITV News Channel is no longer broadcasting

(October 2005)

This site closed in March 2021 and is now a read-only archive
LO
Londoner
Broadcast posted:
ITV could drop News for lads channel
Paul Revoir

ITV is considering pulling the ITV News Channel off Freeview in a bid to keep lads channel Men and Motors on the digital terrestrial platform.

Senior executives at ITV are discussing plans, which could see the news service hauled off to allow Men and Motors, which is more likely to deliver profits, stay on Freeview when ITV4 launches.

ITV needs to make room for ITV4, because it only has five slots on the platform. These are currently all taken up with ITV1, ITV2, ITV3, ITV News and Men and Motors.

This week, it emerged that plans to squash the news channel into a quarter-screen format, in which the image would be shrunk and text placed around it - an option which would allow both the ITV News Channel and Men and Motors to stay on the platform - have now been shelved.

This appears to leave the network a straight choice: either take the news channel or Men and Motors off the platform. Sources suggested that Men and Motors does not lose as much money as the ITV News Channel and the lads channel is expected to break even or make a small profit next year.

ITV has to make a decision before 1 November when ITV4 will launch. In February ITV's kids channel will launch using capacity it will share with ITV4.

Any move to dump the news off Freeview would be controversial, angering not only ITV's news staff, but potentially putting the broadcaster in the firing line from politicians.

But ITV News Channel is not classed as a public service channel and therefore has no PSB commitments attached to it.
JH
Jonathan H
Broadcast posted:
ITV is considering pulling the ITV News Channel off Freeview


If that happens they really ought to just chuck the towel in.
MA
marksi
Seems a ridiculous thought at first, but given the limited number of channels available on Freeview it may benefit the platform more to have Men and Motors than a third news channel.
BE
Ben Founding member
Jonathan H posted:
Broadcast posted:
ITV is considering pulling the ITV News Channel off Freeview


If that happens they really ought to just chuck the towel in.


They'd have little choice surely, if the ITV News Channel was going to do well anywhere it would be on Freeview. Although now that ITV own SDN they could presumably get another slot in time?
DU
Dunedin
And people still try to defend "ITV News".

It's a joke of an operation, and if this move does actually happen, it pretty much spells the end for the News channel- its mauled in ratings terms on the other platforms and so will unsurprisingly attract a smaller budget to limit losses.

There really is no point in having it.
MA
marksi
Ben posted:
Jonathan H posted:
Broadcast posted:
ITV is considering pulling the ITV News Channel off Freeview


If that happens they really ought to just chuck the towel in.


They'd have little choice surely, if the ITV News Channel was going to do well anywhere it would be on Freeview. Although now that ITV own SDN they could presumably get another slot in time?


Not sure where your logic comes from. Why would it do better on Freeview than other platforms?
JG
Joanna Gosling Fan
This really is an outrage. It's only a few weeks since the ITV News Channel reappeared on DTT, after what seemed like an eternity! How dare ITV do this? It's just typical of their obsession with profits over quality. However, as has already been said, if they can't be bothered to fund it properly, and seem not to care about no-one watching it, I can't understand why they don't give up with the News Channel altogether.
JH
Jonathan H
marksi posted:
Ben posted:
Jonathan H posted:
Broadcast posted:
ITV is considering pulling the ITV News Channel off Freeview


If that happens they really ought to just chuck the towel in.


They'd have little choice surely, if the ITV News Channel was going to do well anywhere it would be on Freeview. Although now that ITV own SDN they could presumably get another slot in time?


Not sure where your logic comes from. Why would it do better on Freeview than other platforms?


It's not logic, it's fact. The ITV News Channel performs better on Freeview than it does on the cable or Sky platforms. I believe that's mainly to do with its poor EPG position (particularly on Sky) and the sheer range of channels available on the other two platforms.
MA
marksi
Does Freeview really need three news channels? All I see is howls of outrage, but really, I reckon two news channels are enough given the limited capacity of the platform.
YO
yogibarney
so why not get sky off as itv and bbc are traditional free to view channels?
SI
simpfeld
It always looks dreadfully underfunded the ITV News channel, I think ITV need to decide if they want to take it seriously or ditch it altogether. I can't really see it surviving if it drops off Freeview. Does it not get most of it's audience on Freeview?

Some have suggested destroying the ITV news channel will help ITV bring the price down of ITN which they have said that they will either buy or bring their news in-house.

It's a shame, if true, in Freeview terms, we are forced to lose a real channel when there are so many shopping channels that should by rights, go first..

If this goes through it doesn't really make ITN look very healthy. No 24 hour outlet, losing the c5 news and being told by ITV we'll buy you or destroy you.
PE
Pete Founding member
iloveyorkshire posted:
so why not get sky off as itv and bbc are traditional free to view channels?


pardon?

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