ITV has today confirmed that the ITV News Channel will cease
broadcasting on Friday 23 December, following an announcement last week
of the channel’s imminent closure.
After a full consultation with
staff and suppliers the decision to close before the end of the year
came at the behest of ITN staff working on the channel, and was agreed
as the favoured course of action by all parties involved.
Clive
Jones, Chief Executive ITV News and Regions said: “The staff and
management of the channel have agreed that we could not expect the News
Channel’s dedicated staff to work their usual long hours and shift
patterns over Christmas at a time when the channel’s closure is
imminent. Following ITV’s announcement last week of a £2m investment in
other areas of ITV’s news service we will be looking at the
opportunities created by the expansion of our news gathering operation
to redeploy as many staff as possible in the New Year.”
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