National World’s new ownership has closed its Freeview TV channel Shots!, calling it an “expensive vanity project” of former boss David Montgomery.
National World, which was acquired by Media Concierge a month ago, said the closure would take place with immediate effect.
Staff were also told in an email on Friday of the immediate closure “in its current form” of YourWorld.net, its platform for people to submit their own content that was aiming to be a local social media platform.
Staff were also informed of the departure of chief financial officer Sheree Manning.
Shots! TV was launched in 2023 to bring together the best of the video being created by National World journalists across the UK.
The Freeview TV channel (currently on channel 262) featured packages of short videos around the themes of “real UK”, football and crime as well as short documentaries. The videos were also available on-demand on a dedicated website.
Marking his first public strategy change since the acquisition, chief executive Malcolm Denmark said: “The decision to close Shots! TV reflects our commitment to ensuring National World remains focused on our core business – delivering exceptional local journalism to communities across the UK.
“Unfortunately, Shots! TV was launched as an expensive vanity project, which has proven to be both financially imprudent and strategically distracting.”
Denmark said the resources saved from closing Shots! would be redirected into National World’s local newsbrands.
“We aim to invest our valuable resources into projects that deliver meaningful revenue and strengthen our primary mission of serving local markets,” he added.
“Our focus will be firmly on sustainable, impactful journalism that resonates locally and provides clear value to both our readers and advertisers…
“By refocusing on our proven strengths, National World will ensure its brands continue to thrive in the long term.”
In an email to staff, Denmark noted that Shots! TV “had far more synergy with Local TV than it did with our core brands”. Local TV Ltd continues to be owned by former National World executive chairman Montgomery.
The daytime schedule for the Shots! Freeview channel on Friday cycled between these hour-long programmes:
- Documentaries on Shots! (“Features on people and places across the UK)
- Weird and Wonderful Britain (“Weird and wonderful stories from all corners of the UK”)
- We Love Pets! (“A collection of programmes all about pets”)
The evening schedule included a wider range of programming including “Last Orders: The Death of Nightlife?” looking at how the nighttime economy is coping, and a look at the “untold stories of victims” of crime.
Denmark said in his email to staff of YourWorld.net that it “was launched as a vanity project to build a dedicated social media platform for user-generated content it was always doomed to failure. It was a costly distraction, we’ve learned a lot from looking at it – mostly about what not to do.
“Effective June 26th, YourWorld.net is shutting down in its current form. It will be stripped back to what it should have been from the start: a simple, functional portal for users to submit content across our brands.”
The email said of both closures that the projects were “diluting our resources”.
“UGC and Video both still matter, but we’re going to handle them in a way that actually supports the journalism we care about—and that makes sense for the business.”
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