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April 22, 2024

ITV News hires Newsnight deputy as head of streaming service

Becky Emmett will lead the editorial strategy for ITV News content on ITVX.

By Charlotte Tobitt

Newsnight deputy editor Becky Emmett is joining ITV News amid an overhaul of the BBC programme.

Emmett, who was Newsnight’s co-acting editor alongside fellow deputy Rosie Seed after the recent departure of editor Stewart Maclean, will be head of ITVX for ITV News.

She will oversee the news offering on ITV’s streaming service, encompassing its editorial strategy, the live streaming of major events, and commissioning original content.

Emmett said: “I’m so excited to be returning to ITV News where I began by career as a trainee at ITV Central. I have long admired ITV’s commitment to original journalism and innovation and I am looking forward to helping grow the news offering on ITVX in this important election year.”

Emmett replaces Chris Achilleos, who was head of ITVX for ITV News from October until his departure last month. He joined BBC News as executive news editor, streaming overseeing growth across BBC iPlayer, BBC News live pages and on bbc.com.

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She will join in July. ITVX content editor Hattie Hamilton will be acting head of the platform for ITV News until then.

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ITV News editor Andrew Dagnell said: “ITV News on ITVX has set the bar for delivering news to new audiences. I can’t wait to see what Becky does with the service. She will take it to new heights.”

ITVX launched in December 2022 and was described as the first streaming service to have news as a central pillar. It features a news section with both repurposed ITV News content and bespoke video packages.

Emmett, who joined Newsnight as deputy editor in late 2022, leaves the BBC programme as it reformats into an “interview, debate and discussion show” under new editor Jonathan Aspinwall.

The Newsnight team is reducing from 57 to 23 people, and the length of the programme is going from 45 minutes to half an hour, as it loses its dedicated reporters and investigative films.

Joining ITV News marks as return to production company ITN for Emmett, who was previously at Channel 4 News for ten years in roles including head of home news and a programme editor. She was also previously a trainee at ITV Central and later worked at ITV London.

News content within ITVX. Picture: ITVX screenshot
News content within ITVX. Picture: ITVX screenshot

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Select and enter your email address Weekly insight into the big strategic issues affecting the future of the news industry. Essential reading for media leaders every Thursday. Your morning brew of news about the world of news from Press Gazette and elsewhere in the media. Sent at around 10am UK time. Our weekly dose of strategic insight about the future of news media aimed at US readers. A fortnightly update from the front-line of news and advertising. Aimed at marketers and those involved in the advertising industry.
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