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Five to lose a quarter of its workforce
By CMU Editorial | Published on Friday 6 March 2009
Channel Five is the latest broadcaster to announce some radical cost cutting. The telly firm says it will make about a quarter of its workforce redundant, which works out at 87 people being affected. The job cuts come as part of a restructure which will merge several existing departments in a bid to reduce the TV firm’s top heavy hierarchy. Channel Five, like ITV and Channel 4, is busy trying to make their books balance while ad revenues slump.
As previously reported, one of the solutions suggested for overcoming Channel 4’s financial woes was for it to merge with Five, a proposal that Five owners RTL are reportedly keen to consider. While it was rumoured last week that ITV top man Michael Grade had suggested the merger of all three terrestrial commercial broadcasters to create one uber-telly firm that might be able to better take on the BBC in the ratings war, and media majors like Sky in the battle for advertisers and sponsors.
Bosses at the state owned Channel 4, however, have been less enthusiastic about proposals it merge with its truly commercial rivals, preferring instead proposals they work more closely with the commercial division of the Beeb, BBC Worldwide.
