STV has announced it will close its struggling second channel STV2, as part of a broader shift towards online content and a reorganisation that will result in 59 job losses.
Publishing the broadcaster’s three-year growth strategy on Wednesday morning, STV’s new chief executive, Simon Pitts, who took over from Rob Woodward in January, set out plans to drive viewers to STV Player, with more than a third of profits expected to come from outside linear TV advertising by the end of 2020.
The closure of STV2, which was launched last spring following a merger of local and city digital services around Scotland, will mean the end of STV News Tonight, its flagship 7pm nightly news programme anchored from Glasgow by Halla Mohieddeen, with 25 jobs affected.
The broadcaster had previously boasted that the second channel allowed the company to put Scotland’s first “Scottish Six” news programme on air.
The five local TV licences that were part of STV2 will be sold to That’s Media, while wider restructuring of the news operation will result in a further 34 job losses and around £1m cost-cutting.
STV’s head of news will also be replaced.
The cuts follow an announcement by BBC Scotland on Tuesday that its new TV channel for Scotland will be on air from next February, subject to Ofcom approval.
The new channel had initially planned to start broadcasting in the autumn.
Launching the plans, Pitts said: “This is a positive vision for STV that will re-establish the company as a creative force in Scotland and beyond. We will invest in creative talent, new original programming and digital to ensure STV becomes Scotland’s home of news and entertainment and delivers long-term value for advertisers, shareholders and viewers alike.”
In April, Alan Clements, the head of STV Productions, announced that he was leaving the company after a decade.
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