Minister urged to discuss ITV crisis

BECTU have called on DCMS minister Kim Howells to meet ITV union reps.
As fears grow for regional programming on ITV, the union, together with the NUJ and electricians' union Amicus MSF, have urged the Department for Culture, Media, and Sport, to reduce the annual licence payments that the companies must make to the Treasury.
These payments were fixed for ten years before the collapse of advertising income which hit the ITV network last year, and the unions want them to be reviewed on an annual basis to take account of the companies' ability to pay.
The squeeze on ITV funding has already begun to hit jobs and local output, and the unions have warned that the network faces "a permanent weakening of regional service".
Concerns about regional programming in ITV have coincided with the government's lengthy consultation on a new regulatory framework for broadcasting.
In a response to government proposals for a new Communications Bill, BECTU have told the DCMS that they are opposed in principle to the channel's local licences falling into the hands of one company.
The union have also rejected a proposal to scrap the current 15 per cent limit on ITV audience share that can be controlled by any one company.
BECTU, www.bectu.co.uk
(GB)