By Katrine Bussey,Peter A Walker
Copyright insider
STV’s chief executive has insisted the group is “deeply committed” to regional news, despite plans being progressed to cut jobs and axe a dedicated news programme for the north of Scotland.
Rufus Radcliffe said the proposals being consulted on are necessary to “protect regional journalism”, as the service is “not financially sustainable in its current form”.
Leaders from the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) and Bectu, which represents workers in broadcasting and digital media, have branded the plans an “act of cultural vandalism”.
First Minister John Swinney has expressed his concern about STV’s proposals, which will see the broadcaster replace its central belt and north of Scotland news with a single programme from Glasgow, with this including sections devoted to regional news.
Giving evidence to the Scottish Parliament’s Culture Committee on Thursday, Radcliffe said the proposed changes are “putting regional news on a sustainable footing moving forward”.
The broadcaster’s flagship bulletin, STV News At 6, has seen viewer numbers fall by 23% in the first six months of this year, compared to the same period in 2024.
“As a commercial public service broadcaster, that receives no public funding, the challenges we face are significant, driven by changing viewer behaviour and a very tough macro-economic backdrop,” explained Radcliffe.
He said the company is facing “declining” viewer numbers for traditional on-air programmes, as well as reduced advertising revenues and a “slowdown” in commissioning, so it must “restructure, streamline operations and accelerate our digital transformation”.
Radcliffe told MSPs: “Our plan is designed to protect regional journalism because it is not financially sustainable in its current form.
“We’re confident our plan will deliver more stories to more people, wherever and however they want to receive them.”
The proposed changes – which still have to be approved by regulators at Ofcom – have “the objective of protecting regional views”, Radcliffe stated, adding: “We will cover all the stories that matter to all of Scotland and we will continue to have editorial coverage of the north of Scotland at 6pm.”
But Nick McGowan-Lowe, NUJ national organiser for Scotland, said: “For viewers in the north east and Angus, they will suffer as a result of this, they will not get the local news that is there.”
The area has a catchment of 1.3 million people, he said, adding: “That is a huge part of Scotland with very different local priorities and need for local news.
“What they are proposing is going to have a catastrophic effect on local democracy and the culture of the north east, if it is allowed to go through.”
Adding that the proposed restructure “seems to be rushed through, panicked”, McGowan-Lowe also told MSPs: “What I think this is to do with is financial mismanagement.”
Meanwhile, Bectu’s Scotland negotiations officer Paul McManus questioned previous financial decisions at STV.
“If they wanted to save money and they were aware of the difficulties coming ahead of them, why spend over £1 million on bonuses for two senior executives earlier this year, why spend £1.5 million on new sets for news programmes?” he said, questioning why STV had taken “a punt of £0.5 million on a radio station”, with the broadcaster due to launch this early in 2026.
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