ITV regulator reassures unions

The ITC has said that there will be no slide in ITV's regional obligations.

At a meeting with the Federation of Entertainment unions, the Independent Television Commission said that its current talks with ITV bosses were aimed at winning strong investment for quality regional programming to be shown during popular viewing hours.

The Federation, which includes BECTU, NUJ, AEEU, and talent unions, had called for the meeting after press reports that ITV's proposal to standardise regional programme production was a cost-cutting measure in response to the network's drop in advertising revenue.

According to the ITC, the talks about standardisation had started 18 months before advertising income began to fall. The discussions were, said the ITC, aimed at promoting regional output, and achieving greater coherence in scheduling.

At present, companies in ITV's regional licence areas have different targets for the hours of programming produced in their area, and the resulting shows are often transmitted in unfavourable slots during the night.

No conclusion has been reached yet in the ITV/ITC discussions about regional programming, and the unions at the meeting last week emphasised that changes in production patterns should not be made at the expense of jobs.

The meeting with the ITC came as gloom mounted over ITV's financial problems, prompted by a slump in advertising income, and the continuing drain of cash from ITV digital, owned by Carlton and Granada.

BECTU and the other unions in ITV face savings proposals at all major companies:

• Granada

  A pay increase due on January 1 2002 may be postponed for six months to ease the company's cashflow. Unions have already submitted a claim for a "substantial" rise, coupled with a minimum wage of £13,000, but Granada wants to freeze pay until July 2002, when the situation would be reviewed.

  If finances permitted, a pay offer would be made then, possibly backdated to January. In the meantime, staff on less than £13,000 a year would receive a one-off payment of £200.

  Union stewards on each Granada site are currently meeting managers, and will then consider their reaction to the pay freeze.

• Carlton

  Union stewards were due to be briefed by management on November 14 when Carlton's plan for a pay freeze would be explained. The announcement of the pay freeze in October was condemned by unions, not least because the company had failed to consult them in advance.

  Representatives were expecting to be presented with finance figures that would underline the depth of the slump in advertising.

• Scottish Media Group

  BECTU and the NUJ have agreed to a trawl for redundancy volunteers, on condition that SMG honours its promise not to resort to compulsory redundancies before January 2002.

  Staff at SMG's two ITV stations, Scottish and Grampian, are currently halfway through a two-year pay deal that promises a 2% increase in the second year.