ITN has vowed to remain in profit this year despite a£10m black hole in its ITV contract, writes John Plunkett
The value of ITN's new contract with ITV, which began last month, was cut from£45m to£36m a year. ITN's total revenue last year was around£100m.
Chairman Mark Wood said he expected revenue from ITN's factual and archive businesses to top£20m, up a fifth on last year.
The news supplier has sealed a five-year deal with Arab TV channel Al Jazeera to distribute its archive footage, including the controversial speeches of Osama Bin Laden. However, Wood admitted it would be a 'difficult challenge.'
ITN will also step up its lobby to government to change the Communications Bill to abolish any ownership restrictions on the Gray's Inn Road-based outfit, jointly owned by Carlton, Granada, DMGT, Reuters, and United Business Media. The bill in its current state raises the ownership limit from 20 to 40 per cent.
'It is not all our shareholders' long term strategy to remain in TV news,' said Wood. 'Getting five different shareholders to agree is not easy. We want this removed altogether.'
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