STV accused of financial mismanagement over plan to cut news programme

STV bosses have been accused of financial mismanagement and cultural vandalism after announcing plans to cut jobs and axe a north of Scotland news programme.

The company, once described by Lord Thomson, the millionaire media magnate who owned The Scotsman,  as a licence to print money,  is planning to lose about 60 staff and has started a voluntary redundancy programme.

Speaking to MSPs, unions said the plans were irrational and the result of “panicked” decisions.

STV chief executive Rufus Radcliffe insisted that the broadcaster was doing all it could to protect jobs and put the business on a sustainable footing.

Mr Radcliffe also denied that an announcement about the cuts had been mishandled after it was alleged one senior boss dialled into the virtual meeting from a holiday villa.ear after announcing a £200,000 loss in the first six months of 2025.

Under its plans, a news programme produced in Aberdeen would be replaced by a show presented from Glasgow, including stories from across central and northern Scotland. This already happens at weekends.

The obvious outcome of that would be that they would have to cut the number of stories from Glasgow, Edinburgh and the West of Scotland.

Critics point out that the plans came just weeks after STV announced it had made a “significant investment” in its Aberdeen and Glasgow studios.

The revamped Aberdeen studio will be a “back-up” to Glasgow under the new proposals, they maintained.

There has also been criticism of plans to spend £500,000 this year on setting up a new STV radio station, which is due to go live next year.

Nick McGowan-Lowe, national organiser for Scotland at the National Union of Journalists, described the move to cut the Aberdeen programme as an act of “cultural vandalism”.

He accused the company of financial mismanagement and of making a “rushed through, panicked” decision.

“This does not give the impression of a company who is thinking long term,” he told MSPs on Holyrood’s culture committee.

“They’re doing a knee-jerk reaction and 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.”

Local democracy does not exist in West Dunbartonshire however where the local council refuses to adopt custom and practice in regard to the press and have placed restrictions on The Dumbarton Democrat.

STV recently signed a 10-year deal for north and central Scotland TV licences, which came into force in January.

However, the company is now seeking to amend that deal so it can share material from both regions.

Mr McGowan-Lowe likened cutting spending while setting up a new radio station to “buying a sports car and then trying to pay less on the mortgage to afford it”.

He added that he was “astonished” STV was not reviewing its plans for a radio station.

Paul McManus, negotiations officer at Bectu, said STV had spent millions of pounds on bonuses for senior executives, refurbished studios and on the radio station.

He said committing to such outlay shortly before announcing major cuts was not “rational”.

Mr Radcliffe told MSPs he had done “everything possible” to protect jobs in the long term, telling MSPs: “Supporting colleagues is our priority.”

He said the plans were designed to protect regional journalism, which he insisted was not financially sustainable in its current form.

Mr Radcliffe told the committee that the changes “will be good for everyone at STV and make us a sustainable business moving forward that everyone benefits from”.

STV bosses announced their plans for job cuts and programming changes in a video call to staff.

MSPs on the committee cited claims that one senior member of staff dialled in from a holiday villa.

Another is said to have joined the call from a hotel in Aberdeen, before coming into the office to speak to staff in person.

Green MSP, Dumbarton man Patrick Harvie, right, said some STV workers had been insulted by that decision and suggested that the announcement had not been “handled well”.

Mr Radcliffe said a video call was a “standard way of communicating” in a large business and that all senior leaders were present on the call.

He told the committee that some aspects of the call had been “mischaracterised” and that bosses had “done everything we can to be clear and transparent with people”.

The chief executive said there would be no bonus payments for senior staff this year and that launching the radio station was an essential part of plans to grow the business.

He said the broadcaster was dealing with a drop in advertising revenue and a slow-down in commissioning for STV Studios.

Viewer numbers for the broadcaster’s flagship bulletin, STV News At 6, fell by 23% in the first six months of this year, compared with the same period in 2024, MSPs were told.