Commercial broadcaster MTV3 announces job reductions

Majority will retire, but fifteen dismissals in prospect

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The Finnish commercial TV- and radio broadcaster MTV, which operates the TV channels MTV3 and Subtv, in addition to providing radio news broadcasting services for Radio Nova and others, has now completed talks with personnel on prospective staff reductions, and the final figure is that 46 jobs will be axed.
      The majority of the leavers will go via retirement arrangements, but 15 individuals will be dismissed.
      Out of the 120 people employed at the company's news and current affairs side, 20 will have to go in one way or another. The broadcaster's CEO Pekka Karhuvaara stated on Tuesday that the news desk would continue as before and that the cutbacks would have no impact on programming.
     
The MTV staff, meanwhile, are generally relieved to hear that most of the departures will be through retirement, although according to one personnel spokesman it was sad that many would have much preferred to continue working.
      MTV announced it was initiating talks on downsizing in September, with a target of 50 jobs to be pruned out. At the same juncture the company outsourced production engineering operations to the film and TV production services company Blue Media, resulting in the changeover of an additional 55 persons to Blue Media. It is anticipated that Blue Media, too, will begin talks on staff cutbacks before very long.
     
After the announced cuts and the outsourcing operation, MTV will employ 411 persons, a reduction of just over 100 from the previous complement. The cuts were justified by Karhuvaara in response to the company's high cost-levels and a sharp decline in advertising income over the period between May and September.
      Karhuvaara noted on Tuesday that revenue from commercials had in fact improved during the fall, with October being a particularly good month. The annual advertising revenue figure is now expected to top that for 2004, though by less than had been forecast at the beginning of the year.
      MTV Oy, or the former Alma Media Broadcasting Division, was sold in the spring of this year to the Swedish media group Bonnier and the Proventus investment company for EUR 460 million. Last year the company posted net sales of EUR 195 million, and after adjustments in structure this is expected to fall somewhat to EUR 180 million in the current year.
      The announcement of cuts in September was met by a mass walkout at the MTV offices and studios in Pasila, similar to the scenes witnessed at the country's national public broadcaster YLE (The Finnish Broadcasting Company) a few days earlier.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Commercial TV network MTV3 news hit by employee walkout (13.9.2005)

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