News UK set to cut jobs in radio and newspaper
News UK is set to cut jobs in its radio and newspaper operations, as coronavirus continues to hammer print advertising and sales.
Rebekah Brooks, chief executive of News UK, yesterday wrote to employees from The Sun and The Times to announce that “in the coming months, we will need to streamline the business and take some tough decisions, saying goodbye to some valued and talented colleagues”.
News UK includes The Times, The Sunday Times and The Sun newspapers, along with Virgin Radio, Talksport and Talkradio.
Brooks added that the publisher will seek to “maximise resources, remove duplication and become a simpler business,” in a sign that The Times and The Sunday Times newspapers may become further integrated.
“Every part of the business will be asked to consider all of their output and assess how we can do things better — and what we might stop doing,” she added. Executives across the titles were asked to seek cost savings.
The letter did not detail the scale or number of job losses likely to take place.
Why are they cutting jobs?
A spokesperson for News UK told City PM: “As a result of the coronavirus lockdown period, the impact on revenues and the change in behaviour of our customers and clients means the transition to a digital future has accelerated sharply.”
“We have evolved at pace, but that evolution continues. To secure the future of our brands, in the coming months we will need to streamline the business and to take some tough decisions. Delivering great products for our customers is our priority, but everything we do must make financial sense.”
Rupert Murdoch’s British newspaper operation is expected to share more central costs with other firms under the News Corp umbrella, which includes book publisher Harper Collins, and financial data firm Dow Jones.
Brooks said: “In order for us to be able to continue to invest and to deliver a profit, we need to have a laser focus on costs, and to take a hard look at the whole business.”
Tough conditions
It comes as the coronavirus crisis continues to hammer the publishing industry as advertisers chase the audiences of internet giants such as Facebook and Google over traditional media.
Media specialists Enders Analysis have predicted the news industry will lose £1bn in revenue because of the pandemic, as revenues from print advertising nosedive.
Major job cuts have already been made at Buzzfeed and Vice during lockdown.
Research by the Bookseller last month showed that more than half of UK’s small publishers fear they may be forced to close amid the pandemic. The survey of 72 small publishers revealed that 60 per cent fear closure by the autumn.
News Corp’s Australian arm last month said it will close production of more than 100 regional newspapers, signalling wide-scale job cuts for the firm.