TV4 to cut 150 jobs

TV4 has announced that in an attempt to cut 230 million kronor of costs, around 150 jobs are to go.

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The cutbacks are to affect all areas of the company and will bring with them one-off costs which will appear in TV4's third quarter results.

During the forthcoming year the company is to launch more channels to broaden its offering and improve profitability. The investment will be financed by further efficiencies and savings in other parts of the business.

All of the new channels from TV4 will be available through Canal Digital's package from 2008, when the analogue ground network will be switched off. Canal Digital already distributes TV4, TV4 Plus, TV4 Film and TV400.

According to a new agreement, TV4 Fakta will be included in the offering when the channel begins transmission on September 15th.

The company's managing director, Jan Scherman, said that it is important for TV4 to broaden its distribution and he emphasised in a press release that TV4 and Canal Digital have had a long and happy relationship.

But the course of true love does not always run smooth, even in the world of television, and last winter Canal Digital dragged TV4 before the courts.

Canal Digital was annoyed that TV4 had arranged a distribution agreement with rival satellite operator Viasat, claiming that it had exclusive rights to distribute TV4 programmes.

The court - and the appeal court - agreed with Canal Digital and Viasat was forced to wait until this spring to begin distribution.