“BLOODBATH” AT BRITAIN’S CHANNEL FIVE

In what Britain’s Guardian newspaper described today (Thursday) as a “bloodbath,” the British TV network Channel Five is firing more than 25 percent of its 300 employees in an effort to pare its budget by about $30 million. On Wednesday it was disclosed that one of those employees will be Dawn Airey, who has served as the broadcaster’s chairman and chief executive. Of the company’s nine senior executives only two will remain. The cost-cutting move follows the acquisition of the channel by Richard Desmond’s Northern and Shell group last month. In a statement today, Northern & Shell said: “The savings aim to realize efficiencies deriving from Channel Five’s integration into the Northern & Shell group of companies and at the same time develop an ambitious new investment plan that will see the channel go toe-to-toe with the biggest players in the TV world. … This is the first of many initiatives that will see a new streamlined Channel Five make enormous strides over the coming years.”