Central TV presenter Joanne Malin has announced she is leaving the station just a week after the company announced 60 job cuts and a major overhaul of its output.
Malin said: “After 10 fantastic years at ITV Central I have decided it’s time for me to leave and move on to new challenges. I’ve known about major changes to come in 2009, involving our regional news output, for the past 12 months and during that time I have thought long and hard about my future.
“After a decade working with Bob Warman and the team, it seems that now is a good time to pursue the new and exciting opportunities that have been offered to me.”
Earlier this month, the company announced proposals for the Central West ITV region to merge with Central East - to create a new Midlands-wide service based in Birmingham with news bureaux in Nottingham and Leicester. Each of the former regions will get just six minutes of dedicated programming each evening.
The job cuts in the Midlands are part of a wider cull at the broadcaster which will see a total of 1,000 posts going over the rest of 2008 and the first two months of 2009, 430 of those in ITV News.
ITV said while it was seeking volunteers, it could not rule out compulsory redundancies.
ITV first announced its intention to deliver £40 million of annual savings as part of the ITV Turnaround Strategy in September 2007.
Earlier this year the company also indicated that, in the face of “challenging market conditions”, it intended to make further cost savings of £35 million across the company by 2010.
Unions said any attempt to force through the job cuts would be met with “strong resistance” and hit out at Ofcom for giving ITV the go-ahead for its plans.
NUJ National Broadcasting Organiser Paul McLaughlin said: “Viewers will doubtless be asking how a regulator required by Parliament to maintain and strengthen public service broadcasting is allowing this to happen.”
Malin said: “I’m honoured to have worked with such an outstanding team here at ITV Central and I would like to wish my Head of News Alan Rook and all my colleagues here the best of luck with the new programme next year.”
Malin presents her last show on October 31.
