A trawl for volunteers for redundancy at STV was due to close on Friday.
The firm is planning to cut about 60 jobs including around 30 in news.
The main cut the company is planning is, of course, the end of the news service for the former Grampian region.
But it will be several weeks – maybe months – before Ofcom decides whether to allow this.
I’m not quite sure how any broadcaster can reorganise its operations – or decide whether it can make significant numbers of news staff redundant – before it knows whether it will actually be able to make changes to output.
Clearly it is possible Ofcom might block the scheme completely, although this is thought highly unlikely.
Still it could insist on a separate news service for the former Grampian region remaining. Stranger things have happened.
This clearly would mean keeping a large editorial operation in Aberdeen and the north of Scotland.
Studio presentation and production can move to Glasgow without Ofcom permission.
Realistically, if any dedicated output for the north remained it would have to be recorded.
My own suspicion is that Ofcom will either approve STV’s proposals – despite huge political objections – or insist on a sub-opt for the north. Even doing this could still save jobs.
It is important to remember that STV’s current service includes both Scottish national news and stories of local and regional interest.
All the news programmes in the nations are very different editorially to English regional programmes.
STV currently has one advantage over the BBC – it can also cover the kind of local and regional stories which are unlikely to be seen on Reporting Scotland.
But is it fair to impose an obligation on a commercial broadcaster to do something which the BBC has never done?
This is not 1961 or even 1993.
Or does the simple fact that ratings for STV North are good mean that taking the axe to the service is a huge misjudgement?
STV points out that it’s legal obligations are greater than those of UTV and ITV Wales.
Against this are two obvious points. Scotland is bigger than Wales or Northern Ireland and has always been split into three channel 3 regions.
Add on changing consumer behaviour and you can see that there is at least an argument – if not necessarily a compelling case – for change.
The actual boundary between STV’s two regions merely reflects transmitter areas. It is not as simple as saying Aberdeen is different to Glasgow.
It is for all those reasons that Ofcom may face big questions if it does not run a lengthy, detailed consultation.
Unions and politicians will be critical if Ofcom simply puts a proposed change of this magnitude out to a short consultation.
Meanwhile you can expect the unions to step up their fight if compulsory redundancies look likely.
This story could prove very significant over the coming months.
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PICTURED: STV News opening titles. COPYRIGHT: STV Group.
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