Sýn to end television news after nearly 40 years

Sýn will end its television news broadcasts after almost 40 years, the company’s chief executive, Herdís Dröfn Fjeldsted, told mbl.is. About 10 full-time positions will be affected, mainly in the production and distribution of television news.

Fjeldsted said the decision had been difficult but unavoidable. She said the television news operation had been financially unsustainable for a long time, citing changing media habits and the shift of advertising revenue to foreign media outlets.

Viewership of television news had also declined in recent years and decades as people’s behaviour changed, both in Iceland and abroad, she said.

Sýn now plans to put greater resources into its news services on Vísir and Bylgjan. Fjeldsted said the decision to end television news was made independently and was not connected to the collapse of negotiations to sell Sýn’s online and radio media outlets to Síminn.

She said the aim was to secure sustainable operations for Sýn’s newsroom. Since Vísir and Bylgjan would not be sold, the company had an opportunity to strengthen those media outlets further.

Fjeldsted also said the government could do more to improve the operating environment for private media, including by limiting RÚV’s activity in the advertising market and addressing the illegal distribution and use of television content.