Sýn says ending TV news was unavoidable

Media company Sýn will end its television news broadcasts after nearly 40 years, its chief executive Herdís Dröfn Fjeldsted said in a written response to mbl.is. About 10 full-time positions will be affected, mainly in the production and distribution of television news.

“I admit that this was not an easy decision at all,” Fjeldsted said. She said the television news operation had been unsustainable for a long time because of changing public consumption habits and advertising revenue shifting to foreign media.

Television news viewing has also declined in recent years and decades as people’s behaviour has changed, both in Iceland and abroad. “Unfortunately, this decision was unavoidable,” Fjeldsted said.

Sýn now plans to devote more resources to its news services on Vísir, its online media outlet, and Bylgjan, its radio station.

Fjeldsted said the decision to end television news was independent of failed negotiations to sell Sýn’s online and radio media to Síminn. She said the aim was to ensure sustainable operations at Sýn’s news organisation. Since Vísir and Bylgjan will not be sold, the company will have an opportunity to strengthen them further, she said.

Sigríður Dögg Auðunsdóttir, chairwoman of the Icelandic Journalists’ Association, has criticised the decision, saying Sýn’s managers did not understand the importance of news to the company’s trust and reputation. Fjeldsted said she understood the chairwoman’s disappointment but said the company was facing changing conditions in the media market.

Fjeldsted also said the government could do more to improve the operating environment for private media, including by limiting public broadcaster RÚV’s activities in the advertising market. She added that the authorities needed to address the illegal distribution and use of television content.