Cutbacks
On 27 April 2009, Channel M's then-chief executive Mark Dodson announced that the station was looking to make 41 redundancies from its 74 staff and restrict weekday live programming from four programmes (totalling six hours of output) to one three-hour news magazine programme, broadcast between 4pm and 7pm, in order to cut losses. The new live programme, Channel M Today launched on Monday 13 July 2009. A company review carried out by the Guardian Media Group before the announcement recommended that the station should focus on news and general sport programming.
Following the announcement, Channel M axed all of its stand-alone entertainment, sport and features programming as well as the weekday breakfast show and lunchtime & evening news bulletins. News and sport coverage was incorporated into Channel M Today.
In February 2010, the station's owners Guardian Media Group were reported to be in talks with staff regarding options for Channel M's future after the company sold off 32 of its regional newspaper titles, including the Manchester Evening News, to Trinity Mirror for £44.8 million.
A month later, the station announced its remaining in-house regional programmes, including the flagship magazine show Channel M Today, would cease production by Friday 19 March 2010. Consequently, 29 of the station's 33 staff were made redundant. Several ex-GMG employees have since secured consultancy positions working on Salford University productions produced at the IMC. The station then broadcast a mix of archived programming, original output from Salford University and simulcasts of Euronews and Real Radio North West alongside some new programming from independent and third party producers.. The station's in-house transmission and administration facilities were latterly based at Laser House in Salford Quays and managed by GMG's regional radio division.
As of early 2012, remaining local programming was removed from the schedule, which latterly consisted of simulcasts of Real Radio North West and Euronews and acquired programming from The Community Channel.
Read more about this topic: Channel M