Sky takes over Channel Five bulletins

Channel Five today dumped ITN as its news service and awarded the contract to rival Sky News.

It is a bitter blow to ITN, as the contract is worth around £35million. ITN bosses blame cost-cutting for Five's move.

Anchorwoman Kirsty Young will stay on to present Five's evening bulletin when Sky News takes over next January. In an email to staff today, ITN chairman Mark Wood said he was sorry about Five's decision, which would "naturally come as a disappointment" to all of them. But he added: "It is no reflection on the work of anyone here ... everyone involved in Five News does a superb job".

ITN, which has run Five News for seven years since the channel's launch, will continue to produce the bulletin until the end of the year.

But Mr Wood said that commercially the company "could not produce a quality news programme at the kind of reduced price levels at which the new contract seems to have been awarded".

The shock move follows speculation that Rupert Murdoch, chairman of BSkyB, could buy Channel Five. And Sky News bosses are known to have been very keen to get a foothold in the main terrestrial channels. Five's new five-year news deal will give it access to Sky's existing 24-hour international operation, with Ms Young presenting the bulletins from a purposebuilt studio in west London.

Five's senior programme controller, Chris Shaw, said: "It was a difficult decision to move from ITN, which has done a fantastic job over the past seven years, but this will mean a bigger, better news for our viewers."

Director of programmes Dan Chambers added: "With a brand-new studio and access to Sky's award-winning team, this represents tremendous value for the channel."