State Broadcasting Fires Entire Board

The directorship of state broadcasting service RÚV have all been fired, and the service itself could be moving to a new location.

RÚV reports that broadcasting director Magnús Geir Þórðarson made the announcement at a meeting this morning that all ten chairs of RÚV’s directorship have been terminated, with their positions now advertised. These positions are to be filled by mid-April.

Magnús said in addition that RÚV’s building, on Efstaleiti in Reykjavík, was “too big and too inconvenient”. This might be due to the fact that, according to RÚV’s own figures,operational costs have already run overbudget by 305 million ISK for the first six months of this year, and total operational costs are expected to go 357 million ISK overbudget.

In addition, Magnús said there will be some operational changes in the works, such as moving sports reporting out of the news department, and possibly renting out the first floor of the Efstaleiti building for a café, whilst maintaining offices on the second floor.

As reported last November, RÚV has been contending with considerable operational difficulties, facing budget cuts and the unexpected firings of 60 employees. Further, the service has been criticised – in particular, by members of the Progressive Party – of having a pro-EU bias, an accusation which the service has categorically denied.