ITV News is to launch a youth-focused news service aimed at 14-17 year-olds.
The Rundown will feature a team of presenters from across the country, “to ensure representation.”
“The Rundown is designed to put our award winning journalism right into the hands of switched on teens, who told us that they wanted to engage more directly and deeply with the news,” explained Stephen Hull, Head of Digital, ITV News.
“It is our hope that this new Instagram service will begin to answer their needs, become an essential part of the daily routine and the next step in ITV News reaching new audiences.”
It comes following Ofcom research earlier this year, which showed that young people had “almost entirely abandoned” television news, with most getting their updates through social media.
Its news consumption report found that people over 65 watched 33minutes of news a day. But those aged 16-24 watch less than 2 minutes.
The Rundown will broadcast daily through Instagram and other social media platforms. Made for mobile, it will be produced by a dedicated team and cover international, UK and regional stories.
ITV said that they wouldn’t be “trivialising the subject matter”, something which participants in the audience research revealed was very important to them.
Viewers will also be able to swipe through directly from some items to more in-depth coverage of the same story on the ITV News website.
“For decades ITV News has been telling the stories that matter to a diverse television audience. With the introduction of The Rundown, we’re going beyond TV to speak directly to digitally savvy teenagers, with engaging, accessible news that meets the high standards expected of a PSB news provider,” added Michael Jermey, Director of News, ITV.
“I am sure that The Rundown will become highly-valued viewing for young people across Britain.”
Initially, new episodes of The Rundown will be released every weekday at 3.45pm before moving to become seven days a week, every day of the year.
