The regions of Meridian West and the majority of the Central South region will be merged as part of the new focus.
The merger will mean the loss of up to 40 jobs in the two regions across the production and editorial departments of the regional newsrooms. ITV West, which covers Bristol and Bath, will also be expanding its broadcasting remit to cover the areas of Gloucester and Cheltenham.
The focus on the regions will mean the ITV Yorkshire daily news programme 'Calendar' will develop separate editions across east and west Yorkshire. A previous trial to run separate editions of Tyne Tee's news programme North East tonight will now be a permanent initiative.
The move follows a renewed interest in its local news programming by the broadcaster after it relaunched its broadband TV service ITV Local last week for the second time in the space of six months. It appointed the managing director of Meridian, Lindsay Charlton, to the full-time role of running the business. Charlton had worked on the project since its launch in October.
The move is expected to introduce ITV into the local classified ad market.
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