³ÉÈËÂÛ̳

This Week, hosted by Andrew Neil, will be produced by Juniper TV from September 2010.

The contract will run for three years and Andrew Neil will continue to present the show with Diane Abbott and Michael Portillo on ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ One on Thursdays. For Juniper, the executive editor will be Samir Shah, the editor will be Vicky Flind.

Sue Inglish, ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Head of Political Programmes, said: "We are very much looking forward to working with Samir and his team at Juniper. We are incredibly proud of the success of This Week and confident that we can continue to develop the programme's creativity over the contract period."

In order to increase the amount of in-house production outside London, the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ has to reduce the amount of in-house production in London. To achieve this without changing the overall level of the 50% in-house guarantee, it was announced in February that This Week would be put out to the independent sector, thus freeing up spend to support our Out of London strategy. The ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ has committed to producing at least 50% of network television outside London by 2016.

³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ News Political Programmes department considered bids for the programme from a closed tender list and after a rigorous and thorough selection process it was decided to award the contract to Juniper. Juniper TV also produce two of the regional opt editions of the Politics Show on ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ One.

This Week has an average audience of about one million viewers and is often the most watched programme at that time of day. This Week has a unique style and approach. It offers an insider's look at the week in politics with experts in the field. It also brings together the world of politics and entertainment to provide a light hearted and alternative take on the big political issues of the week.

The ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ in-house team will continue to produce the programme until July 2010.

PR