Michael Grade has saved his first salary with the departure of Clive Jones.

Not one to mince words, in closing the ITV News Channel Jones famously told newsroom staffers that it was “a bleeding sore”.

Jones was one of the last of the regional news barons who rose through ITV‘s ranks without stopping at ITN. Ironically he now joins ITN as a ‘strategic advisor’ – he’ll be a prized consigliere. In his final ITV incarnation he oversaw the process which ended the self-destructive rivalry that – on occasion – marred the working relationship between ITN and ITV’s regional news outfits. That relationship now operates successfully through ITV News, and Grade can rely on Dave Mannion and his team to keep delivering.