Michael Russell: "Deeply alarmed"

The party's culture and broadcasting spokesman Michael Russell said: "I am as equally concerned by the disclosure that the Independent Television Commission and ITV companies have been negotiating the future of regional outputs in secrecy.

"Commercial television companies have to operate under the terms of the licenses, and it would be inconceivable if changes in the licences were allowed without changes in legislation.

"Broadcasting law should not be determined by the broadcasters themselves.

"This plan smacks of being a knee-jerk reaction to the current fall in advertising revenue.

"But is should be remembered that downturns in advertising revenue are cyclical, and television companies shouldn't be making long-term decisions on the basis of short-term difficulties."

Last week, it emerged that Scottish Media Group, which owns Scottish Television and Grampian Television, had offered all of its 1700 staff voluntary redundancy.

Scottish Television could also be affected

The move came one month after SMG posted pre-tax profits of �20m for the first half the year in September.

The figure, which was down �10m on the previous year's figure, prompted a fresh round of cost-cutting.

Speculation about the quantity of regional output has now prompted the SNP to call on the Scottish Parliament to monitor the situation.

Mr Russell added: "Regional programming is integral to television output in Scotland, especially in the Grampian region.

"The Scottish Parliament should be taking a very keen interest in this matter. The SNP oppose any plans to attack Scottish or Grampian's television output and will contest any moves to reduce output levels."

Under the current devolution settlement, broadcasting is an issue reserved for the Westminster Parliament.