ITV to sell Scoot, Friends Reunited

ITV is planning to sell Scoot, the online business directory service it owns, as well as Friends Reunited. An ITV spokeswoman confirmed to Web User that the company planned to offload Scoot and Friends Reunited in order to cut costs. Some local online services will also be affected, according to ITV. The broadcaster also announced on Wednesday that 600 jobs were to be lost, blaming 'challenging conditions in the advertising market'. Friends Reunited was bought by ITV in 2005 for £120m. It was recently named by Hitwise as the sixth most-visited site in the Computers and Internet - Social Networking and Forums category in 2008. Facebook and MySpace have rapidly overtaken Friends Reunited as the most popular social-networking destinations for UK surfers in the last couple of years. >> How to find people online: top tips It was also rumoured earlier this year, before the job cuts were announced, that ITV planned to sell Friends Reunited.