Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Thomas suggests half-way house for ITV

Cathy Newman
Monday 30 June 1997 18:02 EDT
Comments

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Ward Thomas, chairman of Yorkshire-Tyne Tees Television, will today add his voice to the mounting calls for a wholesale consolidation of the ownership of ITV, but he will resist Granada Group's claims that a single company should run ITV within a decade.

Gerry Robinson, chairman of Granada, which last week tabled its recommended takeover offer for Yorkshire, said last month that all ITV companies should be controlled by a "single entity". Although Mr Thomas will broadly agree with Mr Robinson, his prospective boss, he will recommend a half-way house at first, with two companies sharing ITV.

In a speech to be given at the Institute of Economic Affairs, Mr Thomas will say: "I believe that further consolidation is called for, perhaps down to two players, and perhaps eventually down to the one player recently advocated by Granada."

Mr Thomas will go on to outline the benefits of continued rationalisation, suggesting that ITV is hampered by conflicting interests and disagreements between disparate parties. "The object will be to create a company which could start to become a significant player in the world," he will say.

Meanwhile, United News & Media, which is vying with Granada and Carlton Communications for control of ITV with last week's pounds 372m bid for HTV Group, has scheduled talks with S4C Digital Networks (SDN) about taking Yorkshire's stake in the company bidding for the remaining digital terrestrial television multiplex.

Malcolm Wall, deputy director of United Broadcasting & Entertainment, said yesterday: "We are having detailed talks with SDN on Thursday." He said United may not buy Yorkshire's stake in SDN outright, but could commit to future funding over a period of time.

Yorkshire was forced to abandon its agreement with SDN after Granada's takeover bid. Granada already has access to digital terrestrial broadcasting through its joint ownership of British Digital Broadcasting, the group which won three digital terrestrial licences last week. Carlton also has a 50 per cent stake in the company.

It is thought Scottish Media Group would be interested in getting involved with SDN. It also emerged yesterday that Scottish Media's pounds 105m purchase of Grampian Television was unlikely to face a public interest test by the Independent Television Commission.

Scottish Media already owns Scottish Television and the Glasgow Herald and Evening Times.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in