Grade says Channel 4 backs wrong horse on digital TV
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Your support makes all the difference.Michael Grade, the former chief executive of Channel 4, has thrown his weight behind the BBC's bid for the digital terrestrial licences vacated by ITV Digital, and predicted Channel 4's own bid will fail.
The veteran broadcaster said he was surprised the television company had joined ITV in a bid pitched against a rival proposal from the BBC and BSkyB – which he described as a "marriage made in heaven".
Channel 4's chosen partner has already blown £1bn on ITV Digital, which had to be put into administration earlier this year.
"'ITV Digital 2' seems to be led basically by the same people hoping for a second chance. Channel 4 has a big contribution to make, but I think it would have had more chance throwing its resources behind the BBC-Sky bid. It may well have backed a loser," Mr Grade said.
Writing in a Sunday newspaper, Mr Grade was scathing about the two other contenders, a financial bid from Apax Partners, the private equity house, and a consortium that includes United Business Media and NTL.
Given UBM's wish to exit broadcasting and NTL's financial problems, Mr Grade said this was "hardly an irresistible consortium". Apax cannot compete, he said, as they "bring no programme content". "The BBC and Sky axis brings together the country's greatest programme-making machine and the sector's best proven managers," he said.
He warned that regulators must not break up the BBC-Sky alliance as it was just this sort of "over-regulation before the fact" that led to the decision to eject Sky from the original ITV Digital consortium in 1997.
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