UNM Reported To Be Interested In ONdigital Stake

Media group United News & Media (UNM) was today reported to be in discussion to acquire a one-third stakeholding in digital terrestrial television company, ONdigital.

UNM owns three ITV franchises – Anglia, Meridian and HTV – and Carlton and Granada, the other two ITV heavyweights, joint own ONdigital. United’s franchises account for 24% of the ITV Network. If UNM were to join Carlton and Granada, ONdigital would have more strength to present competition to rival digital broadcaster BSkyB.

The report appeared in today’s Express, which itself is owned by United News & Media. Although UNM has not officially denied that it is in talks with Carlton and Granada, a source said that he did not think there were ‘live discussions’ about UNM joining ONdigital. However, conversations between the media groups over possible partnerships are on-going and such a deal is likely to have been raised.

The possibility of a UNM/ONdigital tie-in is further fuelled by United’s joint ownership, with Carlton and Granada, of ITV2, the ITV Network’s digital terrestrial TV channel. Currently, both ITV and ITV2 are being withheld from broadcast on Sky Digital’s satellite service, as ITV claims to be a terrestrial-only platform (see BSkyB Fails To Gain Access To ITV2). If UNM came on-board the ONdigital venture, it would present a more united stand by ITV against BSkyB. UNM also owns one third of the SDN digital multiplex.

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