ONdigital Exclusives May Cause Rift With ITV Companies

Plans by digital terrestrial broadcaster, ONdigital, to show exclusive editions of programmes such as Coronation Street and Emmerdale (see ONdigital And Bush Offer Digital TV Sets For £500) may spark rifts between the ITV franchise companies that make up the Network .

According to a report in this morning’s Guardian a number of ITV senior executives are unhappy that Carlton and Granada, joint owners of ONdigital, have sold the rights to broadcast special editions of popular ITV programmes on digital television, before they appear on the free-to-air analogue service. It is understood that ITV groups such as United News and Media and Scottish Media Group are concerned that top programmes are being pulled away from the Network, by Carlton and Granada, the two largest ITV companies, in order to drive ONdigital sales.

A spokesperson for the ITV Network this morning said that if individual ITV shareholders wished to take issue with Carlton and Granada’s actions it could be raised at a Council level, although she could not confirm that this would definitely happen.

However, she added that the programme suppliers were free to sell the rights to whoever they wish as long as there is no contractual agreement in place to say otherwise. For example, Granada, which produces Coronation Street, also produces Mrs Merton And Malcolm for BBC1.

ONdigital says that whilst it is owned by Carlton and Granada, it is not part of the ITV Network itself and any disagreements over the provision of programmes are between the ITV franchises and should be resolved at a Network level.

“We have announced the programmes that we intend to show and we will be showing them,” Andrew Marre, ONdigital’s head of PR told Newsline today.

ITV Network Centre: 0171 843 8000 ONdigital: 0171 819 8000 Carlton: 0171 663 6363 Granada: 0171 620 1620