Carlton And Granada Buy Into ITN News Channel
ITV partners Carlton and Granada have acquired ITN’s 65% stake in the ITN News Channel which will be relaunched later in the year as the ITV News Channel.
The acquisition, which represents Carlton and Granada’s first foray into the multi-channel world since the collapse of ITV Digital (see Administrators Confirm ITV Digital Sale), will see the channel integrated into the ITV News brand, giving it access to the national and international news operations of ITV for the first time.
The relaunched ITV News Channel, which will continue to be partially owned by NTL, has a news supply agreement with ITN until 2009 (see ITN Signs New Contract With ITV) and will benefit from cross-promotion from ITV1.
Mick Desmond, managing director of Granada, said: “The ITV News Channel strengthens ITV’s news offering with the obvious financial, resource and cross-promotional benefits of a fully integrated, ITV branded service. This deal positions ITV as a leader in news both in terrestrial and multi-channel television.”
Clive Jones, chief executive of Carlton channels, added: “The channel will have the same high quality news production values as ITN News and complementary scheduling will provide a real alternative to Sky News and BBC 24.”
The ITN News channel, which is available via cable, satellite and digital terrestrial services, was launched in August 2000 to compete against the more established Sky News and BBC News 24.
Both Carlton (see Carlton Profits Hit By Ad Slowdown And ITV Digital Failure) and Granada (see Granada Profits Hit By Ad Downturn) recently released financial results showing that profits had been affected by the closure of ITV digital and the advertising downturn.
Carlton: 020 7663 6363 www.carlton.com Granada: 020 7620 1620 www.granada.co.uk ITN: 020 7833 3000 www.itn.co.uk
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