Thames Franchise Bid

As more information trickles out on the ITV franchise bids, it now appears that Thames has been significantly outbid by both of its rivals.

It was initially thought that Thames had placed a bid in the region of £52m, just behind Carlton, with CPV-TV pledg- ing up to £58m.

The latest leaks and estimates put the Carlton bid at the top, at around £49m, followed by CPV-TV with a bid of £45m to £46m . In contrast , Thames is believed to have bid less than £40m a year.

With the Carlton bid generally held to be sufficient to pass the quality test, Thames’ only hope of a franchise is via the “exceptional circumstances” clause.

As the largest ITV company and one of the major programme suppliers to the ITV network , Thames is a valued company, and the ITC is anxious not to disrupt the continuity of ITV if it can be avoided. With Granada, and possibly LWT, also being outbid, the network could be in danger of losing three of its big five production companies.

It is unlikely, however, that the ITC could invoke the “exceptional circumstances” clause in all three cases because of the possibilities for legal recourse by the defeated.