Former BBC Director General Hits Out At ITV
Greg Dyke, former director general of the BBC, has said that ITV cannot survive as an independent company, according to reports.
Dyke, who led a failed private equity take-over of the broadcaster last year (see ITV Rejects Second Bid By Defeated Dyke Consortium), said ITV would have to be taken over, or hit the acquisition trail itself.
“I don’t think ITV can stay as ITV as it is,” Dyke told business interview service Cantos. “I think it has to be much bigger than it is. Either that means taking over other media outlets or it means merging with one or one taking them over.
He added: ” I don’t think it can be the sort of the size that it is, it’s not a big enough player.”
He also warned that Five, which is owned by pan-European broadcaster RTL, would struggle to survive as a standalone TV network.
“I don’t think individual channels survive long-term. So I don’t think Five survives long-term. It will be merged in something else,” Dyke said.
Dyke said ITV’s performance between 2000 and last year was “dismal”, and held out little hope for a renaissance under new executive chairman Michael Grade (see BBC Chairman Jumps Ship To ITV Top Job).
“I thought the management were poor and I think the board just didn’t understand what was happening.
“They moved too late to get rid of [former chief executive] Charles Allen (see