Grade: BBC and ITV’s regional news partnership is unlikely
ITV’s chief executive Michael Grade said the broadcaster’s proposed partnership with the BBC to share regional news premises and footage is now unlikely to happen.
ITV has critised the proposal in recent months, despite signing a memorandum of understanding with the BBC in March, particularly over the lower value they expect to get from the deal, according to reports.
The commercial broadcaster’s chief also shared concerns over whether ITV would be forced to move its existing 6pm regional news slot on ITV1 and pre-record bulletins because of the BBC.
The government’s plans to top slice the BBC’s licence fee to pay for regional news on ITV is also thought to of affected the BBC’s position in the agreement.
Speaking at the Institute of Economic Affairs future of broadcasting conference in London yesterday, Grade said: “The BBC’s … partnership (designed to head off top-slicing) was a really promising idea that unfortunately evaporated on closer examination, and after months of negotiation.
“Out of £120 million of value promised by [BBC director general] Mark Thompson, approximately £20 million was talked about for regional news. In the event this translated into a potential £7 million, and that not fully available until 2016. By this time, regional news on ITV would be long gone. Oh, and we would have had to move the regional news out of peak time or pre-record it!”
However, Grade said a partnership could still work – “the offfer stands from the BBC,” he said. “You can’t turn your nose up at £7 million of savings by 2016 – the question is can you get there or not? I suspect that if there is top slicing [of the licence fee], the offer would be withdrawn.”
Grade once again welcomed the government’s plans to use some of the licence fee to fund regional news on ITV, saying it was the best option.
In response to Grade’s comments, the BBC’s chief operating officer Caroline Thomson said: “There are of course different interpretations of what our partnerships mean. We believe it could have been worth more for ITV, but we accept their figure of £7 million. For a new entrant [into the market] it could be worth more and be a good solution to the regional news problem.”