ITV Digital’s future is likely to involve partnerships, according to Carlton Communications chief executive Gerry Murphy, but to what extent they will be with rival BSkyB is still not clear.
At the release of Carlton’s full year results yesterday (see
Carlton Losses Mount As More Jobs Go), Murphy spoke of the Government’s digital action plan as “encouraging” and went on to say: “[It] should help ensure that digital terrestrial television will become the principle means by which viewers will receive free digital television channels,” adding that ITV was working with other free to air broadcasters to achieve this.
The question of whether BSkyB could also form a partnership is unresolved. It is thought that Granada may be keen to hand over management of the ITV Digital 1.2 million-strong subscriber base to Sky, but Carlton is thought to be less happy with the idea, partly due to the potential regulatory problems this could cause.
Comment The likely way forward for ITV Digital – slated for closure by some – seems to be in offering an entry level version of digital TV (giving free channels for low cost), and then enticing users to upgrade later. Murphy’s statement yesterday confirmed this: “We are convinced there will be a large market for light users of pay television and digital terrestrial television is well suited to their needs.”
For the sake of ITV Digital’s shareholders, this had better prove true, as both Carlton’s results yesterday and Granada’s last week (see ITV Digital Losses Weigh Heavy On Granada As Job Losses Continue) reveal the continuing financial drain of running the business.
