Greg Dyke, chairman and chief executive of Pearson TV, a partner in Channel 5 Broadcasting with the MAI group, described the auction of the C5 licence as a “disaster.”
Speaking at a debate on Channel 5 at the National Film Theatre, Mr Dyke said, “It is no way to allocate a scarce television resource like a national TV station. An auction was always a daft idea.”
The Independent Television Commission is obliged to award the licence to the highest bidder unless the winning applicant then fails tests on business or quality thresholds. Rupert Murdoch said Channel 5 was no stronger a business proposition than three years ago when the ITC rejected a £1000 bid from a consortium backed by Thames.
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