The CanWest group which includes SelecTV has submitted the highest bid for Channel 5. Its annual bid of £36,261,158 was more than £14 million higher than the second highest bid.
Both Richard Branson’s Virgin group and the Pearson/Thames consortium put in bids of £22,002,000. Rupert Murdoch’s consortium, which had been expected to put in the highest bid, actually submitted the lowest bid, of around £2,000,000.
The CanWest group includes Australia’s Network 10, Scandinavian Broadcasting Systems and independent production SelecTV. SelecTV owns among others, Birds of a Feather and Lovejoy.
The full bidders were:
* Channel 5 Broadcasting Limited – £22,002,000 Pearson, MAI Group and Luxembourg-based CLT
* New Century Television Ltd – £2,000,000 BSkyB, The Really Useful Group, Granada, TCI, Polygram and Kinnevik
* UK TV Developments Ltd – £36,261,158 CanWest, Australia’s Network 10, Scandinavian Broadcasting Systems, SelecTV.
* Virgin TV – £22,002,000 Virgin, Associated Newspapers, HTV, Paramount, Electra and Philips.
The winning bid will be announced by the end of November.
