ISBA Renews Opposition To Sales House Merger

Bob Wootton, director of media and advertising affairs at ISBA, has placed further pressure on Carlton and Granada by re-iterating his opposition to a merger of the two sales houses.

Speaking at Starcom Motive’s media conference in London today, Wootton said he believed the sales houses should remain separate. Underlying his remarks is ISBA’s belief that a single ITV should not be permitted unless the issue of excessive dominance in airtime sales is addressed.

Meanwhile in Paris, Michael Green, chairman of Carlton, attempted to dazzle analysts at the SG Conference with an estimated timetable for the proposed merger with Granada. According to Green’s ‘blue sky’ theory, the merger could be completed as early as next June if it does not get referred to the competition commission.

However, ISBA fully anticipates that the UK competition authorities will want to investigate and a decision from the Office Of Fair Trading is expected by the end of January.

ISBA: 020 7499 7502 www.isba.org.uk

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