ITN Radio Bid In Trouble

The head of business affairs at ITN, Mark Young has left to work at the BBC. Earlier this year, the head of ITN Bob Phillis left to become deputy director-general of the BBC.

These departures, together with the loss of the finance director, Clive Timms to the Royal Opera House, mean that the likely success of the ITN-led bid for two London radio franchises has diminished.

Mark Young was in charge of the franchises and had written most of the submissions given to the Radio Authority. The ITN Consortium includes Associated Newspapers, Reuters, SelecTV and GWR. They are applying for an FM franchise with a mainly news-based talk station and a sports and entertainment station on the AM waveband.