ITV Partners May Co-operate With BSkyB

Rumours of negotiations between ITVDigital and BSkyB resurfaced today with reports that Carlton and Granada, joint owners of ITV Digital, are meeting with the rival satellite operator with a view to co-operation and possible carriage of ITV channels on the Sky platform.

ITV has promised in the past to secure carriage (see Newsline), but has been unable to reach an agreement. ITV1 currently loses out on potential viewers because it is not carried on Sky, which now has over 5 million subscribers (see Feature: Is The UK Turned On By Digital?), compared to ITV Digital’s 1.4 million.

No confirmation that meetings had taken place was available today, but BSkyB’s chief executive, Tony Ball, has emphasised that it would be up to ITV to start any negotiations, saying: “We have had no substantial conversations with the ITV companies but they know that our door is always open.”

Earlier in the year Sky said that ITV would have to pay over £20m a year for ITV and ITV2 to be carried on the BSkyB platform, an offer which was refused by ITV (see Sky Asking £20m For Carriage, Says ITV).

However, a spokesman for one ITV group today denied that talks were underway, but acknowledged the benefits of closer co-operation with BSkyB, saying: “We are constantly keeping the future of ITV Digital under review and are always looking at ways of maximising value.”

ITV Digital has suffered a series of confidence blows this year, including shareholder criticism and recent remarks contained in a report by Zenith Media (see Zenith Slams ITV Digital).

Carlton: 020 7663 6363 www.carlton.com Granada: 020 7620 1620 www.granada.co.uk BSkyB: 020 7705 3000 www.sky.com

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