ITV To Replace Men And Motors With ITV4

ITV is to replace the Granada Men and Motors channel with a new offering aimed at men, believed to be the long-rumoured ITV4, taking the channel’s space on the Sky platform with the possibility of a Freeview launch as early as next month.

According to reports this morning, ITV4 will absorb the daytime content currently offered by Men and Motors, but will drop its late night soft porn programming. A report in today’s Marketing also claims that independent producers have been commissioned to produce a motoring series on a tight deadline, hinting that the channel’s launch could be imminent.

It is understood that ITV will formally announce the new channel in the spring, however, the broadcaster is also believed to be keen on a Freeview launch, possibly using bandwidth from Crown Castle, which ITV is currently bidding for against Channel 4 (see ITV To Face Channel 4 Over Empty Freeview Slot).

If ITV is successful in its bid for Crown Castle’s airspace then broadcasting could begin as early as next month, although Crown Castle’s expectation that the winning bidder will be utilising the bandwidth by 1 April seems out of reach for a fully-fledged ITV4 launch (see Crown Castle Puts New Freeview Channel Up For Grabs).

The latest reports build on speculation last month that ITV would seek to fill an empty Freeview slot with a free-to-air version of Men and Motors, although speculation has also been raised that the broadcaster would use the space to launch a fully-fledged interactive gaming channel (see ITV To Face Channel 4 Over Empty Freeview Slot).

Despite the last minute arrangements required for a launch next month, such hurried preparation by ITV would not be unheard of. Last year saw the broadcaster complete an eleventh-hour deal to secure broadcast space on the Sky platform for entertainment channel, ITV3. Until the day of its launch it had been thought that the channel would launch solely on Freeview and digital cable. However, the purchase of Granada Sky Broadcasting for £10 million enabled ITV to replace GSB’s Plus entertainment channel with its newest multi-channel offering (see ITV3 Launches On Sky Following GSB Acquisition).

ITV: 020 7843 8000 www.itv.com

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