New Channel 5 Bid

Yesterday it was announced that Time Warner has teamed up with Pearson and MAI to launch a bid for the Channel 5 terrestrial licence, which is expected to be advertised in the next few weeks. Time Warner, Thames and Pearson put in an unsuccesful bid for Channel 5 in 1992. The consortium intends to offer national programming and a series of local services for leading UK cities.

The three companies are to invest about £100m in equal shares in Channel 5. The ITC will decide this spring whether to re-advertise Channel 5 as a terrestrial service or whether to hold over the frequency for digital television. The original advertisement for the fifth channel required retuning for up to 7 million video recorders that would have suffered interference. Technical progress has now been made to minimise this effect, said MAI.

OFT TO SEEK UNDERTAKING FROM MAI

The Office of Fair Trading will seek undertakings from MAI concerning airtime sales in relation to its bid for Anglia television. The demand is similar to that made to Carlton’s acquisition of Central and Granada’s bid for LWT; the deals were not referred to the Monopolies and Mergers Commission as long as the groups reduced their airtime sales to 25% of the total television market by August 1995.

The Institute of Practitioners in Advertising has called for further sales safeguards and clarification of this DTI ruling. The IPA would like more detailed restrictions, preventing any collaborating with other licensees, and conditional selling. The IPA is also disappointed that such a long period has been permitted by the DTI before the changes have to come into effect. £ to continue… This delay, believes the IPA, will prolong the uncertainty in the market.

The IPA is now expectantly waiting the new ruling from the ITC “to ensure that its new rules embody appropriate safeguards to protect advertisers against these abuses.”

IPA 071 235 7020

ITC 071 255 3000