ONdigital Prepares For Float, Denies Detailed Agreement With NTL
ONdigital has been approached by cable group NTL in the hope of forming a marketing alliance to offset competition from BSkyB. The news comes as executives at Granada and Carlton revealed plans to make a decision within the next month on whether to proceed with a flotation of their joint-owned digital terrestrial platform.
The UK’s largest cable group is proposing to bundle its TV internet and telephone services with the ONdigital TV channels in the parts of the UK which fall outside the group’s cable franchises, according to a report in the Guardian today. Set-top boxes developed by Microsoft would enable NTLworld, the group’s unmetered internet services, and free-to-air digital channels to be accessed.
For both groups a deal of this kind would allow each platform to maximise its subscriber base as the race to net digital customers hots up. BSkyB, the digital satellite service, has already gained a lot of ground, with 3.6m subscribers, and cable has been criticised in the past for lagging behind in the roll-out of its services.
A spokesperson for ONdigital played down the plans today, however. “NTL has over-inflated a conversation held between us. We hold lots of conversations and do not rule out the possibility of a tie up with a telecoms company but beyond that there is no firm proposal,” she said.
ONdigital is focusing instead on the launch of its internet service, ONnet (see ONdigital Adds 15% To Subscriber Base, Reveals Details Of ONnet), and preparing for an autumn float on the stock exchange. At the Edinburgh Television Festival last weekend, chairman of Granada, Charles Allen, said that following the completion of ITV consolidation issues, a flotation of ONdigital was now on the agenda.
A flotation of the digital terrestrial broadcaster, which launched in 1998 and has 774,000 subscribers, has been expected for a while but rivalry within ITV has put back the date for a proposed IPO. The group has been valued between £1.5-2bn.
A resolution of the News At Ten issue has also been prioritised. Again blaming pressing consolidation issues within the ITV network for the lack of resolution to the issue, Allen told Patricia Hodgson, head of ITC, that he was prepared to hold a dialogue with the regulator in an attempt to solve the issue before it goes to court.
The ITC issued a directive to ITV licensee’s to reschedule its Nightly News programme to stem falling viewing figures (see ITC Says ITV Must Reschedule Nightly News). ITV was granted a judicial review of the ITC’s direction last week and the two are to set to meet in court next month (see ITV Granted Judicial Review Of ITC News Direction).
Hodgson said, “There are a range of sensible options to resolve the issue,” and agreed to take the opportunity to hold talks with ITV executives before the proposed court date.
A flotation of news broadcaster ITN is also believed to be in the pipeline. Owned by a number of broadcasters including Granada and Carlton, it is understood to have approached investment banks to make plans for an IPO to help fund its digital services, including its new digital news channel (see News At Ten Makes A Come Back On New ITN Channel).
ONdigital: 020 7819 8000 NTL: 01252 402 000