Single ITV Company Would Be Worth £5 Billion

In a speech given to the Edinburgh Television Festival at the weekend by Andrew Fry, managing director of BZW, and reported in The Sunday Times, ITV would be worth around £5 billion if it were to merge into one company, raising an extra £2.5 billion which would help to increase the company’s competitiveness. This compares to BSkyB which is 40% owned by News International which is worth around £7.5 billion.

At present the four media owners that control the fifteen ITV licences, Scottish Media, United News & Media, Granada and Carlton are barred by law from any further convergence.

… Culture Secretary Chris Smith yesterday warned ITV companies about continued plans to move News At Ten to an earlier slot. He said that the move would be unpopular even though he has no powers to sanction such a move.