|
|
This
profile considers UK broadcaster ITV plc.
It covers -
introduction
During 2003 the UK government approved the merger of Carlton
and Granada to form ITV plc, an entity that is distinct
from the grouping of UK commercial television licensees
collectively described as 'independent television' (aka
ITV).
Detailed profiles of Granada
and Carlton are available elsewhere
on this site.
The new group was affected by management disagreements
and profitabilityu problems, reflected in suggestions
that it would bt acquired by Bertelsmann subsidiary RTL
(owner of Channel 5) or by the group formed through merger
of NTL and Virgin Mobile. In November
2006 Murdoch-controlled BSkyB bought a 17.9% stake in
ITV for £940 million
the group
The merger resulted in a group that
- owned
all of the regional Channel 3 licences in England and
Wales, which together account for over 90% of ITV1 advertising
revenues
- wholly
owned ITV2, a free-to-air digital channel
- included
production arm comprising what is claimed as the largest
commercial television production company in the UK and
one of Europe's largest programme distributors
- owned
the market leading cinema screen advertising businesses
in the UK and Republic of Ireland and has similar joint
ventures in continental Europe and the United States.
It
had
- a
50% economic interest in GMTV, which holds the UK national
Channel 3 licence for breakfast television
- a
16.9% interest in SMG plc, which
operates the two regional Channel 3 licences in Scotland
- a
50.5% economic interest in Granada Sky Broadcasting,
a UK multi-channel operator;
- a
45% stake in Ireland’s TV3 Television Network
- 10.3%
of Australia’s Seven Network
- a
4.99% stake in Arsenal Football Club
-
a 9.99% stake in Liverpool Football Club
In
September 2004 it announced the sale of its 5.5% interest
in French electronics group Thomson S.A for £172m,
unloading its 18% interest in Village
Roadshow (inherited from Granada) during September and
October of that year. In February 2005 it announced sale
of its Superhire prop hire business (acquired by Carlton
in 1984) to Space Holdings for £8.2m. In April of
the following year it unloaded Granada Learning to US
private equity firm Veronis Suhler Stevenson in a deal
worth up to £53m. In August 2006 it announced that
it had elected not to exercise its pre-emptive rights
to purchase TV3, selling its 45% stake to private equity
group Doughty Hanson.
In 2007 it sold its stakes in the Liverpool and Arsenal
football clubs. The same year saw ITV unload its ITV has
sold its one-third stake in MUTV, Manchester United's
television channel MUTV, for £3.3m. That stake was
acquired by the football club, which already owned a third
of the channel (the remaining third is held by BSkyB subsidiary
Sky Ventures).
studies
Studies of ITV Plc's predecessors are highlighted in the
Carlton and Granada profiles elsewhere on this site. ITN
is explored in the valedictory And Finally ... ? The
News From ITN (London: Politico's 2005) by Richard
Lindley.
landmarks
2003 merger of Granada and Carlton
as ITV plc
2004 agreement that ITV plc will acquire SMG
25% shareholding in GMTV Ltd (breakfast television) for
£31.0m
2004 sells Carlton Books arm
2004 sells 5.5% interest in French electronics group Thomson
S.A for £172m
2004 sells 18% stake in Village
Roadshow for £36m
2004 sells special effects arm Moving Picture Company
(MPC) to Thomson for £52.7m
2004 acquires rights to manage and market Fox News archive
(31,500 hours of Fox News content, inc Movietone news
archives)
2005 sells Superhire props hire operation
2005 pays £30m for 5% stake in Arsenal football
club
2005 buys 33% stake in UK digital terrestrial television
multiplex operator SDN (10 UK digital terrestrial TV channels
including Five, QVC, UKTV Gold, ABC1, Discovery and Cartoon
Network) from United for £35m
2005 agrees to pay up to £175m for Friends Reunited
2006 sells Granada Learning to Veronis Suhler Stevenson
in deal worth up to £53m
2006 sells 11.6% stake in Australian Seven
Network for £87m
2006 sells 45% stake in Irish terrestrial broadcaster
TV3 for £70m
2006 BSkyB buys 17.9% stake in ITV for £940m
2007 ITV sells 10% stake in Liverpool for £17.4m
2007 sells 9.9% stake in Arsenal football club to Stan
Kroenke for £65m
2007 sells sold its stake in Manchester United's television
channel MUTV for £3.3m
2008 sells 50% of ailing cinema advertising subsidiary
Carlton Screen Advertising to Digital Cinema Media, new
joint venture company owned by Odeon Cinemas and Cineworld
Group.
://:
|
|
