The ITC has received 2,227 written comments on the 40 TV franchise applications over the past six weeks.
Although the ITC is not yet issuing any details of comments received, a number are known to have come from the ITV companies themselves, who have taken the opportunity to analyse their rivals’ bids.
Granada TV submitted a weighty document on Mersey TV’s bid, and LWT, Thames and HTV are also known to have filed comments.
Meanwhile, speculation continues on the size of the cash bids, and who is likely to retain their franchise.
Industry consultants and financial experts agree that as many as 11 of the 13 incumbents facing opposition may have been outbid.
Carlton and CPV-TV are thought to have put in higher bids than Thames, and it has been claimed that both have put in bids in excess of £50m. Similarly, London Independent Broadcasting is understood to have submitted a higher bid than LWT.
Amongst the incumbents, Tyne Tees, Anglia and TVS are thought to have bid too high. The TVS franchise attracted almost 500 comments from the public, and the company itself has admitted to making “an agressive bid”.
Reports in this week’s Sunday papers suggested that Granada is tipped to retain its franchise, with media analysts questioning the logistics of the North West Television bid.
NWTV is promising over 50 hours a week of local programming, which is both expensive and less likely to attract high audiences.
In addition, the NWTV bid is founded on a promise by merchant bank Baring Brothers that they will place a 30% stake with investors should the company be successful in its bid. This throws a veil of uncertainty over the financial stability of the company.
In general, incumbents are understood to have been modest in their cash bids. Collusion amongst the ITV companies has long been a matter of speculation, since it is hardly likely that the ITC will risk instability by awarding too many franchises to outsiders.
The incumbents’ strategy of concentrat- ing on local and special – interest programming seems aimed at encouraging the ITC to bring the “quality thresh- hold” clause into play. The ITC will begin considering the cash bids in August, and it is open to speculation how far their judgement will be influenced by the comments they have received from the public, whose interests all claim to serve.
