So, if Liberty brought back full regionality and local pres to ITV- you would still think it was bad news?
Your living in cloud coo coo land if you think liberty would do such a thing.
Fact is no company is going to waste in bring in a lot extra costs for little gain, especial since the whole network now follows the same line up. If there brought back local CA etc for around the news and also actully local promgramme then I would be all for that.
Last edited by A former member on 3 September 2014 3:07pm
Just a note that NO formal announcement has been made either by Liberty Global or ITV about any discussions. I'd have expected something this morning on the London Stock Exchange if this press speculation had any validity. The Financial Conduct Authority will almost certainly have asked both parties to clarify immediately following yesterday's extensive comments.
I don't think Liberty Global can afford to buy the whole of ITV at the moment, and the price will only rise once ITV are able to charge providers for the main ITV channel.
Price is not an issue, if LG can persuade it's shareholders to increase the capital of the company and pay for ITV in a shares of LG and Cash mix the deal could be done. The demerger of Vodafone's Verizon Wireless stake being the typical model to use. say £12BN funded by £3BN Cash and £9BN Stock is easily achievable.
I'm cautiously happy to hear this news, as I feel that BSkyB as Britain's biggest satellite Broadcaster (plus the biggest pay TV operator) should never have been able to buy one share of a rival company that is Britain's biggest commercial Broadcaster (ITV) in my opinion. I feel it's not good for competition, no matter how small the shareholding.
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Err. So its a bad thing, in your opinion, for the largest pay TV operator (sky) to have a stake in ITV - but it's ok for the largest cable pay TV operator to have one.
It's more the Broadcasting side of BSkyB I was thinking of. Obviously BSkyB make their own programming and run their own channels (which are hugely successful) therefore a stake in ITV could potentially place competition, News plurality, advertising competition etc at risk. I believe this is no longer the case with Virgin (Liberty).
As for Regional News etc improvements IF Liberty or NBC take over...Local News is big in America so you never know. They could see Regional News/Current Affairs programming like Sky see their News channel...worth making a loss to build a better reputation (yes I know that sounds daft these days the way Sky are perceived by some). As for fully Regional ITV stations...that Boat sailed long ago.
I don't think Liberty Global can afford to buy the whole of ITV at the moment, and the price will only rise once ITV are able to charge providers for the main ITV channel.
Presumably if Liberty owned ITV charging Virgin Media would no longer be an issue (and Sky might just relish a chance to go back to the old "press TV then 3" days).
It's an odd change of strategy for Liberty though. They're a carriage play not a content play - indeed they've just divested themselves of the Chello/CBS channels (which even though they had part ownership of they never even carried in Ireland, where they were exclusive to Sky). Malone's never shown interest in owning a terrestrial network in Europe before.
Worth noting BTW that while Liberty is US-owned, it is almost entirely based in Europe and built on the UPC cable network which started in Holland. Malone's US cable assets were seperate and sold off years ago, AFAIK they are now part of AT&T.
RS
Rob_Schneider
That's never going to happen. The likelihood is they'll leave STV until we know what the hell is going to happen with Scotland, but UTV could be a likely target, with the radio assets getting sold off. The Irish media giant Communicorp have recently made inroads into UK commercial radio to pick up the assets Global needed to rid themselves off due to CC concerns. They would be well poised to pick up much of UTV Media's radio portfolio and thus bring Heart, Capital and Smooth to areas where it isn't yet available.
That's assuming, by the way, that LG wouldn't actually WANT the radio side!
Market conditions have changed radically over the past seven weeks, I'd say any plans if there are any, are very much on the back burner until at least next year. No company is going to launch a politically sensitive bid into a market where the FTSE has been swinging over 100 points a day and the Dow almost 700.
:-(
A former member
Does that not make it better to buyout companies? sweep in on the cheap.
Does that not make it better to buyout companies? sweep in on the cheap.
More lack of understanding .... They don't have the cash to do it. Any bid will be in new shares of Liberty Global. Obtaining authorisation from their shareholders to radically increase the number of Liberty Global shares (to give to ITV plc shareholders in exchange for their ITV shares), and the inevitable initial loss of value of their (Liberty Global Shareholders) holdings, wouldn't run in the current climate.
:-(
A former member
What ever happened to the good old days of buying companies with cash and gold. I dare say that how the RBS went out the window.
