Between the Lines: Don't Underestimate the Pulling Power of Itv1 and Its Possible Boost to Smg

Summary

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LAST week there were rumours of a bid for SMG by Ulster television (UTV), touched off by a story in the Observer newspaper. SMG owns the Scottish and Grampian ITV1 franchises, Virgin Radio and the Pearl & Dean advertising business. The company's share price has fallen by 40 per cent in two years as the main ITV1 network has shed viewers and advertising revenues to the new digital media.

However, it looks like the Observer story was more speculation than hard fact. The article quoted a "city source" as saying that Ulster's chief executive, John McCann, had "crunched the numbers before and if SMG's shares fall much lower, he could well have a go".

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Between the Lines: Don't Underestimate the Pulling Power of Itv1 and Its Possible Boost to Smg

If SMG's numbers fall far enough, they'd be in play to lots of folk including (perhaps) Ulster. However, UTV's current plan is to diversify as fast as possible away from television towards safer pastures such as commercial radio - it is already the biggest player in the...

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