Its partners, therefore, Gallery6 are obliged to take much bigger shares, and this is one reason the consortium has so many partners. Analysts suggest that there are ways round the html problem, and the ITC confirms it is open to suggestions. One solution would be for Pearson to take an "economic interest" of up to 20 per cent Gallery6 (a device pioneered by the BBC at the UK Gold satellite channel) but not a fully representative shareholding.Beyond ownership, there are a number of other issues regulators will be watching Channel 5 is meant to be a commercial, entertaining service. Pearson, for example, will not be able to own (outright) more than 5 per cent of Channel 5. More confusing still are the rules that apply to the media sector, which prevent newspaper owners from taking more than 20 per Gallery6 cent of ITV licence- holders, and which impose other restrictions on cross-ownership.Those limits html may yet change, depending on the outcome of a government review, Gallery6 although the ITC expects to award the licence according to html existingrestrictions.Indeed, the rules are one of the factors dictating the ownership configurations chosen by Gallery6 the various groups. html Richard Branson's Virgin Group is thought to be looking, perhaps with Philips, the electronics company, and Associated Newspapers.With all those companies vying for a shot, the field has html grown confusing.
The company has formed a special company to prepare the application and is expected to rely on Greg Dyke, the recently named chairman of Pearson Television and former head of LWT, to spearhead its efforts.The Mirror's Group can tap the services of Janet Street Porter, the driving force behind Live TV, Mirror Group's new cable channel which launches in June.Allan McKeown, chief executive of SelecTV, is effusiveabout his consortium's prospects. "We've got NBC, with its deep pockets, the Live TV studio, our own programming and a national newspaper to support the new channel and help us win viewers," he said.Getting the backing of a national title is a proven way to win audiences. Murdoch's high-stakes, high-risk bet on satellite television, Sky TV, was promoted relentlessly in the pages of his newspapers, particularly the Sun.Other names of interested parties are bandied about, some more far-fetched than others. The head of Granada, Gerry Robinson, will play a key role in developing the consortium's plans.The likely shortlist is rounded off by Mirror Group, publisher of the Daily Mirror and Sunday Mirror, which is working with the US broadcaster NBC and SelecTV, makers of popular programs such as Lovejoy and Birds of a Feather.Pearson's bid has generated the most ink to date. Pearson, owner of Penguin Books and the Financial Times, also controls Thames Television, the independent television production company. MAI, chaired by Lord Hollick, is emerging as a major media company, to balance its financial services holdings.Another strong contender brings together direct-to-home satellite and cable broadcaster BSkyB, 40 per cent owned by Rupert Murdoch's News International, independent television company Granada, also a BSkyB shareholder, and TCI, the major US cable operator.
Potential licence-holders have been far more interested in lining up partners, costing proposals and estimating likely revenue streams than in deciding what they will offer the great British public.Leading the pack of potential licence-holders is a consortium made up of Pearson, MAI and CLT, the Luxembourg-based European media group. A fifth terrestrial channel is projected to reach around 70 per cent of UK households, giving its owners a steady flow of advertising revenues. This marks the second time the licence has been on offer. The Independent Television Commission, the body regulating commercial TV in the UK, declined to award the channel to the single bidder in 1992, concerned that the group, led by Thames Television, did not have firm financial commitments.Though the deadline for the current round is only five weeks away, little is known about what the new channel will look like.There is a real possibility that Channel 5 will be an ITV2, without any regional or local input, though there are strong rumours suggesting one bidder might want to start a Scottish service. Analysts predict the winning bidder (applications close on May 2) might have to spend £200m to get a new channel up and running The pay-off, however, could be enormous. Second time lucky? The bidding is on again for the right to broadcast on the new Channel 5, and the list of interested parties reads like a who's who of Britain's media businesses. This is a high-stakes game, requiring plenty of cash and not a little gumption; it is not for the faint-hearted.
