STV is reported to be preparing a third legal case against the provider of much of its programming, ITV, this time in pursuit of an estimated £5 million – £15 million.
Yesterday’s Sunday Times Scotland and today’s Scotsman newspapers say the Glasgow-based broadcaster is expected to claim it is losing out on advertising income derived from the repeat broadcasting of ITV network programmes on the likes of digital channel, ITV2.
Despite both companies last week agreeing to the commissioning of further episodes of the STV-made TV crime drama, Taggart, they are locked in various legal disputes with each other. ITV say they are owed money from STV towards the making of programmes for the network but not shown on STV.
Meanwhile, STV has two claims against ITV, one being a counter-claim to the ITV one, for outstanding advertising revenue, the other to do with New Media Rights involving ITV and the likes of BT Vision and Virgin Media.
The ITV claim is for £38 million gross, or net – says STV – of between £15 million and £20 million, if outstanding invoices from STV to ITV are taken into account.
