TV company, stv, is holding fire on commenting on an Office of Fair Trading ruling on advertising sales on channel three.
Yesterday, the OFT said it was going to recommend to the Competition Commission a relaxation of obligations required of ITV plc when negotiating advertising contracts.
Overseen by an independent adjudicator, Contracts Rights Renewal (CRR) requires ITV plc doesn’t abuse its monopoly position, created when it was formed five years ago, following the merger of the Granada and Carlton parts of the ITV network.
Prior to the formation of ITV plc, advertisers could play off one part of the network against another when it came to negotiating prices. CRR is an obligation that ITV honours rolling-over contracts dating back to before the merger.
stv is not a part of ITV plc, but derives some of its revenue from negotiations undertaken at an ITV-wide level.
Said a spokesperson: “stv will consider the detail of the report and respond to the consultation in due course.”
