Quote:
Originally Posted by Alan Fry
This is the next step towards a takeover of STV Group plc by ITV plc!
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ITV would need to spend something like £40 million to buy STV, plus a fighting fund because it's unlikely the board of STV would agree to it, so it would be a hostile takeover. Plus, STV is currently a loss-making business, so ITV would have to explain to its own shareholders why this was a good use of their money. There has been takeover talk in the past but nothing for some years now.
That aside, I wish ITV plc would buy up the whole lot and then initiate mass sackings at Pacific Quay. They are a bunch of muppets, hiding behind their exclusive regional franchises as an excuse to drag their heels over the launch of STV HD (which is still not available by satellite) and showing complete incompetence when it comes to spotting network dramas likely to be of interest to a Scottish audience e.g. (Downton Abbey Season 1 was not shown on STV until just before Season 2 - yet at the time STV held up its decision not to buy it as an example of how good it was at choosing the right material for a Scottish audience).