ITV 'victims' look to Chrysalis

Three former senior ITV executives, all widely considered to have been victims of ITV's recent woes, most notably the ITV Digital fiasco have reportedly launched a £48 million pound bid for the Chrysalis TV group.
David Liddiment, the former programming chief at ITV, Steve Morrison the former chief executive of Granada and Jules Burns, former managing director of operations at Granada have been in talks to take over the television production group since last autumn and the deal could be concluded by June.
Chrysalis TV Group is one of the biggest production houses in the UK, ranked eighth in Broadcast’s recent indie list, producing 570.5 hours of broadcast programmes in 2002, 37% of which were new commissions. It had a turnover of £59.6 million.
The group is responsible for successful shows such as 'Midsomer Murders' and 'Ultimate Force' for ITV, 'Richard and Judy' for Channel 4 and 'Fifth Gear' for five.
Chrysalis, whose interests span radio, television and publishing, said they were in advanced talks with the team, backed by an unnamed investor and put together by the consultancy MBI Group.
(GB)