PM LOBBIED AS ITV CRISIS GROWS

BECTU HAVE urged Tony Blair to defend programme choice and quality on ITV.
Union concerns about the future of ITV have been raised within the last fortnight by a series of announcements underlining the cash crisis caused by a drop in advertising income.
In a letter outlining the union's views on the Communications White Paper, the prime minister is urged to continue with an ITV licensing system that guarantees a full range of programmes, including regional output.
The union call for standards to be maintained through government regulation was made in response to the lobbying campaign by ITV companies for ownership rules to be relaxed.
Company executives hope to cut costs by continuing mergers of regional ITV licences, a process that has already led to hundreds of job losses.
BECTU have expressed concern about further centralisation of ITV - the channel is effectively controlled by two large companies at present - and believes that any changes in ownership rules should be accompanied by a firm requirement for diverse, top-quality, programmes.
Carlton and Granada, the dominant forces in ITV, are suffering income problems on two fronts - the collapse of advertising income caused by the world economic slowdown, and the costs of keeping the loss-making ITV digital service going. (CD)