MEDIA: SPOTLIGHT - The media operators who are sniffing around ITV.

Jeremy Lee assesses likely bidders for the merged ITV, post-Communications Act.

At the end of December, the Communications Act comes into effect.

It paves the way for a non-European Union company to bid for ITV, which, subject to the trade secretary Patricia Hewitt's ruling next week, should by then be a merged company.

Despite its recent woes, ITV is a valuable broadcasting asset, particularly for the US networks. The attractions are obvious, with pundits predicting the advertising recession should be over some time next year, ITV's position as the largest UK commercial TV station means the cash could once again be rolling in.

ITV is also ripe for restructuring, with flabby management and commissioning structures that would benefit from a complete overhaul. Assuming that a successful bidder gets past Lord Puttnam's plurality tests, US broadcasters would be able to cut costs further by offloading their content on to the channel.

A pounds 4 billion-plus asking price for ITV is relatively small change to the American media behemoths. To put this in perspective, some could buy ITV with the proceeds of their first quarter's sales. But which companies or individuals have a cheque book big enough?

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