Gov't assures industry over ITV consolidation.(Brief Article)

The Government has dismissed the advertising industry's fears that the creation of a single ITV company will drive up the cost of advertising.

In a consultation document on media ownership, ministers paved the way for an eventual merger between Carlton and Granada by promising to scrap the 15 per cent limit on the share of the ITV audience. It said the rule preventing a single company owning the two London ITV licences should be abolished.

Acknowledging the ad industry's criticism of a White Paper published last December, this week's document said some respondents had expressed concern that consolidation in the ITV network could create a dominant market …