ITV announces merger of US operations

MediaWeek, Media Week, Friday, 07 November 2003, 12:00am,

The Daily Telegraph's has cut its Beebwatch column "for the time being" but said it would continue to monitor the BBC, which the newspaper had alleged consistently shows a leftwing bias.

Carlton and Granada have taken their merger plans overseas, announcing the amalgamation of their operations in the United States under the name Granada America, reports say.

Under the terms announced, Carlton America will join with Grenada Entertainment USA and Grenada USA to form a new corporate entity, Grenada America.

The plan was revealed in Los Angeles by Simon Shaps, who is to head up ITV's new production division. He said that the new US arm of ITV would have combined revenues of about £70m.

The move follows the Government's approval last month of the £4.6bn merger of the two companies, which is expected to be completed early next year.

This article was first published on Media Week