The Competition Commission has extended its own deadline for investigating an ITV merger by two months to August 26. However, advertisers and agencies have only until June 25 to respond to the ITV proposals, revealed by the Commission on Tuesday.
The first suggests the auctioning of a quarter of ITV airtime in the open market. The second would allow advertisers to reduce their annual ITV marketing share commitment in line with falls in ITV audiences, yet still keep their negotiated discounts.
MediaVest chief executive Jim Marshall said the concessions failed to reassure advertisers. "They take us into commodity broking, which can be commercially dangerous," he said. "Auctioning would still allow ITV to dominate the market."
The Incorporated Society of British Advertisers said the deadline extension indicated that the Competition Commission remains unsatisfied.
.jpg)
.jpg)