Julia Jordan, executive director of business and operations at UKTV, said: "ITV has a huge share of the TV market and its interests are in protecting that, rather than expanding [the market]."
Speaking at a Westminster Media Forum event entitled ‘Measuring and regulating the UK television market’, Jordan suggested TV trading needed to break with historic practices.
"We need to face up to tomorrow and stop trying to take over with the past," she said.
UKTV, a BBC Worldwide and Virgin Media joint venture, last weekto Channel 4, following the BSkyB purchase of Virgin Media Television.
While Andy Barnes, sales director at Channel 4, stopped short of calling for an immediate overhaul of the ad market, he said the current TV ad market was "schizophrenic" and needed to anticipate the impact of the "huge expansion in media".
Barnes said: "We need to make sure we shape that future so we are at the cutting edge of what is possible, rather than hanging on."
Simon Pitts, controller of strategy at ITV, said he was worried that a full market review might take a long time, and cited the review of Contract Rights Renewal, which took three years.
The way ITV currently trades its airtime is controlled by the CRR restrictions put in place after the merger of Carlton and Granada in 2003. ITV’s attempt to get them lifted was thwarted by the .
Pitts said: "Ninety per cent of investment in programming comes from traditional broadcasters [BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Five]. Regulation is hurting us, but the new government has an opportunity to look afresh and we really hope the ministers are going to do something."
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