ITV partners Carlton Communications and Granada revealed their plans to merge last week, ending almost two years of speculation about the future of the troubled ITV network.
Advertisers and rival TV stations are concerned that if the two merge their sales houses as part of the deal, they will be able to force up the price of TV airtime sales.
Overall ITV controls 55% of UK advertising revenues with 49% of that accounted for by Carlton and Granada's individual sales houses. The remaining 6% in ITV sales is made up by SMG, Ulster TV and the Channel TV companies.
ITV chiefs are looking at ways of realising cost savings from the merger. Charles Allen, chairman of Granada and prospective chief executive of the merged company, and Carlton chairman Michael Green, who will become chairman of the merged company, say the combined group would achieve annual savings of £35m. They believe this figure would increase to £55m a year if Carlton and Granada's airtime sales houses also merged.
But the two companies will have to convince the Office of Fair Trading that combining their sales houses will not be anti-competitive.
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