Carlton and Granada are planning to create a division combining their regional, national and international news operations pending the approval of their merger by the Competition Commission.
The two ITV companies, who will learn on August 26th whether their merger is to be given the green light from the regulator, are understood to have drafted an official merger document, which will be published later this year if the deal is given the go-ahead.
The news division will sit alongside the production and broadcasting operations of ITV, and each will have its own chief executive, according to reports today.
Granada chairman Charles Allen and Carlton director Michael Green will battle it out for the top posts.
However, the possible structure of a merged ITV leaves unresolved the issue of the broadcasters' advertising sales, which is the main sticking point for the merger.
The two companies have refused to spin-off their sales operations as separate companies. Together the sales operations for the broadcaster would controversially command more than 50 per cent of total UK TV advertising revenue.
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