Last month, from European broadcaster RTL for £103.5m, after an intense period of speculation.
Speaking after ITV’s results were revealed today (3 August), Crozier said: "We did take a look at it. In terms of fitting in with our strategy Five could have been applicable in our objective to maximise share of revenue from the market."
However, he added that despite the strong synergies, Five would have had to have offered ITV "real value", because it did not offer any opportunities to diversify beyond traditional TV spot ads.
As part of the terms of the purchase of Five by Northern & Shell, the company Desmond wholly owns, Northern & Shell agreed to shoulder any regulatory burdens – something ITV could not have offered to do.
Crozier said: "We could not provide RTL with regulatory certainty. For those reasons, we passed."
Earlier today, ITV , which revealed £97m in pre-tax profits and an 8.6% rise in overall revenues.
The broadcaster also announced plans to launch high-definition channels of ITV2, ITV3 and ITV4 as pay channels on the Sky platform in the autumn, and ITV1+1 on free-to-air in the first quarter of next year.
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