±±¾©Èü³µpk10

Dyke, who resigned from the BBC after the damning revelations in the Hutton Report, has been jobless until now.

He has been linked with ITV since April when he had a meeting with chairman Sir Peter Burt. It was believed that Dyke may have been preparing to take over Charles Allen's position as chief executive, which Burt was forced to play down after the meeting.

According to other reports, Dyke, a former managing director of LWT, has expressed an interest in targeting ITV for some time now and has been contacting potential investors.

Dyke's appointment as Apax media team adviser will be to examine possible media acquisitions with ITV seemingly the most likely target, although BBC Worldwide, the corporation's commercial arm believed to be worth £2bn, has not been ruled out.

Other advisers for Apax Partners include: Burt; Stephen Grabiner, former managing director of the Telegraph Group; and Neil Blackley, the former Merrill Lynch media analyst.

Apax joined forces with Candover this year in attempt to bid for the Telegraph Group, which was won by the Barclay brothers. Apax also put in a bid for ITV last year but could not match the Granada and Carlton merger price.

If you have an opinion on this or any other issue raised on Brand Republic, join the debate in the .