The report in the Financial Times comes just days after powerful shareholders forced Carlton chairman Green to stand down and withdraw as ITV chairman designate.
The same shareholders, led by Fidelity and Standard Life, now want to see radical cost-cutting to deliver more shareholder value. The FT reports that the investors believe a single ITV company should deliver around £100m in savings, almost double that promised.
Carlton and Granada have said they will save £55m, with £35m in back-office cost cutting and £20m in the combining the two advertising sales houses.
One investor told the paper: "The shareholders believe that without a substantial improvement in the proposed cost savings, ITV's prospects could be in doubt."
The fear is that investors, with their eyes set on short-term gains, want to see the company made attractive to potential US buyers, giving them a fat payday.
More cuts also raises the fear that investment in programming will suffer. Last week, ITV boosted its programming budget for next year by 7% immediately following the go ahead for the merger by the government.
News of the latest shareholder moves follows reports yesterday that investment banks, including Credit Suisse First Boston, are thought to be looking at making a bid for Carlton that could jeopardise its £4.2bn merger with Granada.
Today, Green is meeting up with his counterpart, Granada chief executive Charles Allen, in the first meeting of the two since Green was dramatically ousted.
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