LONDON (Brand Republic) - ONdigital is to be rebranded as ITV Digital following a major restructuring at ITV which will enable the commercial TV station to offer integrated online, free-to-air and pay-TV services.
The overhaul, aimed at cutting costs and increasing subscriber numbers, will see ITV Digital broadcast ONdigital鈥檚 existing free-to-air and pay-TV channels, along with a proposed pay-per-view sports channel. It will also make it a more forceful opponent to its much larger rival, Sky Digital.
The online activities of Carlton, Granada and ITV will all be merged into ITV.com. ITV aims to cut costs by combining duplicated divisions across the ITV companies such as group purchasing, transmission services and telecoms buying.
The terms of the restructuring will be officially unveiled on Wednesday, while details of exact cost savings and job losses are expected later in the year.
The enlarged ITV network is to be headed up by current ONdigital CEO Stuart Prebble, who becomes responsible for the entire ITV brand. He will fill the post left vacant by the departure of Richard Eyre 18 months ago.
The move is expected to re-ignite speculation that the ownership of ITV will be brought under one roof once media ownership rules are relaxed.
The government has signalled that it will abolish legislation that prevents one company from controlling more than a 15% share of the national TV audience.
It would also do away with the rule that stops one company from owning the London weekday franchise, currently held by Carlton, and the London Weekend Television licence, held by Granada.
Carlton and Granada are in support of the government鈥檚 proposals which would allow them to merge, creating a £10bn company which could compete on a global scale.