In reports, P&G, which spent £138m on advertising in the UK last year, has said that it could look at cutting out ITV from its advertising schedule. Talk of the merger has caused widespread fear among advertisers and media buyers that the price of advertising on ITV could go up.
In the Independent on Sunday, Gary Cunningham, head of external relations at P&G, said: "If ITV were to merge, one would have to reconsider one's options. ITV is a very important way of reaching huge audiences quickly, so it is difficult to eliminate from the schedule. But yes, we would be more inclined to look elsewhere."
P&G advertises a vast array of brands on UK television, including paper products Bounty and Charmin, and Tampax. Its largest rival, Unilever, signed a £320m, four-year advertising deal with ITV earlier in the year.
Even before Friday's announcement of "advanced merger plans, which could still be scuppered by regulators and industry outcry, ITV advertisers were growing increasingly unhappy with the fact that audiences at the channel were declining, and little seemed to be being done in terms of adapting schedules and developing more attractive programming.
However, while P&G has made the threat to abandon ITV, in the US the consumer goods giant has confirmed that television is still its number one method of building a brand.
In the US, P&G is the second largest advertiser, behind General Motors, and spent $1.12bn (£720m) on TV advertising alone in 2001. However, as with terrestrial networks in the UK, P&G is diversifying its spend and using smaller cable channels to reach its target audiences.
According to reports, P&G is considering doing some advertising that will feature its corporate name, as well as its brands.
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