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The move follows the creation of the merged ITV yesterday. Sales executives at Channel 4, Five and BSkyB are to meet on Friday to discuss the details of a collaboration that would present a united front to advertisers and media buyers.

Speaking to The Guardian, Nick Milligan, deputy chief executive of Five, claimed that a joint approach was overdue.

"In the 1980s there was a marketing agency for TV but in the 1990s there was a new brash arrogant approach, which served neither advertiser nor broadcasters. Now we need to adopt a softer approach and have a more inclusive and effective means of communicating with the advertiser," he said.

However, Andy Barnes, sales director at Channel 4, claimed that some hurdles remained. "The time is right for the companies to come together. The only hard thing is getting people in the same room and agreeing to an agenda that suits everybody," he said.

According to newspaper reports, informal meetings have been held over the past few months to consider initiatives such as the effectiveness of TV advertising for clients and the effect of personal video recorders on the viewing of commercials.

If the body is successful it could end years of cutthroat competition between the broadcasters. Before the ITV merger, ITV was served by two sales houses controlled by Carlton and Granada. It is believed now that the network's airtime is handled by one sales house, ITV is much more positive about a joint approach. Communications watchdog Ofcom has also recently lifted the barrier on merging sales operations following the ITV merger.

The merged ITV controls about 52% of the market, Channel 4 controls about 20% and Five currently holds 8%.

There was speculation that prior to the ITV merger Channel 4, Five and BSkyB could form a rival sales house but there is not believed to have been recent movement on this.

ITV recently poached Justin Sampson, the former managing director of the RAB, to take the senior position of customer relationship marketing director. Graham Duff, who is seeking to make ITV more advertiser friendly, instigated the move.

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