‘The UK needs some media free of US control’: Comcast’s move for ITV starts to focus minds

With public service broadcasters starting to look like ‘endangered species’, many want Channel 4 and BBC to work more closely

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he prospect of Comcast taking over ITV has prompted concerns about the impact on British public service broadcasting, a fact that Channel 4’s new chief executive, moving from a senior post at Sky, will be all too well aware.

Sky’s advertising chief, Priya Dogra, will now be expected to lead the charge to block her former employer’s takeover plan to protect Channel 4.

The proposed combination of Sky and ITV’s broadcasting operation would leave Channel 4 a relative commercial minnow when it comes to TV and digital ad sales, reigniting talk of the need to revisit some form of tie-up with the BBC for long-term survival.