ITV into Channel 3 1: The last Hurrah?
William Phillips
Institutionally and economically, ITV is closer to a nervous breakdown than at any time in its history. Four of its sixteen member companies have been dismissed, including the largest; others are sacking staff wholesale. The programme supply chain has been disrupted by the forced employment of outside producers. Advertising has slumped worse than at any time since the mid-1970s. Recovery will be muted by the onrush of satellite TV competition and the emergence of Channel Four, and possibly Channel Five, as competitors for ad revenue.
ITV contractors...