Ch4 and Five to start merger talks

net1

Senior executives from Channel 4 and RTL, the pan-European broadcaster behind Five, will meet this week to discuss a possible tie-up between the two broadcasters. Luke Johnson, Channel 4's Chairman, and CEO Andy Duncan, have scheduled talks with Gerhard Zeiler, CEO of RTL, at this month's Edinburgh international television festival.

Insiders said that Channel 4 was considering a number of strategic options, including several alternatives to a merger or joint venture with Five.

The Channel 4 board is understood to have asked UBS, the investment bank, for advice on developing a 5-to-10-year funding and market strategy enabling the broadcaster to withstand the explosion in multi-channel television and the anticipated switch-over from analogue transmissions to digital signals.

Ahead of the latest talks with RTL, Channel 4 announced a £20 million (E30 million) increase in its forecast programme spending this year to £469 million.