ITV proposes merger with C4 and Five

From James Robinson in Media Guardian:

ITV has drawn up a radical plan for a three-way merger with Channel 4 and Channel Five that would prompt one of the biggest shakeups in British broadcasting history.

Executives from ITV, which is expected to report a huge drop in profits when it unveils its annual results for 2008 next week, believe merging the UK's three main advertiser-funded commercial broadcasters may be the only way to guarantee its survival in the face of the most challenging market conditions for a generation

Update (27.02.2009): From Broadcast:

Channel 4 chairman Luke Johnson has said he would rather see the channel fully privatised than suffer the "part privatisation by stealth" of a merger with a rival broadcaster.

Speaking at the Media Summit the day after ITV proposed a merger with C4 and Five, Johnson reiterated his preference of a joint venture with BBC Worldwide to support C4's future as a commercially-funded public service broadcaster.