It is the culmination of the whole monetary policy process and you get a buzz every
Posted in General on 22. Aug, 2010
“It is the culmination of the whole monetary policy process, and you get a buzz every month when you send out the message.” Just before noon, I spotted him fiddling nervously with a bottle of Tippex as the tension built up. The text had by now been prepared, and read thoroughly again and again. It was ready to transmit.He admitted that part of the excitement “must derive from the fact that if it goes wrong, there are fairly dire consequences”. He added: “Fortunately, it has never gone wrong.” And it didn’t go wrong on this Thursday. Two clicks of the mouse later, exactly 10 seconds after midday, and the world knew that the UK’s base rates had risen by 0.25 per cent.* Lesley Curwen presents ‘The Old Lady’, a three-part series starting tomorrow at 8.00pm on Radio 4.. I don’t know if Stephen Byers is good at shorthand. But if he were, he could not have delivered a more favourable report for Granada Media than if it had been dictated by Charles Allen himself
I don’t know if Stephen Byers is good at shorthand.
But if he were, he could not have delivered a more favourable report for Granada Media than if it had been dictated by Charles Allen himself.
Of course Mr Byers did not write the 200-page Competition Commission report into the share-up of ITV – he merely accepted the findings. But anyone who thinks this was a report free from political influence only has to look at the lists of witnesses, which includes more northern Labour MPs than you would usually see if you turned up at the House of Commons on a wet Wednesday afternoon.And the fact that Granada’s creator supreme, Gerry Robinson, has the ear of Culture secretary, Chris Smith, might have helped Coronation Street’s maker no end.There are some barbs at Granada – the implication that Meridian is a more important franchise than Yorkshire is particularly irksome – but in the end the regulators have delivered a scenario in which Granada has more to gain than either Carlton or United News & Media.In a sense Carlton and United should be rewarded for their bravery and willingness to force the issue of ITV consolidation We all know it has to happen. ITV is no longer the only commercial TV game in town – no longer the “licence to print money”, as Lord Thomson so foolishly put it.Instead we are seeing challenges from digital TV, where research is showing that the amount of ITV watched, once you get your choice of 101 channels, falls dramatically.Costs are also rising. For example, the amount ITV has paid for Premiership TV highlights is quite astonishing, and almost impossible to justify. ITV may soon be in the position of the BBC, not being able to afford to compete with the Skies and NTLs of this world for top-flight rights.So to deal with this there has to be consolidation. Where there once were 14 ITV companies, now there are three-and-a-half (that half is Scottish Media Group, which is only still independent because Granada has been distracted from buying it by other issues) Carlton and United argued there should be two.
Granada argues there should ultimately only be one – a point Chris Smith apparently agrees with.Granada, however, thought it better diplomacy not to push the issue. But when Carlton and United decided to go for broke, Granada put its oar in But has it scooped the prize?I tend to think so. But saying that the price of a Carlton-United merger is to sell off Meridian, Mr Byers has undermined much of the commercial logic of the Carlton-United deal and handed Granada a great opportunity.Either Carlton-United sells Meridian – which delivers nearly half United’s ITV revenue – or it calls off its merger, leaving either prey to a Granada bid. If they sell Meridian, Granada is surely the only serious bidder.The only hope for resolution is to tempt someone like BSkyB or Pearson to bid for Granada Media But this is almost impossible to do. The group is still 80 per cent-owned by Granada Compass and is (over)valued at a cool £7.5bn by an excitable stock market. I see no bid on the horizon.Michael Green and Clive Hollick will have to strike a deal with Charles and Gerry if they want their dream realised.Warnings rain downSo it has arrived The first profit warning because of the terrible weather. Admittedly, the errant company was Railtrack, which also cited a rash of suicides and flourishing buddleia for its dreadful performance.
But surely the misery of wind, rain and unseasonably cold fronts will bring more out of the woodwork.This week retailers Debenhams and Marks & Spencer will make statements. It takes little seasonal variation to persuade a retailer to moan The leisure companies will not be far behind. Expect the likes of Whitbread or Bass to say gale- force winds kept punters out of the pubs.And then there is Airtours It has just had a profit warning But surely it should be a beneficiary of this weather. All I can think about at the moment is getting away to the sun.
I cannot understand why our biggest holiday firm is not coining it in.Diageo’s stout wordsIn the beginning there was the rumour And the rumour was that Diageo was selling Burger King It was denied. Yet it came to pass.And then the word of the street was that it would sell Pillsbury Diageo pooh-poohed that. It was true.Now we all believe that Guinness may also be on the block. Diageo is saying the famous stout will remain part of the drinks group’s portfolio.As the slogan says, not all things in black and white make sense.j.nisse independent.co.uk.