Any UTV move must wait

Granada Media and Canadian group CanWest are now partners in TV3, so the logic is that Granada Media will now buy out CanWest's 29.9 per cent stake in Ulster Television as a further step towards strengthening its position in the British independent television sector. Or is that really the case?

As a non-EU company, CanWest is forbidden from taking control of an EU television station, so it makes sense to cement its relationship with Granada Media by selling its stake to Granada. Or so the supposed logic goes.

But anybody waiting for Granada Media to swoop on Ulster TV to cement its position as a major player in Irish broadcasting may have to wait. The proposed merger between Granada Media and United News & Media's television businesses will mean that Granada will be well over the 15 per cent market share that the British regulations on independent television ownership allow.

Granada plans to comply with the regulations by selling off the Welsh station HTV, a move that will bring its market share down to 14.9 per cent. Ulster TV has a market share of 0.9 per cent and that seems to rule out any immediate deal between Granada and CanWest on the ownership of Ulster TV.

But the fact that Granada and CanWest set up a joint venture for their combined 90 per cent of TV3 suggests the two companies have plans that may extend beyond TV3 and that those plans involve Ulster TV.

In the longer term, possible easing of the market share ceiling and EU ownership laws might allow Granada and CanWest to combine to jointly take control of Ulster TV.

Davy's Florence O'Donoghue has suggested that digital terrestrial television in Ireland will also be affected by the Granada investment in TV3. Granada owns half ONDigital and will be able to bring its expertise to TV3 once digital terrestrial television is launched.

There will be six multiplex licences awarded with the arrival of digital terrestrial television - four going to commercial operations, one being gifted to RTE and the other being gifted jointly to TV3 and TG4.

This, says the Davy analyst, will see the Irish television sector undergo massive changes. It's pretty safe to assume that Granada - which has made its plans to expand into the rest of Europe plain - intends to be at the forefront of that change.

Incidentally, is the Shelbourne Hotel - which, according to Gerry Robinson, has the best pint of stout in Dublin - about to change hands? Current Account noticed a report in the British press last weekend that Granada - the hotel and catering bit left behind after the demerger of Granada Media - is talking to a French hotels giant about a sale of Granada's "prestige" hotels.