RTL/ITV: The hoops to climb

The chance that an auction may get going for ITV has improved following RTL’s reported interest in the UK broadcaster. Sure, investors can’t count on RTL making a firm offer. RTL has looked at ITV before - and done nothing. Yet RTL remains ITV’s natural owner. It is Europe’s largest free-to-air broadcaster. It knows how to run such businesses. It has even said that its position in the UK, via the Five channel, Britain’s junior free-to-air TV station, is smaller than it would like. Most important...