UTV Media agrees sale of TV stations to ITV for £100m

ITV has agreed a £100m deal to buy the UTV media brand - Northern Ireland's most-watched television channel.

Richard Huntingford, Chairman of UTV Media, said: "The last few years have seen increasing consolidation in the global television sector, creating media companies that span content, broadcast and platform ownership".

Under a licensing deal with regulator Ofcom, UTV in Belfast now broadcasts four hours of news and two hours of other content a week, with the rest of its schedules filled with content from ITV. These will be retained and rebranded "at a later date".

Once it has sold its television business, UTV Media will rename itself to reflect its ongoing business in radio.

ITV is Britain's biggest free-to-air commercial broadcaster.

The acquisition, which is subject to regulatory and shareholder approval, will give ITV control of 13 of the 15 regional television licences.

Adam Crozier, ITV's chief executive said: "We are pleased that they are joining the ITV family".

CMC Markets analyst Jasper Lawler said the deal is good for ITV's market reach in Ireland. UTV Ireland is already the second most watched channel in peak in Ireland and ITV intends to strengthen the channel further with high-quality ITV programming at its core.

Publishing the announcement, UTV said that discussions had begun back in August this year and that once completed, the name "UTV" will disappear in its entirety and be replaced with a new corporate name.

"As the UTV Pension Scheme will remain with UTV Limited, this removes any future funding liability from the continuing group, and our shareholders will benefit from a significant return of cash".

UTV Media's TV business reported operating profit, excluding central costs, of GBP6.6 million in 2014, down from GBP8.9 million in 2013.