LONDON -- The ITV network has accused BSkyB of trying to overcharge for carriage of ITV and ITV2 on SkyDigital.
In the latest salvo in the battle between the terrestrial net and the satcaster, ITV has told the British government that BSkyB is asking for more than £20 million ($29 million) to broadcast the ITV channels, describing the price as almost pure profit.
ITV is in negotiations with BSkyB, but initially withheld its channels from SkyDigital, now with over 5 million subs, in a attempt to boost the fortunes of ONdigital, a terrestrial platform co-owned by the two big ITV companies, Carlton Communications and Granada Media. with over 1 million customers.
That strategy seems to have backfired in that ITV is dramatically losing share in BSkyB homes.
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