[Spencer]

The only issue I recall of the consolodation process of the late 90s/early 00s was when the UBM suite of channels (including Meridian and Anglia) was sold to Granada but HTV had to be separated off and was sold to Carlton for the deal to go through - but I'm sure it was all much more controversial than that. Even in the late 90s I'm quite surprised the big 5 were permitted to buy each other.

I presume the reason Granada had to dispose of HTV was for competition reasons, to stop one company having a dominance over the Channel 3 network. So why were Granada and Carlton subsequently allowed to merge, meaning one company had almost total domination? Did the Competition Commission just roll over and say, ‘Oh, go on then’? My memory of the time is getting a bit hazy now.