It had to happen

SO, two become one; or casting the mind back, those dozen ITV companies of blessed memory have been subsumed into one giant business with one set of shareholders, one set of interests and one boss.

Put like that, the Trade Secretary's decision today to approve the merger of Carlton and Granada seems crazy. At school we are taught that monopolies are bad for consumers. But for those who hark back to yesteryear's regional TV businesses with a distinctive local flavour to their programming, the news must seem like the end of a glorious tradition.

Trust New Labour, you can hear them saying, with its abhorrence of everything unique and wonderful about these islands. And of all the ministers, it was one of the driest, most slavishly Blairite who made the announcement.

But Patricia Hewitt had no choice. The broadcasting world and the City have moved on. Not necessarily through choice: the advent of multi-channelled technology, of a new, aggressive competitor who cared little for our heritage in the shape of Sky has made the case for one ITV company inevitable.

In the post-Murdoch era there's no place for small TV operations vying with each other for the right to broadcast. BSkyB will have a market value three times that of the new single ITV entity.

The ITV companies have been acting as one for a while. What they haven't been doing is selling advertising together and today's verdict enables them to do just that. But will the consumer suffer?

At present the companies' combined advertising share is 52% while their audience share, even with an improvement in quality and home-grown shows of late, is still only 37%.

It's these figures that indicate the need for merger. A resurgent, more commercially-minded BBC, coupled with BSkyB, have made the case. The choice was to ban the alliance which would have left two small players struggling to compete, or to insist on restrictions but allowing a main plank, bringing together the sales operations, to survive.

Whether Michael Green and Charles Allen are the right people to lead ITV from here is open to question. Their track record, certainly working together, does not inspire and the City may now press for both to go.

The new ITV remains small: American broadcasters have far bigger fish to fry. Blame Mr Murdoch, blame globalisation, blame technology and hope the new ITV will offer some semblance of competition.