Still north of the Border, the corporate situation at Ulster Television gets curiouser and curiouser, with Canadian TV group Can West making it clear to Scottish Media Group that it also has long-term intentions towards UTV.

After Can West's buying in the market last Friday, it has more than 12 per cent of UTV, while Scottish Media's stake stands at 18 per cent.

There is no united opinion on what exactly is going on with the stake-building by the two companies, but there is a prevailing view that the Scots are more likely to make a bid than the Canadians. Scottish Media owns Scottish Television and Grampian, and UTV would fit very handily into that portfolio of independent stations.

Can West is the dominant shareholder in the new station TV3 and is clearly taking a strong management role at the fledgling station, as evidenced by the appointment of Can West executive Rick Hetherington as managing director.

The Canadians have certainly put themselves in a position of influence in UTV, as together with UTV chairman John McGuckian who holds more than 8 per cent, in excess of 20 per cent of the shares are held by two powerful groupings who could resist any compulsory acquisition of their shares in any takeover situation.