British regulators today approved the merger between Granada and Carlton on the provision the two take steps to ensure there is sufficient competition in the sale of advertising airtime.
The companies are the dominant shareholders in ITV, and the merged company will control more than half of the country's TV ad market.
The Department of Trade and Industry said the companies mustmake undertakings for so-called behavioural remedies by November 7th.
Advertisers had lobbied for a forced sell-off of Carlton andGranada's advertising sales units, but the companies said such a remedy would have wiped out many of the benefits of the merger.