It'll be a sad day indeed if, as expected, ITV drops out of the FTSE 100 index and loses its blue-chip status, and not just for those people whose pension pot is tied up in the firm.
Over-regulation, the state of the TV ad market and most importantly the restrictions imposed by CRR are to blame for this. It's ironic that in the same week that ITV is due to fall from stock market grace, the chief architect of CRR - former chief executive, Charles Allen - has picked up a number of plum non-executiveships to add to his portfolio.
As well as being chairman of Global Radio, Allen is now a non-exec of Virgin Media and Big Brother-producer Endemol. While few will doubt that Allen managed to get rid of some Government restrictions that enabled Granada and Carlton to finally merge to create ITV, he was not a great visionary for the broadcaster and unfortunately this is a legacy that his predecessor is having to deal with.
