The owners of Channel Five - RTL and United Business Media - are reportedly talking to Telewest's TV arm Flextech about a possible merger. The reports follow Channel 4's announcement last week that it was no longer considering a merger with Five. The new deal would bring together the terrestrial channel with Flextech's Freeview channel FTN and its digital channels Trouble, Living and Bravo. In theory the deal would also include the popular UKTV network - though Flextech would have to renegotiate its partnership with the BBC, whose archives fill much of its output, if any merger took place.
Talking of partnerships with the BBC, word is Channel 4 is likely to look for public funding support to enable it to compete in the digital age, either with money directly from government or through some kind of partnership with the BBC - most likely both.