Sumner Redstone, chairman and controlling shareholder of Viacom, the world's fourth largest media group and owners of, among other things, MTV and VH1, has said America should change its media ownership laws so that British companies can buy shares in TV and newspaper operations over there.
Redstone was in the UK to talk to Tony Blair about proposed legislation change here that would allow American media giants to buy into ITV or Channel 5. After his meeting with the prime minister he told members of the Royal Television Society: "I told Tony Blair I agreed with the proposed bill because I believe in deregulation. So if your government decides to open the market to American media companies, then America should consider extending a similar spirit of openness."
That said, he confirmed his company had no immediate plans to buy into British TV just now: "We have no plans for an acquisition of ITV, or any other UK broadcast asset, at the moment. But we'll continue to monitor development very closely. So, as we say in our business - stay tuned."
The speech was important because the American government is against foreign ownership of its television networks – Australian Rupert Murdoch famously had to get American citizenship in order to launch Fox TV. But Redstone reckons the government has little to worry about – especially about British companies getting involved in US television because, he says, British broadcasters have a long history of producing quality television the US audience enjoy.