ITV mulls switch to pay-TV for digital channels

British commercial broadcaster ITV is considering turning its bouquet of digital channels from free-to-air to digital and has had initial exploratory talks with satellite pay-TV operator BSkyB, according to a report in The Guardian newspaper.

The radical move would cut the broadcaster’s reliance on advertising revenues and move it towards a subscription model. 
The switch would mean that channels such as ITV2, which airs youth skewing entertainment series such as Entourage and Paris Hilton’s My New BFF as well as Britain’s Got Talent, classic drama net ITV3 and ITV4, which airs sports programming, would not be available to the 10 million viewers of digital terrestrial service Freeview. 
Sky remains ITV’s largest shareholder, owning a 17.9% stake in the broadcaster.