Carlton Communications plc
.svg) |
|
| Industry | Television |
|---|---|
| Fate | Merged with Granada plc |
| Successor | ITV plc |
| Founded | 1982 |
| Defunct | 2004 |
| Headquarters |
London, United Kingdom |
|
Key people
|
Michael P. Green (Chairman) |
| Products |
Carlton Cinema Carlton Select Carlton World Carlton Kids Carlton Food Network |
| Subsidiaries |
Carlton Television Westcountry Television Central Independent Television HTV Carlton Video Carlton Screen Advertising Carlton Publishing Group ITV Digital (50%) GMTV (20%) ITN (18%) |
Carlton Communications was a British media company. It was led by Michael P. Green and listed on the from 1983 until 2 February 2004, when it was bought by Granada plc in a corporate takeover to form ITV plc. Carlton shareholders gained approximately 32% of ITV plc.
As well as being the parent company of Carlton Television Limited it was also involved in several other media and broadcasting businesses and was a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.
In 1967 Michael Green established a printing and photo-processing company, Tangent Industries, with his brother-in-law and his father-in-law (the future Lord Wolfson). In 1982, Michael Green bought Transvideo, renaming the company Carlton Television Studios. A year later the name was changed to Carlton Communications when the company went public. Soon after, the Moving Picture Company (MPC), Europe's largest video facilities provider, joined Carlton in a joint venture to acquire the U.K. subsidiary of California's International Video Corporation for £400,000. Carlton acquired MPC itself in July 1983 for £13 million, with Mike Luckwell as managing director of the enlarged company.
During 1985, Abekas Video Systems was purchased for £30m, helping to expand the company's operations in the field of video editing and allowing Carlton to produce projects as diverse as commercials, rock music videos, and corporate videos. (Scitex Corporation was sold ten years later for $52 million). Green valued strict financial controls to allow cash flow, so when new companies were acquired the existing managers were retrained to Carlton strict accounting practices, resulting in higher profits. Carlton's gross profit reached £38.1 million in 1985.
Michael Green tried unsuccessfully to acquire a broadcasting station. He first tried for Thames (see below) before trying for LWT. The Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) intervened, allowing Green only a 10 percent share. In response, Green sold his existing 5 percent share for £1 million. Carlton also failed to win the direct satellite broadcasting franchise, which went to British Satellite Broadcasting (BSB). In March 1987, Carlton acquired a 20 per cent in Central Television from Ladbrokes for £30million which finally gave Carlton its first stake in a terrestrial broadcasting company Bob Phillis became Carlton's representative on the broad of directors, having previously worked for Central before joining Carlton as managing director. Carlton increased its portfolio of media companies with the acquisition of Zenith Productions for £7.3 million.
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