ITV, Sky to continue carriage negotiations

Negotiations between ITV and Sky over conditional access arrangements have been extended for a further two months.

The two sides have thus far been unable to agree new carriage terms for ITV's bouquet of channels, with the existing conditional access contract expiring on Sunday. ITV's channels will continue to be encrypted on Sky, however, while negotiations continue.

"ITV and Sky have reached a temporary extension over conditional access arrangements relating to digital satellite distribution of ITV1 and ITV2," a Sky spokesman told The Guardian. "As a result ITV1 and ITV2 will remain encrypted for the time being. Further discussion will take place in due course."

One negotiating tactic that ITV has up its sleeve is the possibility of following the BBC's lead and transmitting its channels free-to-air, outside of the Sky conditional access system. Such a possibility has some Digital Spy forum members asking whether ITV has Sky "over a barrel" - add your views to the ongoing discussion thread in the Satellite forum.