ITV-Channel 4 take a Chance with 'light' pay-TV offering

David Chance has a high-flying reputation in pay-TV and he has now come forward to mastermind the subscription element of ITV's digital licence bid. He will find himself pitted against BSkyB, the company where he built his reputation as a pay-TV guru, serving as deputy managing director under Sam Chisholm in the glory days of 1994-98.

Mr Chance found himself in the right company at just the right moment, with Mr Chisholm providing the aggressive public face of Sky. He left at the same time as Mr Chisholm – it is said because he was not offered the top job.

Somewhat cheekily, Mr Chisholm and Mr Chance went from Sky to advise the Premier League on its new rights contract with the satellite broadcaster. After the clubs discovered the fabulous sums the pair were set to make from the deal, they were sacked, but not before receiving a £12m pay-off.

A non-executive director at Granada, one of the two main ITV players, since February 2001, Mr Chance, 44, is now charged with putting together the pay element of the ITV-Channel 4 bid. He ought to be uniquely well qualified for the task.

Mr Chance's idea is to have a small number of channels – about 10 – made available as an optional upgrade on the platform for a relatively inexpensive monthly subscription.

To keep things simple, consumers who want the upgrade will have all the channels offered. The operation, which will be run as a separate commercial entity from ITV and Channel 4, will supply E4 and FilmFour, and it may include some Sky content, as well as the likes of Disney and Discovery. This "light" offering would provide a cheap way to take a limited amount of pay-TV for those households who cannot afford Sky and don't want to be bombarded with more than 200 channels.