ITV warns rivals they can no longer air its shows for free

ITV is demanding more than £140million a year for use of its main channel by pay TV rivals. The commercial broadcaster wants Virgin Media and Sky to pay up for ITV1, which is home to prime-time hits such as Coronation Street, Victoria, The X Factor and Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway. ITV wants Virgin Media and Sky to pay up for ITV1, which is home to prime-time hits such as Coronation Street, Victoria, The X Factor and Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway Now these operators are preparing for a major showdown, with a similar bill possible for Sky as it provides more TV through the internet instead of satellite dishes in future. VIEWING FIGURES 7,800 Hours of shows produced by ITV Studios last year 21.4pc Share of TV audiences held by ITV channels 60pc Of TV viewers reached by Coronation St, about 21.6m people £1bn ITV will spend making TV shows this year 150 Countries showing ITV’s hit drama Victoria But an ITV spokesman said: 'ITV should be paid fairly by pay TV platforms that make money from our multi-billion pound investment in original UK content, so we can continue to invest in the programmes that our viewers enjoy.' Ministers, despite changing the law which allowed ITV to make its demands, have said they would not favour broadcasters levying extra costs on TV providers for their main channels.