UTV may sell Irish TV rights after boardroom coup

UTV Media, the owner of Talksport radio in the UK and licence holder for ITV in Northern Ireland, has suggested it could be interested in selling its Ireland television business.

"Less than a quarter of profits come from TV now. We're essentially a radio business," Scott Taunton, a UTV Media board director and the managing director of its British radio division, said on Tuesday.

On speculation that ITV might buy UTV's business in Northern Ireland, where it has the Channel 3 licence, Taunton said, "If that was something they were interested in, we'd have a conversation."

Meanwhile, UTV has stepped up its search for a chairman following a boardroom coup last month, which ousted its veteran chairman John McGuckian and led to the resignation of two non-executive directors.

The company has appointed London-based headhunters Odgers Berndtson to conduct an executive search, reports the Financial Times.

John McCann, UTV chief executive, told the paper that he hoped a new chairman and at least two non-executive directors would be appointed within a couple of months.