17 June 2009
ITV could benefit from up to £130 million of licence fee payers' money to pay for parts of its programming, it has been announced by the government.
The money would help both its children's shows and regional news programmes after ITV revealed it was finding it hard to fund some of its broadcasts.
Culture Secretary Ben Bradshaw said: "There is nothing that says the BBC must have exclusive rights to it."
However, a series of consultations must take place before the plans can be fully implemented.
The BBC is set to start its coverage of the Wimbledon tennis tournament next week (June 22nd), with some of the content also accessible through the BBC HD channel.
Viewers can also make use of the red button service to get different perspectives on the matches, the broadcaster also announced.