ITV think the time has come to get rid of the CRR system put in place to protect advertisers when the single ITV was created from the integration of Carlton and Granada.

Ofcom have indicated there will be no change until 2008 at the earliest. But ITV have submitted a lengthy dossier and are building up the attrition quotient claiming that the retention of CRR inhibits experimentation and reduces programming risk. ITV claim CRR acts as an inhibitor for ITV to attract the audiences the advertisers require and hence damages rather than protects advertisers' best interests.

The theory sounds plausible. In practice ITV claims have to be challenged. There are two key elements

First ITV has the money it needs to make programmes attractive to both viewers and advertisers. It's just agreed to pay serious money to get quality football back on ITV. If the advertisers aren't paying what ITV consider "enough" then this is the time to look beyond advertisers and to get ITV shareholders to back the channel with investment rather than return profits to shareholders as was the case a few years ago

Second, ITV should embrace some basic laws of the media market place. Advertisers will only pay what they consider good value. No amount of control and price fixing can buck the markets - as John Major and Nigel Lawson will testify. But ITV seems hidebound in a commodity trading method (that may be enhanced by CRR but is not caiused by it) Take a look at any ITV "quality schedule" on a Sunday night and you don't see the long train of quality advertisers.

The solution for ITV is to take a long hard look at itself and invest in programmes and don't expect advertsisers to pay more for a channel whose audiences have yet to improve.

Michael Grade is the right person in the right position to deliver. He does not need advertisers to drop the CRR protection Ofcom created in order to do it. ITV should look to itself, to its shareholders as well as to advertisers to resolve its challenges