ITV is hit by cable fears from States

SHARES in ITV were hit by concerns the problems that have dragged down American media stocks could also hurt broadcasters in the UK.

The television group behind Britain’s Got Talent and Downton Abbey was the biggest faller of the day on the FTSE100 index of leading shares, down 9.3p to 262.6p.

Shares in American media giants Viacom and 21st Century Fox fell on signs that their cable TV businesses have struggled during the week.

Analysts are divided over how badly European media stocks will be affected by these problems.

Broker Liberum said the impact has been exaggerated. One analyst there said: ‘This is a good buying opportunity. The US TV market is very different from UK/Europe.’

He added that US channels show a lot more advertising which gives consumers a bigger incentive to switch off, especially given the high cable fees.

ITV shares have also dipped after rival Liberty, which has raised its stake in ITV to 9.9pc, reiterated that it had no intention of taking it over.

ITV last week blamed strong competition from the BBC for a fall in viewing numbers as it posted its half-year results.

It said its share of viewing was down 4pc for the six months to June 30, partly due to competition from the BBC. GREECE is heading for a bigger economic contraction than any country suffered during the Great Depression, experts claim.

The National Institute of Economic and Social Research said output will fall another 3pc in 2015 and 2.3pc in 2016.

By 2017 the Greek economy will be more than 30pc smaller than it was at its peak in 2007, and 7pc smaller than when it joined the euro in 2001.

Canada shrank 29.6pc from 1928 to 1933, while the US fell 28.5pc between 1929 and 1933.