Carlton and Granada have cooled towards buying the television assets belonging to cash-strapped Scottish Media Group (SMG) because of a disagreement over price.
SMG owns 29.5 per cent of the Scottish Radio Holdings, owner of Today FM and five regional newspapers in the Republic.
Both ITV groups are understood to have decided SMG's asking price of £300 million sterling (€467 million) to £350 million was too high.
The cool response leaves the way open for a financial buyer to make an offer. Venture capital firms Apax and Candover are among those tipped as potential buyers for the Grampian and Scottish Television ITV licences. Carlton and Granada declined to comment yesterday.
SMG is expected to sell its television assets to pay down debts of almost £400 million.
SMG was dealt a blow last week when cable company Telewest announced it wanted to sell its 17 per cent stake.
