ITV Suspends RDF Commissions

LONDON, July 20: ITV has followed the BBC’s lead in
suspending any further commissions from RDF Media until the investigation into
the botched trailer for a documentary about the Queen has been completed.

Earlier this week, the BBC said it was halting its RDF
commissions pending an investigation into the misleading trailer for A Year With
the Queen, which caused headlines around
the world for purportedly showing Her Majesty storming out of a photo shoot.
RDF promptly apologized for the trailer, saying the clip had been edited out of
sequence.

The latest setback for RDF sent its share price down some 17
percent today, after falling almost 9 percent yesterday. According to press
reports, BBC commissions account for about 10 percent of RDF’s revenues, while
ITV’s make up about 11 percent. Channel 4 and Five have both said they will continue
to commission from the independent production outfit.