The company chosen to deliver local television in Birmingham has joined with a rival in a new business called City Eight.
YourTV, one of three bidders which lost out to the City TV consortium back in November 2012, is the majority shareholder in the mysterious new firm.
Shareholders of the newly-registered business include City TV stalwarts Debra Davis, Alan Grindley, broadcaster Ashley Blake, alongside YourTV executive Stuart Reed.
With YourTV holding 75 per cent majority stake, in the fledgling company registered with Companies House on May 8, raises the prospect of a merger to finally bring a local TV station to Birmingham after years of speculation and delays.
Companies House documents show that the company secretary and director of City Eight is Mr Reed, described as a 62-year-old accountant. Fellow director is Ms Davis, aged 59.
Mr Reed is known in broadcasting circles as one of the leading members of the YourTV team which lost out to former Birmingham City Council spin doctor Ms Davis’s City TV consortium in the race for the Birmingham licence.
Originally from Solihull, he is a former finance director at Chiltern Radio, founded Choice FM, and was one of the public faces behind the YourTV bid for Birmingham, which also included former Birmingham City Council leader and ex-BBC Trust chairman Sir Michael Lyons, who remains chairman of YourTV.
The potential for a joint YourTV-City Eight station raises hopes that the Birmingham operation will finally get off the ground.
Ms Davis had previously indicated that the station would launch in April 2014, and then amended the date to September 2014 in her last public forecast.
She told the Post, in a statement: “I cannot comment on corporate structures or commercially sensitive issues at this time.
“Ofcom awarded BLTV Ltd the local television licence for Birmingham and we are making excellent progress for an autumn launch. There is a great deal of work going on in the background around logistics and programming. Viewers in Birmingham, Solihull and the Black Country will be able to tune-in soon! It is very exciting.”
Meanwhile, Stuart Reed told the Post: “We do not comment on our corporate structure.”
YourTV, which has already won two licences to broadcast in Manchester and Preston and Blackpool, is by far the biggest shareholder in City Eight, with 750 ordinary shares.
The YourTV stake represents 75 per cent of the 1000-strong share capital, while other substantial shareholders include Debra Davis, with 101 and Alan Grindley with 107.
Meanwhile, former BBC presenter Ashley Blake, jailed in 2009 for two years for wounding a teenager with a wooden pole at his Sutton Coldfield restaurant, is one of six investors with seven shares each.
Others are former Number Nine gallery entrepreneur Lee Benson, ex ATV broadcaster Mike Prince, Gary James, Bryan Manley-Green and Des Tong.
In February, Ms Davis told the Post: “There have been issues, I would make no bones about it. We have had to overcome the doubters - there was a lot of scepticism in the media and we have had to develop a very strong business proposition. We have to strengthen our executive team, we have identified prospective partners, investors and commercial interests.
“This is a 12-year licence, it will be on Channel Eight Freeview, it will cover 1.2 million households in Birmingham, including Wolverhampton, Walsall and Dudley.
“We will be launching, likely, in September. We need business support and sponsorship.
“We have a series of business briefings to tell people about the packages available.
“We need the business community to help with our marketing and sales through good gossip.”
