ITV and Lord Grade to sell Friends ReUnited - anyone want clapped out social networking site with FREE membership ?

ITV paid a stunning £175 million over two years for the pioneering but now hopelesly outdated, outsold, antique social networking site Friends ReUnited. The husband and wife founders Steve and Julie Pankhurst, and their backer Jason Porter have just received their terminal £55 Mn payout.

ITV have put it up for sale - value ? About as much as the HBOS / RBS Domestic resdiential Mortgage Book - Zero. They will have trouble giving the damn thing away.

At the time Jeff Henry, director of ITV Consumer*** said: "The acquisition of Friends Reunited (said to have £46 Mn paying members - now membership is free) is also a key step in the delivery of our strategy to drive new revenue streams for the company." HoHoHo

Declaration of Interest : Lord Patel has lost 80% of the value of shares he bought in ITV after their re-launch , 27p Friday probably 20p on Monday when news of 10% job cuts to 2,000 work force is made public.

Lord Grade is worth every penny of his stinking fat slary, his vision, care, commercial acumen, knowledge, wisdom, business skills, and we can't wait for the new Ant'n'Dec show even if they do fiddle the results - yet again.

*** Guradian 5th Nov 2008 Jeff Henry, the managing director of ITV Consumer, the company's digital, interactive and gaming businesses, is to step down as the broadcaster merges its online operations into its main business he will leave the company by the end of the year.