ITV warns it could stop being a PSB

[Stanley Matravers]

Maybe going further and replacing the multiple regional licences with just 5 licences - England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, and Channel Islands.

I doubt that anything like that would happen until/unless the whole Channel 3 network comes under a single ownership (e.g. if ITV plc acquires STV), due to the Border franchise.

Ofcom may well have the power to alter franchise boundaries, but I doubt they have the will to upset the status quo in the current Border Scotland area whilst there's still two different Channel 3 companies.

Reallocation of the territory may not suit either ITV or STV, as long as they remain separate (e.g. ITV losing those viewers and advertising revenue, STV having the onus to report on news stories from additional localities), and Ofcom may have to deal with objections (possibly even legal action?) by either/both companies.

Conversely, I think it most likely that the Border region *would* be disbanded if/when Channel 3 does become fully consolidated. We'd presumably then end up with things like "ITV News Tyne Tees & Cumbria" (catchy name!) and "ITV News Scotland" (Central Belt & South edition) or similar, and nothing transcending the border anymore.