This blog will be updated regularly and follows on from the earlier strand ITV: the story so far
The time when the main issue facing ITV was the hunt for a new chief executive seems a long way off now.
In just a short amount of time revelations about potential bids from NTL and RTL together with the share buy-up by BSkyB have relegated the search for Charles Allen's successor to a mere side-show.
MediaGuardian.co.uk first revealed that NTL was looking at a potential merger with with ITV on 9 November, with confirmation from the cable company following later that day.
The potential tie-up between the the two companies received a mixed reaction from the City, with several papers, including the Financial Times, estimating NTL would have to raise at least £5bn to finance such a deal.
Former Channel 4 chief executive Michael Jackson's name was again linked to the ITV top job in the Sunday Telegraph, but this time as the figurehead of a merged NTL/ITV.
News of NTL's interest in ITV sparked renewed interest from German media firm RTL, with a report in the Financial Times claiming the company was talking to private equity groups about raising finance.
A potential tie-up between NTL and ITV also put the spotlight on the future of the UKTV joint venture between NTL and BBC Worldwide.
On 14 November it emerged that ITV had suspended its search for a new chief executive following the approach by NTL
BSkyB's first entry into the saga came on the same day when its chief executive James Murdoch, speaking at a conference, appeared nonchalant about a merger between ITV and NTL, saying it would need to be looked at from a competition point of view.
The next day, at another conference, he said he didn't think there would be much impact in any tie-up.
Two days later, BSkyB's position changed totally, when it announced it had acquired a 17.9% stake in ITV in a near £1bn swoop that shocked the City and the industry.
The move was immediatley condemned by NTL, with its biggest share-holder Sir Richard Branson branding the move "cynical".
The focus of the story has now moved to the regulators with both Ofcom and the Office of Fair Trading poised to intervene.
21 November 06 - Developments moved quickly today, with ITV announcing it had rejected NTL's bid because it had "no strategic logic".
In response, NTL said it would "weigh up its options" while ITV's shares remained virtually unmoved.
Ofcom also said it would be asking ITV and BSkyB to make formal submissions on whether the satelitte's company's acquisition of a 17.9% stake in the terrestrial broadcaster warranted a "change of control" .
American investment firm Fidelity, which sold a large proportion of its shares to ITV on Friday, also started to re-build its stake in the broadcaster.
