Andy Duncan, Channel 4’s boss, spent this week warning about the dangers of too strong a link between ITV and BSkyB. “They would have well over 50 per cent of the advertising market,” he groaned. “It makes the likes of Channel 4 feel very small and vulnerable.” He is right to say that C4 feels small, but its vulnerability is debatable. The station knows how to fight hard: it is carefully jacking up airtime rates by eliminating discounts — in effect a 5 per cent rise. It says it needs to do this because the success of the housewives’ favourite Deal or No Deal means that its audience profile isn’t as valuable as it used to be. Nice work when ITV1 can’t raise rates because of the contract rights renewal mechanism.