ITV has joined the battle for Friends spin-off Joey, lining up with three other UK broadcasters in a buying war where opening bids of more than £2m are expected for the first series of the US sitcom.
The biggest UK commercial network joins Channel 4, Channel Five and BSkyB in the bidding war for Joey, which is shaping up to be the fiercest among British broadcasters for a new American comedy or drama for many years.
ITV's bid for Joey, which features Friends star Matt Le Blanc, is part of a new aggressive strategy towards competing for the best US TV shows, films and sports rights.
As part of the same strategy, the broadcaster has nipped in ahead of BSkyB to snatch the rights to Liverpool and Manchester United's Champions League qualifying matches, which will be broadcast on ITV1 and ITV2 in August.
Bidding for the UK rights to Joey is expected to begin at around £100,000 per episode - or £2.2m for the 22-part first series US network NBC has ordered from Hollywood studio Warner Bros.
Warner Bros is understood to be looking for around $1m (£550,000) per episode for Joey, but the sitcom would not be commercially viable above $350,000 (£190,000) per half hour, according to a source at one of the UK bidders.
Channel 4, which already broadcasts Warner Bros shows including Friends and ER, had an exclusive negotiating period for Joey, which ended yesterday without a deal being concluded.
However, rival broadcasters believe Channel 4 has an arrangement with Warner Bros, giving it 24 hours to match any bid for Joey from other UK buyers.
ITV's bid for Joey marks its first serious foray into the UK acquisitions market for the best American comedy and drama for nearly a decade, since X Files spin-off Millennium proved an expensive flop.
The success of digital channel ITV2, which targets 16- to 34-year-olds, and the imminent launch of complementary service ITV3 - which will aimed at an older, more upmarket audience - are the main factors in ITV's decision to increase its acquisitions budget.
As well as competing with the BBC, Channel 4, Five and Sky for the best American dramas and sitcoms, ITV will be more aggressive in bidding for movie and sports rights.
If ITV is successful in winning UK rights to Joey, one possible scheduling scenario would be to broadcast the first episode in the 10pm comedy and entertainment slot on ITV1 and then use cross-promotion to entice viewers to ITV2 for the next episode at 10.30pm.
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