By Mary Hennock BBC News Online business staff

The BBC's clean sweep in the contest for the digital terrestrial licences surrendered by stricken ITV Digital was feted as "a fresh start" for digital terrestrial television by BBC director general Greg Dyke.

Perhaps it is only natural for the victors - BBC and transmission company Crown Castle - to crow.

But what does the commercial TV regulator's decision to opt for a free-to-air future for digital terrestrial TV mean for the commercial broadcasters?

Most media analysts agree that the big winner among them is BSkyB, which has three channels bundled into the winning bid.

Setback?

Opinion is divided about how much of a setback is implied for Carlton and Granada, the joint owners of ITV, which submitted a bid together with Channel 4.

Over the last year, Carlton and Granada have been hit by a slump in advertising sales, which has caused pain across media-land.

They also suffered the embarrassment of seeing flagship channel BBC One win more viewers than ITV One for the first time last year.

But they have "very little" to worry about as they watch three digital terrestrial licences go to a rival, according to Kingsley Wilson, a media analyst at Investec Securities.

Bundled together

"It doesn't really in the whole scheme of things make that much difference because the majority of their channels will be screened on the platform," Mr Wilson told BBC News Online.

Channels include:

BBC One BBC Two BBC Choice ITV1 ITV2 Channel 4 Channel 5 BBC News 24 Sky News CNN CBBC Click here for full list

Carlton and Granada stand to get the same type of benefits - additional advertising revenue - as Sky and Channel 4 as their two flagship channels will be carried as part of the winning package.

Carlton owns five of the UK's regional TV licences, while Granada has seven, but the "key channels" for the broadcasters are ITV One and Two, Mr Wilson said.

"The others generate minimal advertising revenues."

Does control count?

Not everyone agrees. "It is negative for Carlton and Granada as they have completely lost control of the platform," said an analyst from UBS Warburg, who did not wish to be named.

ITV's scope for expansion in digital terrestrial TV will be limited, some analysts believe.

They pointed to damage to ITV's reputation caused by the collapse of ITV Digital and some said that government disappointment could mean harsher scrutiny if Carlton and Granada attempted to merge.

But the government's recent draft Communications Bill put no obstacle in the way of an eventual merger of Carlton and Granada.

Ads and eyeballs

In the financial markets, investors have warmed to the frankness with which Carlton and Granada admitted their sortie into pay-TV had gone awry, according to Investec's Mr Wilson.

As to advertisers, they "just care about eyeballs", he said.

Unilever, one of the UK's biggest advertisers, recently signed a record breaking �320m four-year deal with Carlton and Granada.

There are signs, too, that the worst of the advertising slump is over.

Carlton and Granada are the dominant players, who between them attracted 56% of the �3.1bn spent on TV advertising in Britain last year.

Even if TV ad revenue this year is below last year, they are not thought likely to suffer.

Recovery on the way?

But ITV's advertising sales were up on last year by 14% in May and 10-11% in June, according to ITV joint managing director Mick Desmond.

The World Cup gave ITV a "fillip" but sales for July and August were also ahead of last year, though with less spectacular gains.

September "will be the month that determines whether we see a recovery or not", Mr Desmond recently told the Sunday Telegraph.

Mixed picture for Sky?

Satellite broadcaster BSkyB can anticipate more advertising revenue for its Sky News and Sky Sports News channels as a result of its tie-up with the winning team.

But so can ITV.

Digital terrestrial is likely to act as a shop window for its pay-TV satellite service and drive more viewers towards BSkyB.

What is more "it's good news for Sky, because it makes the DTT (digital terrestrial) marketplace more coherent compared with ITV Digital", said WestLB analyst Simon Wallis.

But analysts warned that the European Union might not like the relationship.

"It is a clear case of quasi-public funds distorting the commercial environment," said Anthony de Larrinaga of SG Securities.

"But the commercial business model does not seem to be viable so there is an argument that this is the only realistic option."

Overall, the City consensus appears to be that, as long as the BBC delivers on its target of persuading another 5 million homes to sign up to digital TV within five years, all the major commercial broadcasters will benefit.