Broadcaster ITV avoided the worst of today's falls in a market otherwise overwhelmed by further credit fears.
Weekend reports that private equity group Apax could return to bid for the company lifted ITV by around 3% initially. But doubts soon set in and the shares lost much of their initial gains, slipping 0.9p to 95.3p by the close but still outperforming the wider market.
However media analysts at Credit Suisse poured cold water on the idea of ITV as a takeover target.
They said: "We recently met with some bankers and private equity firms and the general view was that ITV was no longer an acquisition target. It was argued that 'it is too expensive', 'it is too big for any private equity firm in this sort of market', that [rival broadcaster] RTL 'doesn't have the cash or appetite for a big deal' and that there were no perceived buyers of ITV. One private equity firm 'follows ITV with interest' but believed that 'ITV needs a major cost-cutting programme and a fundamental change in the business' for any value to be potentially unlocked."
Elsewhere, with Citigroup boss Charles Prince leaving after the world's biggest bank reported $11bn more in sub-prime related losses and the Qataris pulling out of their bid for J Sainsbury, the market was unsurprisingly on the slide.
By the close the FTSE 100 had come back from its worst levels, ending 69.2 points lower at 6461.4.
A survey of the UK services sector -which includes financials - showed the effects of the credit crunch by recording its worst outcome for more than four years.
Banks were among the main losers, as investors fretted about who else would be hit by the current turmoil. The feeling was that if Citigroup had been forced to reveal further losses on top of those it had already reported, it was unlikely to be alone.
So Alliance & Leicester was 29p lower at 701.5p on unsubstantiated rumours it had used the Bank of England's emergency funds. The mortgage bank later said it had successfully raised all the funds it needed in recent weeks, and indeed was continuing a share buyback operation.
Barclays fell 16p to 521.5p, while Royal Bank of Scotland lost 11.25p to 464.25p and Northern Rock slipped 0.5p to 170.8p. Among the mid-caps Bradford & Bingley was off 9.75p at 272p.
Ryan Kneale, market analyst at financial betting group BetsForTraders.com, commented, "Banking stocks are once again on the back foot. Citigroup has put the frighteners on the whole market by announcing that they could potentially write off another $11bn in sub-prime related debt. The resignation of Citigroup's Charles Prince has just added fuel to the fire and has left traders wondering, who is going to be next?
"My main concern is that it could be Barclays, which lost around 6% on Friday and is down a further 3.5% today. Barclays has been too slow in commenting on the rumours that it is advising analysts to trim profit forecasts, especially when you see the effect the rumours are having on its share price. I would have expected some fighting talk from the Barclays camp by now, but so far we have to believe the rumours could potentially be true, as there has been no denial.
"Barclays share price is now at its lowest level in two years and our clients are turning ever more bearish on Barclays. We have seen the bias of net short positions shift from 56% to 81% in just two days and our clients have an uncanny knack of calling these situations correctly."
After the collapse of the near farcical attempt by a Qatar-backed consortium to buy Sainsbury's, the supermarket group slumped 115p to 440p.
Pubs group Mitchells & Butlers lost 28p to 631p in the wake of the Sainsbury's news. The fall was partly due to fading takeover hopes, but there was also a concern that major shareholder Robert Tchenguiz may be a forced seller.
Property entrepreneur Tchenguiz, who had built up a large stake in M&B mainly through contracts for difference and had proposed a property venture with the company, is also a major shareholder in J Sainsbury. With the losses on that investment, traders said he might need to cash in some of his other assets.
Wm Morrison, where he is also thought to hold shares, lost 8.75p to 283.5p. And computer games group SCi Entertainment, which also counts Tchenguiz as a shareholder, dropped 33.25p to 318.75p despite it being stalked by predators, with bid whispers suggesting a 500p a share offer.
British Airways lost 13.25p to 405p as ABN Amro downgraded from hold to sell. "We do not think the earnings support from Terminal 5 will come soon enough to offset the negative effects on 2009 earnings of Open Skies and cyclical slowing. Sell with a new 360p target (down from 410p)." A jump on October transatlantic passenger traffic had little effect.
Miners were also weaker on global economic worries, with Vedanta Resources down 86p to £21 and Xstrata 136p lower at £31.71.
But Vodafone and Carphone Warehouse benefited from positive noises from Lehman Brothers.
Lehman's analysts raised their target price for Vodafone, up 4.2p to 188.2p, to 215p, saying: "We reiterate Vodafone as one of our top-picks and increase our earnings per share estimates by up to 10%. We believe that the interims on 13 November are an opportunity for management to tighten or even increase 2008 guidance."
As for Carphone, it added 8.25p to 353.25p ahead of its half year figures due this Thursday. Lehman raised its target to 425p and upgraded from equal weight to overweight, partly based on the benefits it should receive from the imminent iPhone launch.
Outsourcing group Xchanging added 12.5p to 282p after investment manager General Atlantic sold 8.5% of the company at 280p a share shares worth £51m. This was raised from the originally proposed 7%, because of good demand from institutions.
Lower down the market recruitment minnow Greatfleet lost nearly 40% to 4.75p after it warned full year profits would be significantly below expectations. It said it had discovered "certain matters which may have an impact on the outcome for the full year" and was investigating the situation. At the end of last month chief executive Stuart Blake stepped down due to ill health.
But DCD Media, the acquisitive TV production company chaired by David Elstein, added 5p to 59p. The company, whose programmes include Stephen Fry's "HIV & Me" and "The Cooks" on Saturday morning, moved from a full year pre-tax loss of £300,000 to a £1.36m profit.
Finally Kurawood, which specialises in organically hardened softwood, added another 13.5p to 120p on hopes of new order wins after upbeat presentations at a Birmingham building exhibition last week.