Jowell Urges ITV Digital To Continue Talks
Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell has urged ITV Digital to continue negotiations with the Football League after the troubled digital TV platform was put into administration yesterday (see Administration For ITV Digital Confirmed).
The League is threatening to sue ITV Digital’s joint owners, Carlton and Granada, for £500m to cover the outstanding £178m that the company owes on its £315m contract to broadcast Nationwide League matches (see ITV Digital Dispute Goes Into Extra Time).
In a statement, Jowell called on both parties to resolve their differences and insisted that there was still hope that the dispute could be settled. She said that negotiations with ITV Digital’s creditors would be handled by the broadcaster’s administrators Deloitte & Touche and insisted that the administration process would not mean “the end of digital terrestrial television in the UK.”
ITV Digital has confirmed that its service will be maintained during the administration period and that free-to-air public service broadcasters will continue to broadcast on the platform for the next three months.
The announcement, which has been welcomed by the ITC, means that ITV Digital’s 1.2 million subscribers will be unaffected in the short-term. However, if the platform is forced to close and stops broadcasting, customers will no longer be able to receive any channels, apart from the five terrestrial services. Those wanting to continue receiving digital services, including free-to-air channels BBC Choice, BBC4 and ITV2, will have to subscribe to either Sky or cable.
Shadow culture secretary Tim Yeo has also responded to ITV Digital’s woes and has strongly criticised the government for its handling of the situation. He said: “The Government should have eased the problems of ITV Digital by giving a stronger lead and clearer timetable for the digital switch-over and by turning up the strength of the digital signal.”
He added: “If anything is to be salvaged, the Football League must realise that what ITV Digital paid for the television rights was unrealistic and that a compromise must now be reached. A successful digital switch-over depends on a viable digital terrestrial platform. If ITV Digital fails this will be hard to achieve.”
ITV Digital: 0808 100 0101 www.itv-digital.co.uk
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