ITV Digital, the defunct pay-TV operator, has been put into liquidation and the trail of creditors which includes BSkyB, the Football League and Crown Castle International will see little of the £1.25 billion due to them.
Liquidator Grant Thornton has valued the company’s remaining assets at £27.3 million, a paltry sum compared with the £1 billion that Carlton and Granada invested in the failed platform. ITV Digital Holdings, the parent firm set up by the two broadcasters, is the main creditor at £402 milion while BSkyB is believed to be owed in excess of £200 million.
However, it was the inability to honour a contract with the Football League which pushed ITV Digital to the brink. The company had paid £315 million for the rights to broadcast matches starting last season but was unable to attract sufficient viewers or revenue.
ITV Digital went into administration in March and finally ceased broadcasting a month later when it became clear that a new buyer could not be found (see Administrators Switch Off ITV Digital). An attempt by the League to recoup some of the £178.5 million owed to its clubs ended in failure at the High Court (see League Loses ITV Digital Battle).
Crown Castle, the transmitter operator owed £166 million by ITV Digital, subsequently joined forces with the BBC and BSkyB to launch a successful bid for the vacated DTT licences (see Forecasts). The result is Freeview, a free-to-air digital service that launches at the end of this month.
