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ITV Digital

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For the current channels owned by ITV plc, seeITV Digital Channels.

ITV Digital plc
FormerlyONdigital plc, British Digital Broadcasting plc
Company typeJoint venture
IndustryMedia
Founded15 January 1997;27 years ago(1997-01-15)asBritish Digital Broadcasting
Defunct18 October 2002;21 years ago(2002-10-18)asITV Digital
FateBankruptcy, liquidation
SuccessorFreeview(terrestrial broadcaster)Top Up TV(pay TV service)
HeadquartersMarco Polo House,
Battersea,London
,
United Kingdom
ProductsPay TV services and programming
OwnerCarlton Communications
Granada
Footnotes / references
[1]

ITV Digitalwas a Britishdigital terrestrial televisionbroadcasterwhich launched a pay-TV service on the world's first digital terrestrial television network. Its main shareholders wereCarlton Communications plcandGranada plc,owners of multiple licences of theITVnetwork. Starting asONdigitalin 1998, the service was rebranded asITV Digitalin July 2001.

Low audience figures, piracy issues and an ultimately unaffordable multi-million pound deal with theFootball Leagueled to the broadcaster suffering large losses, and it enteredadministrationin March 2002. Pay television services ceased permanently on 1 May of that year, but carriage of the remaining free-to-air channels such asBBC OneandChannel 4continued. In October, ITV Digital’s former terrestrialmultiplexeswere taken over byCrown Castleand theBBCto create theFreeviewfree-to-air service.

History[edit]

British Digital Broadcasting logo (1997–1998)
See also:Digital terrestrial television in the United Kingdom § History

On 31 January 1997,Carlton Television,Granada Televisionand satellite companyBritish Sky Broadcasting(BSkyB) together created British Digital Broadcasting (BDB) as ajoint venture,and applied to operate threedigital terrestrial television(DTT) licences.[2]They faced competition from a rival, Digital Television Network (DTN), a company created by cable operator CableTel (later known asNTL).[3]On 25 June 1997, BDB won the auction and theIndependent Television Commission(ITC) awarded the sole broadcast licence for DTT to the consortium. Then on 20 December 1997, the ITC awarded threepay-TVdigital multiplex licences to BDB.

That same year, however, the ITC forced BSkyB out of the consortium on competition grounds; this effectively placed Sky in direct competition with the new service as Sky would also launch its digital satellite service in 1998, although Sky was still required to provide key channels such asSky MoviesandSky Sportsto BDB.[4]With Sky as part of the consortium, British Digital Broadcasting would have paid discounted rates to carry Sky's television channels. Instead, with its positioning as a competitor, Sky charged the full market rates for the channels, at an extra cost of around £60million a year to BDB.[5]On 28 July 1998, BDB announced the service would be called ONdigital,[6]and claimed it would be the biggest television brand launch in history.[7]The company would be based inMarco Polo House(since demolished) in Battersea, south London, which was previously the home of BSkyB's earlier rival,British Satellite Broadcasting(BSB).

Sixmultiplexeswere set up, with three of them allocated to the existinganaloguebroadcasters. The other three multiplexes were auctioned off. ONdigital was given one year from the award of the licence to launch the first DTT service. In addition to launching audio and video services, it also led the specification of an industry-wide advanced interactive engine, based onMHEG-5.This was an open standard that was used by all broadcasters on DTT.

The launch[edit]

ONdigital logo from 1998 to 2001

ONdigital was officially launched on 15 November 1998 amid a large public ceremony featuring celebrityUlrika Jonssonand fireworks around theCrystal Palace transmitting station.[8]Its competitorSky Digitalhad already debuted on 1 October.[9]The service launched with 12 primary channels, which included the newBBC ChoiceandITV2channels; a subscription package featuring channels such asSky One,Cartoon Network,E4,UKTVchannels and many developed in-house by Carlton and Granada such asCarlton World;premium channels includingSky Sports1, 2, 3,Sky Premier and Sky MovieMax;and the newly launchedFilmFour.[10][11][12]

From the beginning, however, the company was quickly losing money. Supply problems with set-top boxes meant that the company missed Christmas sales and retailers had to wait several months for the customers to receive their boxes. Meanwhile, aggressive marketing by BSkyB for Sky Digital made the ONdigital offer look unattractive. The new digital satellite service provided a dish,digibox,installation and around 200 channels for £159, a lower price than ONdigital at £199. Sky had also launched earlier, meaning they had a head start over the ONdigital service. ONdigital's subscription pricing had been set to compare with the older Skyanalogueservice of 20 channels.[13]In 1999, digital cable services were launched byNTL,TelewestandCable & Wireless.[14]

In February 1999,ITVsecured the rights forUEFA Champions Leaguefootball matches for four years,[15]which would partly be broadcast through ONdigital.[16]Two sports channels were added to the platform, Champions ON 28 and Champions ON 99 (later renamed ONsport 1 and ONsport 2 when it secured the rights toATPtennis games), the latter of which timeshared withCarlton Cinema.Throughout 1999, channels includingMTVandBritish Eurosportlaunched on the platform.[17]The exclusiveCarlton KidsandCarlton Worldchannels closed in 2000 to make way for twoDiscoverychannels.[18]

ONdigital reported in April 1999 that it had 110,000 subscribers, while Sky Digital had over 350,000 by that time.[14]By March 2000, there were 673,000 ONdigital customers.[19]

The first interactive digital service was launched in mid-1999, called ONgames. On 7 March 2000,ONmailwas launched which provided an interactivee-mailservice.[20]A deal with multiplex operatorSDNled to the launch ofpay-per-viewservice ONrequest on 1 May 2000. In June 2000, ONoffer was launched. On 18 September 2000, theinternetTV service ONnet was launched.[21]

On 17 June 2000, ONdigital agreed to a £315 million three-year deal with theFootball Leagueto broadcast 88 live Nationwide League andWorthington Cupmatches from the 2001–02 season.[22]

Setbacks[edit]

In 1999, Sky started to give away their digiboxes for free whilst the customer subscribed. This was a problem for ONdigital, as they had no choice but to sell prepaid set top boxes to win customers back from rival services.[23]Even when they decided to sell prepaid set top boxes (under the ONprepaid brand), they could not easily compete with Sky.

ONdigital's growth slowed throughout 2000, and by the start of 2001 the number of subscribers was no longer increasing; meanwhile, its competitor Sky Digital oversaw a dramatic increase in subscribers, spearheaded by the launch of interactive services, such asOpen...andSky Gamestar,and the launch of rival cable digital services from the likes of NTL and Telewest ate into ONdigital's subscriber numbers. The ONdigital management team responded with a series of free set-top box promotions, initially at retailers such asCurrysandDixons,when ONdigital receiving equipment was purchased at the same time as a television set or similarly priced piece of equipment. These offers eventually became permanent, with the set-top box loaned to the customer at no charge for as long as they continued to subscribe to ONdigital, an offer that was matched by Sky. ONdigital'schurn rate,a measure of the number of subscribers leaving the service, reached 28% during 2001.[24]

Additional problems for ONdigital were the choice of64QAMbroadcast mode, which when coupled with far weaker than expected broadcast power, meant that the signal was weak in many areas; a complex pricing structure with many options; a poor-quality subscriber management system (adapted fromCanal+); a paper magazine TV guide whereas BSkyB had anelectronic programme guide(EPG); insufficient technical customer services; and muchsignal piracy.While there was a limited return path provided via an in-built 2400 baudmodem,there was no requirement, as there was with BSkyB, to connect the set-top box's modem to a phone line.[citation needed]

With this combination of factors contributing to the service's lack of popularity, in 2001, executives at ONdigital management wrote a letter to the government, asking for emergency funding to finance the service in order to keep it alive due to a lack of customers and paying members.[citation needed]

Loaned equipment[edit]

ONdigital began to sell prepaid set-top boxes (under the name ONprepaid) from November 1999 in order to win customers, especially at the launch of other digital services from the likes ofNTLandTelewest.This bundle sold in high street shops and supermarkets at a price that included the set-top box (which was technically on loan) and the first year's subscription package.[25]These prepaid boxes amounted to 50% of sales in December 1999.[26]Thousands of these packages were also sold at well below retail price on auction sites such as the then-popularQXL.As the call to activate the viewing card did not require any bank details, many ONdigital boxes which were supposed to be on loan were at unverifiable addresses. This was later changed so a customer could not buy a box without ONdigital verifying their address. Many customers did not activate the viewing card at all, although where the viewer's address was known, ONdigital would write informing them that they must activate before a certain deadline.[citation needed]

Piracy[edit]

The ONdigitalpay-per-viewchannels were encrypted using a system –SECAMediaGuard– which had subsequently been cracked by hackers working for NDS Group, the makers of theVideoGuardsystem that Sky Digital used. ONdigital did not update this system, therefore it was possible to produce and sell counterfeit subscription cards which would give access to all the channels.[27]About 100,000 pirate cards were in circulation by 2002, and these played a role in the demise of the broadcaster that year.[28]

Rebranding[edit]

In April 2001 it was said that ONdigital would be 'relaunched' to bring it closer to theITVnetwork and to better compete with Sky.[29]On 11 July 2001 Carlton and Granada rebranded ONdigital asITV Digital.[30]

Other services were also rebranded, such as ONnet to ITV Active.[31]A rebranding campaign was launched, with customers being sent ITV Digital stickers to place over the ONdigital logos on their remote controls and set top boxes. The software running on the receivers was not changed, however, and continued to display 'ON' on nearly every screen. However, iDTVs made after the rebrand removed the 'ON' prefix from their software. Option 7 on the main menu on iDTVs was also renamed from "ONdigital Updates" to "Subscription Information".

The rebrand was not without controversy, asSMG plc(owner ofScottish TelevisionandGrampian Television),UTVandChannel Televisionpointed out that the ITV brand did not belong solely to Carlton and Granada. SMG and UTV initially refused to carry the advertising campaign for ITV Digital and did not allow the ITV Sport Channel space on their multiplex, thus it was not available at launch in most of Scotland and Northern Ireland. The case was resolved in Scotland[32]and the Channel Islands and later still in Northern Ireland, allowing ITV Sport to launch in the non-Carlton and Granada regions, although it was never made available in the Channel Islands, where there was no DTT or cable,[citation needed]and it never appeared on Sky Digital.

Later in 2001,ITV Sport Channelwas announced. This would be a premium sport channel, and would broadcast English football games as per the company's deal with the Football League in 2000, as well as ATP tennis games and Champions League games previously covered by ONsport 1 and ONsport 2. The channel launched on 11 August of that year, and was also carried on cable byNTL.[33]

Downfall[edit]

The service reached 1 million subscribers by January 2001, whereas Sky Digital had 5.7 million. Granada reported £69 million in losses in the first six months of 2001, leading some investors to urge it to close or sell ONdigital/ITV Digital.[34]ITV Digital was unable to make a deal to put the ITV Sport Channel on Sky, which could have given the channel access to millions of Sky customers and generated income; the channel was only licensed to cable companyNTL.Subscriptions for ONnet/ITV Active, its internet service, peaked at around 100,000 customers.[35]ITV Digital had a 12% share of digital subscribers as of December 2001.[36]ITV Digital and Granada cut jobs that month.[37][38]By 2002, the company was thought to be losing up to £1 million per day.[39]

In February 2002, Carlton and Granada said that ITV Digital needed an urgent "fundamental restructuring".[40]The biggest cost the company faced was its three-year deal with the Football League,[41][42]which had been deemed too expensive by critics when agreed, as it was inferior to the top-flightPremiershipcoverage fromSky Sports.[43]It was reported on 21 March 2002 that ITV Digital had proposed paying only £50 million for the remaining two years of the Football League deal, a reduction of £129m. Chiefs from the League said that any reduction in the payment could threaten the existence of many football clubs, which had budgeted for large incomes from the television contract.[44]

Administration[edit]

On 27 March 2002, ITV Digital was placed inadministrationas it was unable to pay the full amount due to the Football League.[45]Later, as chances of its survival remained bleak, the Football League sued Carlton and Granada, claiming that the firms had breached their contract in failing to deliver the guaranteed income. On 1 August the league lost the case, with the judge ruling that it had "failed to extract sufficient written guarantees".[46]The league then filed a negligence claim against its own lawyers for failing to press for a written guarantee at the time of the deal with ITV Digital. From this, in June 2006, it was awarded a paltry £4 in damages of the £150m it was seeking.[47]The collapse put in doubt the government's ambition to switch off analogue terrestrial TV signals by 2010.[48]

Despite several interested parties, the administrators were unable to find a buyer for the company and effectively put it intoliquidationon 26 April 2002.[49]Most subscription channels stopped broadcasting on ITV Digital on 1 May 2002 at 7 am, with only free-to-air services continuing.[50][51]The next day, ITV chief executiveStuart Prebblequit.[52]In all, 1,500 jobs were lost by ITV Digital's collapse.[53]ITV Digital was eventually placed into liquidation on 18 October, with debts of £1.25 billion.[54]

Post-collapse[edit]

By 30 April 2002, theIndependent Television Commission(ITC) had revoked ITV Digital's broadcasting licence and started looking for a buyer. A consortium made up of theBBCandCrown Castlesubmitted an application on 13 June,[55]later joined by BSkyB, and were awarded the licence on 4 July.[56]They launched theFreeviewservice on 30 October 2002, offering 30 free-to-air TV channels and 20 free-to-air radio channels including several interactive channels such asBBC Red ButtonandTeletext,but no subscription or premium services.[57]Those followed on 31 March 2004 whenTop Up TVbegan broadcasting 11pay TVchannels intimesharedbroadcast slots.

From 10 December 2002, ITV Digital's liquidators started to ask customers to return their set top boxes or pay a £39.99 fee.[58]Had this been successful, it could have threatened to undermine the fledgling Freeview service, since at the time most digital terrestrial receivers in households were ONdigital and ITV Digital legacy hardware. In January 2003, Carlton and Granada stepped in and paid £2.8m to the liquidators to allow the boxes to stay with their customers, because at the time the ITV companies received a discount on their broadcasting licence payments based on the number of homes they had converted to digital television. It was also likely done to avoid further negativity towards the two companies.[59]

During the time under administration, Carlton and Granada were in talks regarding a merger, which was eventually cleared in 2004.[60]

Effect on football clubs[edit]

ITV Digital's collapse contributed to Bradford City F.C. being put into administration

Following the proposed Football League merger, with the lucrative finances it proposed, ITV Digital's collapse had a large effect on many football clubs.Bradford City F.C.was one of the affected, and its debt forced it into administration in May 2002.[61][62]

Barnsley F.C.also entered administration in October 2002, despite the club making a profit for the twelve years prior to the collapse of ITV Digital.[63][64]Barnsley had budgeted on the basis that the money from the ITV Digital deal would be received, leaving a £2.5 million shortfall in their accounts when the broadcaster collapsed.[64]

Clubs were forced to slash staff, and some players were forced to be sold as they were unable to pay them. Some clubs increased ticket prices for fans to offset the losses.[65]

The rights to showFootball Leaguematches were resold toSky Sportsfor £95 million for the next four years compared to £315 million over three years from ITV Digital, leading to a reduction from £2 million per season to £700,000 in broadcasting revenue for First Division clubs.[66][67]

In total, fourteenFootball Leagueclubs were placed in administration within four years of the collapse of ITV Digital, compared to four in the four years before.[67]

News Corporation hacking allegations[edit]

On 31 March 2002, French cable companyCanal+accusedRupert Murdoch'sNews Corporationin the United States of extracting the UserROM code from itsMediaGuardencryption cards and leaking it onto the internet.[68]Canal+ brought a lawsuit against News Corporation alleging that it, through its subsidiaryNDS(which provides encryption technology for Sky and other TV services from Murdoch), had been working on breaking the MediaGuard smartcards used by Canal+, ITV Digital and other non-Murdoch-owned TV companies throughout Europe.[69][70]The action was later partially dropped after News Corporation agreed to buy Canal+'s struggling Italian operationTelepiu,a direct rival to a Murdoch-owned company in that country.[71][72]

Other legal action byEchoStar/NagraStar was being pursued as late as August 2005, accusing NDS of the same wrongdoing.[73]In 2008, NDS was found to have broken piracy laws by hacking EchoStar Communications' smart card system, however only $1,500 in statutory damages was awarded.[74]

Rupert Murdoch possibly used hacking to indirectly weaken ITV Digital

On 26 March 2012, an investigation from BBC'sPanoramafound evidence that one of News Corporation's subsidiaries sabotaged ITV Digital. It found that NDS hacked ONdigital/ITV Digital smartcard data and leaked them through a pirate website under Murdoch's control – actions which enabled pirated cards to flood the market.[75][76]The accusations arose from emails obtained by the BBC, and an interview with Lee Gibling, the operator of a hacking website, who claimed he was paid up to £60,000 per year by Ray Adams, NDS's head of security.[77]This would mean that Murdoch used computer hacking to directly undermine rival ITV Digital. Lawyers for News Corporation claimed that these accusations of illegal activities against a rival business are "false and libellous".[78]In June 2013 theMetropolitan Policedecided to look into these allegations following a request byLabourMPTom Watson.[79]

Marketing[edit]

ITV Digital ran an advertising campaign involving the comedianJohnny Vegasas Al and a knitted monkey simply calledMonkey,voiced byBen Miller.A knitted replica of Monkey could be obtained by signing up to ITV Digital. Because the monkey could not be obtained without signing up to the service, a market for second-hand monkeys developed. At one time, original ITV Digital Monkeys were fetching several hundred pounds oneBay,[80]and knitting patterns delivered by email were sold for several pounds. The campaign was created by the advertising agencyMother.[81]In August 2002, following ITV Digital's collapse, Vegas claimed that he was owed money for the advertisements.[82]In early 2007, Monkey and Al reappeared in an advert forPG Tipstea, which at first included a reference to ITV Digital's downfall.

Set top boxes[edit]

ONdigital viewing card

The set-top boxes used for ITV Digital and ONdigital were:

Sony VTX-D500U Set Top Box

Carlton/Granada digital television channels[edit]

Carlton and Granada (laterITV Digital Channels Ltd) created a selection of channels which formed some of the core content available via the service. These were:

Channel name Channel no. Year removed Reason/Notes
Carlton Kids 34 2000 Timeshared withCarlton World.Replaced by a timeshare ofDiscovery KidsandDiscovery Wings.
Carlton World 34 2000 Timeshared withCarlton Kids.Replaced by a timeshare ofDiscovery WingsandDiscovery Kids.
Carlton Select 35 2000 Timeshared withCarlton Food Network.
First ONdigital 20 2000 Provided exclusive coverage of sports events, concerts and ONdigital features/channels.
ONoffer 20 2001 Provided offers on products. Was replaced by Wellbeing.
ONsport 1 99 2001 Originally known as Champions ON 99. Replaced by ITV Sport Channel, ITV Sport Extra and ITV Sport Select.
ONsport 2 28/98 2001 Originally known as Champions ON 28, then Champions ON 98. Timeshared with Carlton Cinema. Replaced by ITV Sport Channel, ITV Sport Extra and ITV Sport Select.
Taste CFN 35 2001 Known as Carlton Food Network until 1 May 2001. Timeshared with Carlton Select before extending hours until closure.
ONview 20 2001 Served as a portal to the ONdigital service, containing services like ONoffer, ONsport results and ONrequest movie showing times.
Granada Breeze 31 2002 Known as Granada Good Life until 1 May 1998. Timesharing withMen & Motors(Known as Granada Men & Motors until 2001, ceased during 2010).
ITV Select 50 2002 Known as ONrequest until 22 August 2001.
ITV Sport Channel 20 2002 Replaced ONsport 1 and was also available on NTL's service. Closed due to ITV Digital's liquidation.
ITV Sport Plus 99 2002 Replaced ONsport 2, but it is unknown if it was on rival digital services likeITV Sport Channel.Closed due to ITV Digital's liquidation.
ITV Sport Select 98 2002 Provided a pay-per-view service for sports events, in the same way as ONrequest/ITV Select. Closed due to ITV Digital's liquidation.
Shop! 19 2002 Joint venture between Granada andLittlewoods.
Wellbeing 47 2001 Joint venture between Granada andBoots.Replaced ONoffer service.
ITV Text+ 16 2002 Operated mostly in the same way as BBC Text, but provided ITV programme information. Closed due to ITV Digital's liquidation.
Carlton Cinema 28 2003 Timeshared with Champions ON 28/98, then timeshared with ONsport 2.
Plus 30 2004 Known as Granada Plus until 1998, then G Plus until 2002. Closed due to launch ofITV3.
ITV News Channel 48 2005 Known as ITN News Channel until after the collapse of ITV Digital.
ITV2 6 — Still broadcasting.

See also[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^"BBC NEWS | Business | ITV Digital put into liquidation".BBC News. 18 October 2002.Retrieved5 November2018.
  2. ^"Carlton, Granada, and BSkyB form British Digital Broadcasting".
  3. ^"British Digital Broadcasting targets 1 million viewers".
  4. ^Itv Big Two lead digital revolution. Eric Reguly and Carol Midgley. The Times, Wednesday, 25 June 1997
  5. ^"Monkey Business".The Money Programme.12 June 2002. 14 minutes in. BBC Two.
  6. ^"UK Digital turn on for ONdigital".BBC News.28 July 1998.Retrieved24 September2018.
  7. ^"BBC News – UK – D-day for digital TV".news.bbc.co.uk.
  8. ^"BBC News – The Company File – First shots in Digital TV war".news.bbc.co.uk.
  9. ^"BBC News – Edinburgh Festival – Digital TV makers plan cheaper packages".news.bbc.co.uk.
  10. ^"ONdigital line-up and launch date unveiled".
  11. ^"ONdigital Announces Channel Packages And Launch Date".MediaTel. 28 September 1998. Archived fromthe originalon 20 April 2002.Retrieved4 March2007.
  12. ^"MEDIA: ONdigital to challenge Sky – Unfazed by supply problems with its set-top boxes, pay-TV company ONdigital remains optimistic about its recent launch and its power to compete with Sky, writes Conor Dignam".
  13. ^"BBC News – Entertainment – BSkyB to woo digital market".news.bbc.co.uk.
  14. ^ab"BBC News – Entertainment – Digital cable TV 'will be a hit'".news.bbc.co.uk.
  15. ^"Timeline: a history of TV football rights".The Guardian.25 February 2003.
  16. ^Bufton, Jonathan (1 January 2001)."ONtrack again".Transdiffusion.Retrieved27 July2022.
  17. ^Wiseman, Andrew."Digital TV".625.uk.
  18. ^McIntosh, Bill (22 December 1999)."Discovery channels boost ONdigital".The Independent.Retrieved27 July2022.
  19. ^"Analysis: Brand spend analysis – ONdigital will continue to spend heavily on ITV as it vies with Sky for viewers".
  20. ^"Ondigital on course for 1 million customers".PR Newswire.
  21. ^"ONnet Hits The Streets With More Than 40 Brands On Board".Service Engineers Forum. 18 September 2000.
  22. ^"£315m nets ONdigital and ITV League rights".
  23. ^"ITV Digital goes broke".2002.
  24. ^"Monkey Business".The Money Programme.12 June 2002. 19 minutes in. BBC Two.
  25. ^"ONdigital prepaid digital boxes go sales UK-wide".
  26. ^Macalister, Terry (12 January 2000)."ONdigital reports 34% rise in sales".The Guardian.
  27. ^"Tempting the digital refuseniks".BBC News.19 March 2002.
  28. ^"Background to failure of the digital dream".2002.
  29. ^"Ondigital 'faces relaunch'".BBC News.23 April 2001.
  30. ^"Ondigital relaunches as ITV Digital".BBC News.11 July 2001.
  31. ^"Ondigital relaunches as ITV Digital".BBC News.11 July 2001.
  32. ^"ITV Digital gets support from SMG".Sport Business. 28 September 2001. Archived fromthe originalon 20 March 2007.Retrieved2 March2007.
  33. ^"ONdigital plans premium sports channel".
  34. ^"Granada urged to ditch ONdigital".BBC News.27 June 2001.
  35. ^Digital Terrestrial Television in Europe edited by Allan Brown, Robert G. Picard
  36. ^"A cold climate for digital TV".BBC News.11 December 2001.
  37. ^"ITV Digital to cut 550 jobs".BBC News.14 December 2001.
  38. ^"Viewers desert ITV Digital".BBC News.12 February 2002.
  39. ^"ITV Digital administrators offered extra time".
  40. ^"ITV Digital in crisis, owners say".BBC News.27 February 2002.
  41. ^"ITV Digital's flickering future".BBC News.5 March 2002.
  42. ^"ITV Digital football contract 'binding'".BBC News.5 March 2002.
  43. ^Fox, Paul (26 March 2002)."ITV's expensive miscalculation".The Daily Telegraph.
  44. ^"Football chiefs reject ITV deal".BBC News.21 March 2002.
  45. ^"ITV Digital goes broke".BBC News.27 March 2002.
  46. ^"League loses football cash battle".BBC News.1 August 2002.
  47. ^"Football League loses damages bid".BBC News.23 June 2006.
  48. ^Cassy, John; Wells, Matt (28 March 2002)."ITV Digital staggers towards collapse".The Guardian.
  49. ^Correspondent, George Trefgarne, Financial (25 April 2002)."ITV Digital faces closure 'within days'".The Daily Telegraph.{{cite news}}:CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  50. ^"ITV Digital RIP".The Register.
  51. ^"Race to find digital broadcaster".BBC News.1 May 2002.
  52. ^"Top man at ITV quits".BBC News.2 May 2002.
  53. ^"BSkyB needs 150,000 ITV customers to recoup £70m".
  54. ^Gibson, Owen (21 January 2003)."ITV Boss es box clever over set-top giveaway".The Guardian.Retrieved29 September2020.
  55. ^"BBC – Press Office – Digital Terrestrial".bbc.co.uk.
  56. ^"BBC wins ex-ITV digital licences".The Daily Telegraph.3 July 2002.
  57. ^"Freeview's 'fresh start' for digital TV".BBC News.30 October 2002.
  58. ^"Viewers told to return set-top boxes".BBC News.10 December 2002.
  59. ^"ITV Digital viewers 'can keep' boxes".BBC News.19 September 2018.
  60. ^Litterick, David (7 October 2003)."ITV cleared for a united kingdom".The Daily Telegraph.
  61. ^"Bradford ready for greatest comeback in club's history".
  62. ^"Bradford City put into administration".16 May 2002.
  63. ^Staff and agencies (3 October 2002)."Barnsley go into administration".The Guardian.
  64. ^ab"ITV Digital collapse almost destroyed us – now I fear SPL sides could suffer same fate, warns ex-Barnsley chairman".Daily Record.10 June 2009.Retrieved30 September2019.
  65. ^"The Effect of the ITV Digital Collapse on Lower League Football".12 March 2014.
  66. ^"Football League agrees £95m TV deal".BBC News.5 July 2002.
  67. ^ab"Earthquake: The Collapse of ITV Digital".twohundredpercent.net.Retrieved30 September2019.
  68. ^Cassy, John; Paul Murphy (13 March 2002)."How codebreakers cracked the secrets of the smart card".The Guardian.London.Retrieved25 February2008.
  69. ^Bennett, Neil (31 March 2002)."ITV Digital set to sue Murdoch".The Daily Telegraph.London.
  70. ^"Murdoch's NDS faces $1bn lawsuit - News - London Evening Standard".Archived fromthe originalon 5 May 2013.
  71. ^"Vivendi settles row with NDS".The Guardian.London. 2 May 2003.Retrieved20 May2008.
  72. ^Tryhorn, Chris (30 April 2002)."Murdoch lines up Sky Italia".The Guardian.London.Retrieved20 May2008.
  73. ^Sullivan, Bob."Pay-TV piracy flap intensifies".NBC News.Retrieved25 February2008.
  74. ^"EchoStar Wins Battle, Loses War In News Corp. Piracy Case".Multichannel News.Retrieved21 June2008.
  75. ^"NDS accused of ITV Digital card hack".Digital Spy.27 March 2012.
  76. ^"Murdoch firm accused of hacking".BBC News.BBC. 27 March 2012.
  77. ^"Murdoch's TV Pirates".Panorama. BBC. Archived from the original on 9 December 2014.Retrieved21 January2024.{{cite news}}:CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  78. ^Leigh, David (26 March 2012)."Questions for News Corp over rival's collapse".The Guardian.
  79. ^Sweney, Mark (7 June 2013)."Met looks into claims ex-News Corp subsidiary aided attack on pay-TV rival".The Guardian.
  80. ^ITV Monkey funds TV shopping start-upArchived9 October 2008 at theWayback Machinesilicon, 11 July 2002
  81. ^Cassy, John (2 May 2002)."ITV Monkey in custody battle".guardian.co.uk.
  82. ^"Vegas 'owed money for Monkey ads'".BBC News.19 August 2002.

External links[edit]

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=ITV_Digital&oldid=1230708818"