Secret tapes back League TV fight

SECRET tape recordings made by the Football League of a meeting with ITV Digital's boss have given clubs fresh ammunition in their £178 million battle over television rights.

Stuart Prebble, chief executive of ITV Digital, was recorded addressing 72 club chairmen last November at Notts County's ground. It was already clear that ITV Digital was struggling and the League wanted assurances that any deal with ITV Digital would be honoured.

The existence of the tapes was revealed last week in Financial Mail. And now, a transcript of the meeting appears to support the League's case that Prebble said that any ITV Digital contract would be backed by its parents, Carlton and Granada.

At the meeting, League chairman Keith Harris read a statement issued the day before by Charles Allen, the chairman of Granada.

Allen had said: 'Granada and Carlton have both indicated that their current intention is to continue to provide funds to ITV Digital and ITV Sport to enable the businesses to meet their operational requirements as and when they fall due.' Prebble was at the meeting partly to ask club chairmen to lobby MPs to persuade Rupert Murdoch's BSkyB to carry ITV Digital's subscription sports channel, ITV Sport. That would give it access to Sky's 5.6 million subscribers.

The tape records Prebble responding to a question from Sam Hamman, chairman of Cardiff City, on whether ITV Digital could survive if it failed to pull off the deal with Sky. Prebble replied: 'The situation is exactly as Keith read out at the beginning. He read a statement made by the chairman of Granada yesterday which says that it is our intention to honour the terms of our current contract.'

He made no attempt to separate ITV Digital's liabilities from those of owners-Carlton and Granada. Later, John Dennis, chairman of Barnsley football club, suggested that a press release on the meeting ought to include 'words that will give the public confidence that ITV Digital will fulfil the next two years of the contract'.

Prebble replied: 'We said yesterday - and it is widely reported in the press today - the comment that Keith read out in the beginning. But, again, we will be briefing the press about our own perspective on these discussions which obviously will say exactly that.'

The League now argues that the comments show that Prebble, by referring to Allen's statement, was inextricably linking ITV Digital with Carlton and Granada.

The League insists its contract with ITV Digital to broadcast League matches is guaranteed by Carlton and Granada. It says they are liable to pay the £178.5 million ITV Digital owes the League. Carlton and Granada say they are not liable to bail out ITV Digital, now in administration.

ITV Digital plans to sell the pay-TV rights it owns to the Uefa Champions League, according to The Sunday Telegraph. The deal - possibly with BSkyB - would raise cash to help fund its future under plans being worked on by the company's administrators, Deloitte & Touche.