Carve-up of ITV Digital begins

The carve-up of what was left of ITV Digital began this morning as both the Independent Television Commission and administrators Deloitte & Touche began to search for new owners for the bust broadcaster.

The BBC, Channel 4, US software giant Microsoft and French broadcaster canal+ are among those poring over the details of what is available. But the administrator is yet to release a formal memorandum detailing the assets up for grabs.

The ITC was expected to re-advertise the three licences which made up ITV Digital and emphasised that it is prepared to split them up but will make them less onerous than before. This could mean that at least one is made over to digital data rather than television broadcasting.

The ITC has called for interested parties to register in the next fortnight and then submit details of their bids before a final decision hopefully on 16 June.

For the adminstrators the major asset remains ITV Digital's 1.2 million subscriber base and the £100-plus set top boxes each has. Many boxes technically belong to the company but the logistics and cost of reclaining them make that unlikely. The company also has a share in the technology which enabled terrestrial digital broadcasting which it partly developed with canal+.

The good news for sports fans was that the administrators and the Football League, which triggered the demise of ITV Digital after it tried to slash its £315 million contract, have agreed that for tonight at least ITV Sport becomes a free channel allowing it to broadcast the Division One and Two play-offs.