In a high-profile Worthington Cup semi-final clash between Sheffield Wednesday and Blackburn Rovers, fewer than 1,000 viewers tuned in, resulting in a zero grade from Barb.
The low ratings are the latest embarrassment for the station, which acquired the rights to Nationwide League and Worthington Cup football in a high-profile £315m deal last year. The continued poor performance of ITV Sport has caused the pay-TV broadcaster, owned jointly by Granada and Carlton Communications, to re-evaluate its future.
Yesterday, a meeting with rival digital operator BSkyB to secure carriage for ITV Sport on the Sky Digital platform collapsed as the broadcasters were unable to agree on how much ITV should charge. ITV is thought to have been asking £80m for the deal.
ITV Digital would ideally like to agree a deal before it publishes fourth-quarter subscriber numbers at the end of the month. However, reports of conflict at executive level within ITV Digital are believed to be hampering negotiations.
Another option would be to scrap the digital sports channel altogether, saving £130m a year.
Meanwhile, a new set of rules published by the Independent Television Commission has made no change to regulations preventing the cross-promotion of digital platforms, which would have given ITV greater freedom to promote ITV Digital on ITV1.
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