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Virgin Media has had a sports news gap since the end of February, when BSkyB pulled its basic channel package from its rival's platform in a dispute over carriage fees, which included the Sky Sports News channel.

Virgin said the new 24 hour channel will be available to its 3m digital TV subscribers later this year.

ITN will be responsible for all daily editorial content, working closely with Virgin and Setanta. It will create 56 new editorial and production positions based at its London studios and recruit video journalists around the UK to cover sporting stories as they break across the country.

Michael O'Rourke, co-founder of Setanta, said: "We are delighted to appoint ITN at such an exciting time in Setanta's growth and are very confident that they will bring their expertise in producing rolling news to Setanta Sports News."

Malcolm Wall, Virgin Media's chief executive of content, said: "We are extremely pleased to be working with ITN to create a powerful new voice in sports TV reporting and expect Setanta Sports News will fast become a favourite with sports fans."