Al Needham isn't ashamed to admit he was an ITV Digital subscriber. Here he recalls the channel's highlights – that's the first two paragraphs anyway
When ITV (née ON) Digital was launched in autumn 1998, it seemed a very appealing offer to the televisual tat aficionado such as myself. You could get WWF and back-to-back episodes of On The Buses without throwing any cash directly into the maw of Rupert Murdoch, and you only had to plug it in and ring a call centre to get connected.
Last summer we interviewed a confident David Burns, the Football League's chief executive. Since then his member clubs suffered the collapse of ITV Digital, while rumours persist that Celtic and Rangers will be asked to move south. So we went back to find out how he viewed the situation after a turbulent season
The Football League has called on the government to intervene in the ITV Digital dispute. What exactly do you believe they should do?
I think that the government can and should do more. I have made it clear to Tessa Jowell, the secretary of state for Culture, Media and Sport, that the government should condemn the action of Carlton and Granada, yet they refuse to do so. They could have a full enquiry conducted by the regulator – the Independent Television Commission – and they could stop giving cash to Carlton and Granada by way of what’s called the digital dividend. These broadcasters, for every viewer they get transferred over on to a digital platform, whether it’s satellite or cable, get a tax-free sum, a rebate against what it costs to be a public service broadcaster, which for the ITV network is £400 million a year. Over the next ten years they can earn up to £320 million of that back through rebates. On Carlton and Granada’s own figures, between 2001 and 2010, which is the period the government set for the switch over from analogue, it’s worth £2 billion to them. Carlton and Granada pulling out of the League deal is nothing to do with the product itself or with them having overpaid for what they got. Because they paid the going rate at the time – in the same way that Sky did. They just decided they couldn’t run a paying channel against Sky. The reasons why were poor technology, poor customer service and poor marketing. And yet they suddenly saw that they could make more money out of the digital dividend then they could through subscribers. The government could simply call the ITV companies and say: “You can forget all about the digital dividend until you pay your debt to football.” And that would also serve as a warning to other companies generally, because what we’ve got here are two major FTSE 100 companies who have just walked away from their liabilities – which is almost unprecedented.
No one else would do it, so Neil McCarthy felt compelled to hand out some awards to the French presidents who have so enriched the past season
Each season, the French Players’ Union stage Les Oscars du Foot, televised live and attended by the squads of all 38 professional clubs. This year, Bordeaux’s striker Pauleta won player of the season and Djibril Cissé won best young player. For some reason, though, none of the 38 club presidents turned up for the Oscars and only two sent apologies. France Football magazine remarked on this and suggested that perhaps the organisers would have more success in attracting them if they awarded an Oscar for president of the season.
Wednesday 1 Norwich reach the First Division play-off final, beating Wolves 3-2 on aggregate after a 1-0 defeat at Molineux. David Jones declines to discuss his team’s decline (“What I think will stay in-house”), while Nigel Worthington is taking each day as a bonus: “Before the start of the season I’d have settled for eighth or ninth.” Cardiff miss the chance of a play-off final on their doorstep by losing 2-0 at home to Stoke in the second leg of their semi. In the other Second Division tie, Brentford beat Huddersfield 2-1. After two years in administration, Airdrie go into full liquidation and consequently lose their place in the Scottish First Division – any new club launched under the same name would have to start in the Third. A Turkish man is jailed for 15 years for the murder of two Leeds fans in Istanbul in 2000. Four others are found guilty of lesser charges.
Monday 1 Arsenal go a point clear after a 3-0 win at Charlton. “We know it’s down to us now,” says Arsène. “We’ve gifted six goals in two games,” sighs a baffled David O’Leary as Leeds’ Champs League hopes fade further with a 2-1 defeat at Spurs. Ipswich slip into the bottom three after Marcus Bent misses a penalty in a goalless draw with Chelsea, while John Gregory is “almost lost for words” after Derby’s 1-0 home defeat by Middlesbrough. Everton survive the early dismissal of a punch-throwing Duncan Ferguson (“He was stupid and I’ve told him,” says his new manager) to record a 3-1 win over Bolton, also reduced to ten. In the First, West Brom’s 1-0 win at Coventry takes them level on points with Wolves, beaten 2-0 at home by Man City. Brighton go two points clear at the top of the Second with a last-minute winner against Bristol City, displacing Reading who draw at home with Northampton. Several Luton players are questioned by police following a nightclub brawl to celebrate their promotion. Halifax, 5-0 losers at Darlington, go down to the Conference for the second time in nine years.