England Problems Could Hit ITV - 21/10/2007

Despite their commercial success with the Rugby World Cup, ITV may lose out if England fail to qualify for the European chairmanships. Since he became executive chairman in January, Charlton director Michael Grade has made ITV a more aggressive bidder for sports rights. The European championship rights were secured in June for an undisclosed sum and billed as a highlight of ITV's 2008 schedule. The prospect that England may fail to qualify for the Euro 2008 finals casts doubt on the value of the rights. ITV sealed a joint deal with the BBC to share live UK television and television rights to all 32 matches at the tournament in Austria and Switzerland in June 2008. Football viewers are predominantly young and male, audiences which ITV1 often struggles to reach but which advertisers value highly. Because so many European players feature in the Premiership, other countries' international matches have become more appealing to British viewers. During the World Cip last years, several games that didn't involved England achieved audiences of about 9m, figures usually only achieved by Coronation Street or the X Factor.