Digital terrestrial broadcaster ITV Digital has been put into administration after it made clear it could not meet payments to the Football League.
Accountancy firm Deloitte & Touche, brought in last month to restructure ITV Digital, is to be appointed administrators, sources said.
ITV Digital, owned by TV groups Granada and Carlton Communications, operates at a loss and had sought to cut the payments it owed to the league for the rights to broadcast its soccer matches.
"We don't hold out much hope for a rescue," a source close to ITV Digital told Reuters.
READ MORE
Granada, Carlton and ITV Digital all declined to comment