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ITV has ditched plans for live coverage of the final of the Euro 2008 football tournament this summer, after England and the other home nations failed to qualify.
The commercial broadcaster will leave live coverage of the final on Sunday June 29 to BBC1, settling instead for showing highlights later in the evening.
This is thought to be the first time ITV has declined to show live coverage of the final of either of the two major international football tournaments, the World Cup and the European Championships.
It has been predicted that England's failure to make the Euro 2008 championships - after failing to see off Croatia at Wembley last year - could cost ITV more than £10m in lost advertising revenues due to lower audience interest.
The other home nations - Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland - also failed to qualify, along with the Republic of Ireland.
Traditionally both ITV1 and BBC1 show live coverage of the final of the World Cup and European Championships, even though the corporation normally attracts around three times the audience of its commercial rival.
For the last World Cup in July 2006, the disparity was even greater. BBC1 attracted an average of around 14 million viewers for three hours of coverage of Italy's 1-0 victory over France on July 9, 2006, while ITV1 attracted only about 3 million.
This summer the BBC will broadcast 14 Euro 2008 games live, including one quarter final and the final. ITV has signed for live coverage of 13 matches, including one quarter final, which will all be shown on ITV1 unless two matches are on at the same time.
ITV also has first pick of the semi finals and will show one live.
The broadcaster will have live coverage of Euro 2004 winners Greece's group matches against Russia, Spain and Sweden as well as Holland versus Italy.
The BBC's live coverage will include France's games against Holland and Italy.
The tournament is being held in Austria and Switzerland and begins on Saturday June 7 with the group round tie between Switzerland and the Czech Republic.
ITV and the BBC share live rights to Euro 2008 as part of their joint deal with European football's governing body, Uefa, for UK TV, internet and mobile rights to the tournament.
"This decision has been made only for this tournament," said a spokesman for ITV Sport.
"We are not setting a precedent for the future. The decision has been made because there is no home nation representation at this year's tournament and we don't believe that it is in the public interest for both broadcasters to show [the final] live."
The commercial broadcaster will leave live coverage of the final on Sunday June 29 to BBC1, settling instead for showing highlights later in the evening.
This is thought to be the first time ITV has declined to show live coverage of the final of either of the two major international football tournaments, the World Cup and the European Championships.
It has been predicted that England's failure to make the Euro 2008 championships - after failing to see off Croatia at Wembley last year - could cost ITV more than £10m in lost advertising revenues due to lower audience interest.
The other home nations - Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland - also failed to qualify, along with the Republic of Ireland.
Traditionally both ITV1 and BBC1 show live coverage of the final of the World Cup and European Championships, even though the corporation normally attracts around three times the audience of its commercial rival.
For the last World Cup in July 2006, the disparity was even greater. BBC1 attracted an average of around 14 million viewers for three hours of coverage of Italy's 1-0 victory over France on July 9, 2006, while ITV1 attracted only about 3 million.
This summer the BBC will broadcast 14 Euro 2008 games live, including one quarter final and the final. ITV has signed for live coverage of 13 matches, including one quarter final, which will all be shown on ITV1 unless two matches are on at the same time.
ITV also has first pick of the semi finals and will show one live.
The broadcaster will have live coverage of Euro 2004 winners Greece's group matches against Russia, Spain and Sweden as well as Holland versus Italy.
The BBC's live coverage will include France's games against Holland and Italy.
The tournament is being held in Austria and Switzerland and begins on Saturday June 7 with the group round tie between Switzerland and the Czech Republic.
ITV and the BBC share live rights to Euro 2008 as part of their joint deal with European football's governing body, Uefa, for UK TV, internet and mobile rights to the tournament.
"This decision has been made only for this tournament," said a spokesman for ITV Sport.
"We are not setting a precedent for the future. The decision has been made because there is no home nation representation at this year's tournament and we don't believe that it is in the public interest for both broadcasters to show [the final] live."
