NTL's subsidiary, Premium TV, signed a 15-year £65m ($94m/B106m) internet rights deal to run the websites of 71 Football League clubs last year that includes each club outside the Premier League with the exception of Fulham, which was in Division One at the time.
The media company now hosts the sites of all 72 League clubs which have shown broadcast video highlights and audio commentary since the beginning of this season. The clubs are responsible for producing most of the content on their sites.
The Football League clubs are outraged that NTL is refusing payment to the clubs which have websites failing to hit increasingly stringent monthly editorial benchmarks, such as publishing a minimum number of news stories and player interviews.
Meanwhile, Premium TV insisted that the original contract said that there would be "rights fee criteria", but admitted that specifics were not outlined.
NTL, which is a US-listed company, has debts of nearly £12bn ($17bn/B20bn) and last week reported pre-tax losses for the three months ending September 30 of £716m ($1bn/B1.2bn).
Football League clubs have accused the UK’s cash-strapped cable group NTL of weaselling out of an agreement to pay for internet rights by introducing stringent benchmarks linked to fees, writes today’s Daily Telegraph newspaper.
