When ITV Sport announced that their live Nationwide match schedules, with matches to be screened "predominantly on Sunday evenings and Thursday nights", we started this petition.
It has been signed by 5,884 fans so far.
Supporters who rely on public transport face the almost impossible task of travelling home on Sunday nights, denying them the opportunity to attend. Away supporters will be faced with arduous journeys home after games that finish at 8.00pm on Sunday nights, as will home supporters who have to travel any distance.
Younger fans will not be able to attend games played on Sunday nights due to school commitments and so it goes on. We also have to now contend with matches potentially being scheduled for any night of the week, including the previously untouched Thursday slot.
These schedules have been devised without any consideration for supporters who still prefer to watch their football live rather than from the comfort of their living room. Fixtures for the subscriber rather than the supporter.
This petition is intended to show ITV Digital that we have had enough of being inconvenienced for the sake of television schedules. Only we can change this and we urge you to support this campaign in the hope that ITV Digital will listen to our concerns. If we do nothing, we can only expect this situation to get worse. The television companies will listen, but only if we show sufficient support.
The action taken by ITV Digital in attempting to renegotiate the terms of their contract and the threat that the channel may disappear entirely could be perceived by some as a victory in our campaign. Whilst the influence television companies have over football is clearly to the detriment of the sport the revenue promised to and budgeted for by clubs as part of this agreement is essential to keep many from insolvency.
For that reason alone, Carlton, Granada and all other parties involved have an obligation to football and to the clubs involved to honour the terms of the agreement they were happy to sign several months ago. This does not detract from the ludicrous schedules that may well have contributed largely to the problems ITV Digital are now encountering and the reason this petition was started. Please continue to sign and distribute the link to this petition to true supporters everywhere.
Click here to sign the petition
Click here for details of the "6:15 Stinks" campaign
Click here for the "SwitchOffDigital" messageboard
The address of this page is:
www.bsad.org/itv
Please pass it on to as many people as possible.
For further information, please contact itvinfo@bsad.org