Reds take 100% control of LFC.TV

Liverpool Chief Executive Rick Parry described the deal as a major plus for the club.

"We're really pleased this has now been finalised and we've acquired 100% of the business," he said. "We've always been very proud of and committed to the success of both the website and, more recently, the TV channel. Not only are they integral to the success of the football club going forward, we continue to see the website and TV channel being hugely important in helping us communicate with our fan base all over the world."

Meanwhile, Jonathan Rogers, ITV's Director of Operations, said: "Liverpoolfc.tv has grown to become the UK's most popular football club website and we wish them the very best for the future."

Formed in 2000, Liverpoolfc.tv was set up as a joint venture between Liverpool Football Club and ITV to manage the club's digital media services. The first fruits of the partnership saw the launch of the club's official website, www.liverpoolfc.tv, in April 2001. In 2002, it was officially recognised as the most visited football club website in the world, with fans from 139 countries viewing 13.3 million pages a month.

In 2005, www.liverpoolfc.tv set a new record for football club websites when 2.8 million supporters viewed 48 million pages during the month of May alone. Twelve months later, www.liverpoolfc.tv was voted the UK's best Sports Site in the 2006 Website of the Year awards and named the Best Premier League Club Website after an extensive survey carried out by the FA Premier League.

In 2007, www.liverpoolfc.tv was again voted Best Sports Site in the 2007 Website of the Year awards and set a new record in July with 2.9 million supporters viewing 65 million page impressions during the month. In August 2007, the website was again named the most popular football club site in the UK.

A month later, Liverpoolfc.tv launched a dedicated club TV channel, LFC TV, available free to subscribers of Setanta's Sports Package and fans who have signed up for the website's e-Season Ticket package, the world's most successful premium content football club subscription service.