Following news that ITV had secured the UK television broadcast rights to the forthcoming James Bond film Casino Royale, details of the battle for Bond have started to emerge..

According to Digital Spy, rival terrestrial UK TV station Channel 4 came close to winning Daniel Craig's first film as 007, with a strong competitive bid.

Channel 4 will be relaunching their subscription movie channel Film Four on Freeview (digital terrestrial TV) later this year and axing subscription charges. 007 was certain to be seen as a big ticket for the new station.

This deal is the first for ITV's new acqusitions head Jay Kondola. The deal also includes additional repeat runs of the entire Bond back catalogue.

"The Bond catalogue contains some of the most successful films in British film history," said Kandola. "I am delighted to have secured the first terrestrial screening of Daniel Craig as James Bond, exclusively for ITV viewers."

Unconfirmed rumours in the Irish press suggest ITV paid around £25 m for the packaged rights.

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