Sports broadcaster Setanta, financially bruised months earlier after losing a key rights package, appears to be close to the final hours of operation unless emergency funding can be secured.

In the business equivalent to injury time, Setanta has approached a number of businesses in hopes of finding a finance partner. Company executives held meetings in London on Tuesday night in search of a solution amid a UK recession and industry-wide belt-tightening.

The company has told STV that they are not in administration and that discussions with the board of directors are ongoing. A spokesman described the situation on Wednesday morning as "very fluid", adding they were pursuing every possible option for re-financing the business.

BSkyB acknowledged being approached but refused to help the struggling Irish company. The broadcaster of Sky Sports said it turned down Setanta's request for a £50million interest-free loan.

Jeremy Darroch, BSkyB chief executive, said on Tuesday: "Our job is not to fund other companies.

"We have been talking to Setanta, and trying to work with them and help them.

"At the end of the day we are not a bank, we are a broadcaster, not a supplier of working capital to a business and rights holder."

Setanta's future was thrown into doubt in February when it was out-bid by Sky for one of its two English Premier League football packages. The lack of football would diminish the value of the broadcaster and likely negatively impact subscriptions to the pay channel.

Setanta's subscription services have been unavailable since Tuesday. The company have told callers that new subscriptions were unavailable due to a "technical problem".

Published reports on Wednesday indicate Setanta were also speaking with BT and Disney-owned ESPN in an attempt to raise as much as £100million. Setanta has existing relationships with both companies.

Midday on Wednesday, BT Vision, the home digital TV service, confirmed it has suspended sales of the Setanta channel.

BT Vision said: "We are closely monitoring the situation with regard to the current position of Setanta Sports."

The English Premier League should not be too badly affected should Setanta go into administration, as the broadcaster has only won one of the six live broadcast packages for 2010 to 2013.

The Football Association, which has a £150million deal for England and FA Cup games with Setanta, and the Scottish Premier League have more significant problems. The SPL relies heavily on its broadcast revenue and industry experts believe as many as three clubs could struggle for survival without the broadcaster's rights fees.

Setanta failed to pay the final instalment of this season's TV deal last week, leaving the SPL to dip into its own coffers to distribute around £3 million, the amount due, to its 12 member clubs.

In April, the SPL clubs agreed to Setanta's request to change the terms of the contract due to begin at the start of the 2010-2011 season, which was initially worth £125million.

Scottish Football Association chief executive Gordon Smith admitted he was concerned about the situation.

He said on Tuesday: "We don't really know what is going on, it is an SPL broadcasting deal but obviously it is a concern if there is a problem for the league."

Labour peer Lord Foulkes, former chairman of Edinburgh side Hearts, warned some Scottish top-flight clubs could be forced out of business.

"It is very serious," he told a broadcast interview on Wednesday. "I think it puts the future of one or two SPL clubs in jeopardy. They are already struggling financially and this on top of it could be the tipping point."

Lord Foulkes said up to 20% of a club's revenue comes from broadcast payments.

He said: "Some of the smaller clubs in the SPL I know are already in financial difficulty and this kind of thing would just tip them over into a situation they could not recover from."

He said Setanta had done "a very good job" at broadcasting Scottish football and said he hoped a solution could be found.