The Telegraph report:
Inmates, who are charged about £1 a week for having a TV set in their cell, paid £8.6 million back to the Ministry of Justice in rental fees over the same period, leaving a shortfall of £7.2 million.
The Government spent between £4.5 million and £5.3 million on televisions for prisons each year between 2009 and 2012, but received only around £2.1 million back in rental income, figures released in response to a Freedom of Information request show.
It is thought that these higher costs were linked to the digital switchover, as old analogue sets had to be upgraded or replaced so they could continue to receive programmes.