Color background cell

Color background cell

I have a very simple table with one large cell inside. There is static
data inside.
I want a repeating tile image as the background of the table. I think what
I need to do is put the image in the cell, not the table, am I on the
right track?
I'm trying to simply change the color before moving on to the image but
cant even make that work.
I've tried creating a reference outlet for both the table cell as well as
the content view and added this code:
tblCell.backgroundColor = [UIColor redColor];
tblContent.backgroundColor =[UIColor redColor];
Unfortunately it still shows up as white. Would appreciate some guidance.