Wireless Group Takes BBC Complaint To OFT

In a submission to the Office of Fair Trading (OFT), The Wireless Group (TWG) has accused the BBC of abusing its position of dominance to drive commercial radio out of the sports market.

TWG, owners of the commercial radio station talkSPORT claims that the BBC has been acquiring radio rights to sporting events at inflated prices which bear no relation to the economics of the market. The group has submitted a 20 page document to the OFT seeking a ruling that the BBC is operating in contravention of British law, and hopes to have the BBC heavily fined for what it calls anti-competitive practices.

Chief executive of the group, Kelvin MacKenzie, said: “We must never again allow a situation to develop where a tax-funded public service organisation falls into the hands of a management whose pre-occupation is to trample the advertising-funded competition to the detriment of taxpayers, listeners, advertisers and commerce.”

TWG believe that the content of its talkSPORT station is being exclusively “plundered” by the BBC, which, it says enjoys a massive unregulated monopoly.

According to the group, the BBC is going far beyond its public services remit in buying up rights to more sporting events than it has the capacity to broadcast and cross-promoting what it is able to put to air in a way in which its commercial rivals are prevented from doing.

The complaint follows the BBC’s purchase of the radio broadcast rights to English Premier League football for almost £15m a year, which the TWG has calculated to be 125% in excess of market value and which, according to the radio group, is more than the annual revenues of any UK speech-based commercial radio station.

TWG has previously clashed with the BBC over its coverage of Euro 2000 (see TalkSport Is “Misleading Listeners”, Says BBC) and accused the public service broadcaster of abusing its dominant position last month when the BBC acquired the TV and radio rights for the Greece-England World Cup qualifier (see Talksport Tackles BBC Over England World Cup Rights).

BBC Radio: 020 7580 4468 www.bbc.co.uk Wireless Group: 020 7269 7180

Subscribers can access further information on The Wireless Group and other radio groups by selecting “Radio” from the drop-down box at the top of this page.