ITV companies Carlton Communications and Granada are reported to be planning to sue rival broadcaster BSkyB, over the satellite company’s alleged anti-competitive behaviour.
According to an article in today’s
Daily Telegraph, the ITV companies are hoping to sue Rupert Murdoch’s BSkyB for £400 million over the way that it sells its channel content to rival broadcasters.
Carlton and Granada are also reported to have talked to cable companies Telewest and NTL about their getting involved in the legal action. The two cable groups are also subject to Sky’s wholesale channel pricing structure. The Telegraph described NTL as ‘receptive’ to the case, whilst Telewest is understood to be ‘considering its position’.
If the case is successful, the £400 million blow to BSkyB could come in addition to a £200 million fine brought by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT). It is the OFT’s ruling that BSkyB has been operating anti-competitively that incited Carlton and Granada to consider the action in the first instance (see OFT Proposes Ruling Against BSkyB).
BSkyB has remained very defensive in relation to the OFT’s charges, saying: “BSkyB notes that the OFT is simultaneously alleging that BSkyB’s wholesale prices are both too high and too low. Furthermore the OFT is alleging that the discounts in BSkyB’s rate card are anti-competitive, despite those discounts previously being approved by the OFT. BSkyB will robustly defend itself against all the allegations.”
At midday today shares in BSkyB were up 11½p at 733½p.
