BBC and BSkyB reach retransmission fees agreement

After a long-running battle, the BBC and BSkyB have finally agreed that the BBC will no longer have to pay to put its channels on Sky’s pay-TV platform.

Following the appointment of new BBC director-general Tony Hall last year, the BBC announced that it was considering charging BSkyB for channels if retransmission fees were not dropped, with the corporation’s director of policy and strategy, John Tate, describing BSkyB’s use of BBC services as a ‘free ride’.

The new deal means that the BBC will save £4.5 million a year in licence fee money – the equivalent of receiving around 31,000 extra licence fees from viewers.

In a joint statement, the companies said: “Sky and the BBC have reached an agreement which reduces the BBC’s payments for platform services to zero.

“Alongside this, both parties have reach an agreement that secures the long-term availability of BBC channels and BBC iPlayer on the Sky platform.

“We will also continue to discuss opportunities that offer Sky customers new and innovative ways to discover and consume BBC content.”