The BBC will meet with BSkyB today in an attempt to negotiate the cost of keeping its channels listed in their current position on the satellite broadcaster’s electronic programme guide.
Last week the BBC announced its intention to withdraw from the BSkyB service to begin broadcasting to Sky homes from a different satellite, in a move that will save the Corporation £85 million in fees over five years (see
BBC Ends £85m Conditional Access Contract With BSkyB).
The BBC still wants its channels to appear on the satellite broadcaster’s electronic programme guide, which is used by Sky’s subscribers to locate their favourite programmes. However, it is understood that Sky is planning to significantly increase the fees charged to the BBC to appear on the on-screen channel menu.
The cost of listing each BBC channel on the electronic programme guide could rise from £28,000 a year to £75,000. The BBC plans to increase the number of services on the guide to include all 11 regional versions of BBC1 and BBC2, plus eight digital channels, including News 24, BBC3 and BBC4.
The BBC will also have to pay BSkyB to develop software that will allow viewers to switch between different regional variations.
This could leave the Corporation facing an annual bill of £2.3 million, which would negate a significant proportion of the savings the BBC hopes to make from withdrawing from the BSkyB platform.
A spokesman for the BBC insisted that Sky’s decision to increase the charges was not a “knee-jerk” reaction to the Corporation’s sudden withdrawal from the digital satellite platform. He said: “We knew about the planned increase way before we decided to go in the clear. We are meeting today to discuss the practical implications of going unencrypted on digital satellite and to review our position on the electronic programme guide.”
Media analysts have suggested that the BBC’s decision to pull out of the conditional access satellite carriage agreement that it has held with BSkyB for the last five years is unlikely to have any material effect on the satellite broadcaster (see INSIGHTanalysis: BBC’s Exit From Carriage Deal Will Not Hurt Sky).
However, Merrill Lynch figures put the carriage revenue from BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Five at £25 million a year and it is possible that the other terrestrial channels will follow the BBC’s example and end their contracts.
