In the latest skirmish in the digital television world, BSkyB has threatened to withhold broadcasting rights to the Ryder Cup golf competition from rival broadcaster, ONdigital. The move would be a direct retaliation to ONdigital’s refusal to supply Sky with the rights to broadcast UEFA Champion’s League games.
The UEFA rights were secured by the ITV Network earlier in the year and run until the 2002/3 season (see ITV Secures Extended UEFA Championship Rights). ONdigital is owned by two major ITV companies, Carlton and Granada. The UEFA competition is made all the more attractive to broadcasters this year as it features Manchester United, one of the world’s most popular clubs. A spokesperson for ONdigital said that Sky is “quite gutted” that it does not have the rights to “a most important piece of [sports] viewing.” ONdigital says that Sky has not yet approached the group to discuss a sharing of the UEFA rights, although the spokesperson says that ONdigital would not intend to strike any such deal.
BSkyB intends to take the issue to the Office of Fair Trading. A spokesperson for Sky said that if a resolution is not reached regarding the Champion’s League rights, “Sky will have to take competitive action and this is likely to centre around the Ryder Cup.” The OFT would have to decide whether Sky, as a ‘dominant player’ in the TV sports broadcasting market, is obliged to provide smaller players, like ONdigital, with sports rights or whether it permitted to withhold them as part of a competitive strategy.
ONdigital believes that Sky is required to provide rights to other broadcasters, whereas ONdigital, as a new entrant in TV world, does not have to relinquish its exclusive rights. The arguments between the two broadcasters centre around ITV’s refusal to allow any of its services to be shown on BSkyB’s Sky Digital service (see BSkyB Fails To Gain Access To ITV2). However, if Sky were to hold back the Ryder Cup rights, ONdigital says it would take the issue to the regulators, including the Independent Television Commission and the OFT.
The Office of Fair Trading, however, says that it has so far received no formal complaint from BSkyB regarding the UEFA Champion’s League rights, although the issue has been raised by Sky at a press conference as well as in the press. As there is no formal complaint lodged with the OFT, it seems unlikely that the issue will be resolved before the Ryder Cup commences on 24 September.
ITV plans to show UEFA matches through ONdigital, ITV2 and the main ITV Network.
BSkyB: 0171 705 3000 ITV Network Centre: 0171 843 8000 Office of Fair Trading: 0171 211 8000
