BSkyB Welcomes Digital Licence Fee Decision

The chief executive of British Sky Broadcasting, Tony Ball, issued a statement today on the Government’s decision not to proceed with a digital poll tax (see BBC Digital Licence Fee Plans Rejected). He welcomed the news but called for greater scrutiny of the Corporation’s operations.

“This is still a huge pay day for the BBC. Despite the culture secretary’s recognition that the BBC needs to raise its game and be more cost effective, the Corporation is being given millions more in public money. The decision to fund this huge revenue increase, on top of additional income from commercial activities and commercial savings, should be accompanied by clear guidelines about how it should be spent in the interests of fair competition,” he said.

The satellite broadcaster has shown its concern for extra digital funding for the BBC since the idea of a digital levy was first introduced (see BSkyB Supports ITC Opposition To Digital Licence Fee). Its main concern is to ensure fair competition, especially in regard to the rival news channels which both operate.

“Sky’s concern throughout this debate had been that the BBC is using licence fee funding to pay for digital channels such as News 24 that compete unfairly with commercial services and are only watched by a minority of viewers. Our belief is that such channels should be provided as commercial services by the BBC’s commercial arm, BBC Worldwide,” Ball said.

“We welcome the Government’s proposal to review the BBC’s channels as well as to allow a more open, public consultation process. We also hope that the review of News 24 gets underway without delay. We look forward to submitting evidence in the future.”

BSkyB: 020 7705 3000