Government Pushes For Sport On Terrestrial TV

The Government is planning to tighten broadcasting regulations to ensure that all major sports events are shown on terrestrial TV.

Culture Secretary, Tessa Jowell is believed to have written to the ITC requesting a change in the law to close a loophole that Kirch tried to exploit last year when selling the rights for this summer’s World Cup in Japan and Korea to the BBC and ITV.

Kirch eventually came to an agreement with the terrestrial broadcasters over the rights for the tournament (see BBC and ITV Secure World Cup Rights), but the German media group had threatened to sell the rights to subscription TV channels for over three-times the price that the BBC and ITV were willing to pay.

A spokesperson for the DCMS said: “The Kirch episode highlighted the potential for the rules on British protected events to be side-stepped. We want to make sure that the majority of TV viewers are able to watch crown jewel sports events and we are working to see that this happens.”

A change in the law, which is covered by the 1996 Broadcasting Act, would safeguard other “crown jewel” sports events such as the Olympic Games, the FA Cup and Wimbledon.

DCMS: 020 7211 6200 www.culture.gov

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