ITV Companies Reprimanded Over Discrimination Against BSkyB

ITV heavyweights, Carlton and Granada, have been formally warned by the Independent Television Commission (ITC) for ‘unreasonable discrimination’ against rival broadcaster BSkyB.

A spat between ITV and BSkyB has been developing for some time now, mainly because the two groups are competing in the world of digital television. Carlton and Granada’s ONdigital service is going head to head with Sky Digital to gain viewers. Furthermore, ITV has refused to let its channels be carried on the Sky Digital service, claiming to be a purely terrestrial broadcaster (see BSkyB Fails To Gain Access To ITV2).

This time, the ITC has ruled in favour of Sky. Carlton and Granada, which between them own seven ITV franchises, had refused to carry an ad for Sky Digital which included a reference to Premiership football matches. ITV claimed that the words “football on Monday nights” constituted a specific ‘appointment to view’. However, the two groups had previously accepted an advertisement for the Tyson vs Botha boxing match to be broadcast through ONdigital, the company which they own. This ad constituted a much more specific appointment to view, according to the ITC.

Whilst ITC policy allows broadcasters to reject ads from competing companies that promote particular programmes at particular times, the fact that Carlton and Granada had accepted the ONdigital advert led the ITC to rule that BSkyB had been unfairly discriminated against. The watchdog has told the ITV companies that any further breach of the code, or any activity which inhibits an orderly approach to the introduction of digital television, could result in a penalty.

The Commission has already had to request that ITV drop some of its ads for digital TV as they were found to be denigratory to the Sky Digital platform (see ITV Told To Remove Digital Ads By ITC). ITV has just launched a new campaign which highlights the fact that digital television can be received without installing a dish or cable.

Independent Television Commission: 0171 255 3000 ITV Network Centre: 0171 843 8000 BSkyB: 0171 705 3200