Mirror Group-owned cable channel, Live TV, will be exempt from minimum carriage requirements (MCRs) for the duration of its current contracts, the Independent Television Commission (ITC) has announced today.
The ITC recently decided to remove MCRs from cable and satellite providers. Previously the MCR rule had forced an agreement between a programme channel provider and a distributor guaranteeing channel carriage to a specified number of subscribers. This number was generally between 80% and 100%.
Mirror Group complained that the removal of MCRS would cause smaller channels, like its own Live TV, to go out of business due to reduced distribution (see ITC Denies Backtracking On ‘Unbundling’ Strategy).
In the light of this the ITC decided to continue MCRs on contracts which were agreed before 1 April 1998. Live TV is the first channel to apply to the ITC for an exemption. This exemption applies as long as the contracts restrict Live TV to distribution on one platform.
Independent Television Commission: 0171 255 3000Live TV: 0171 293 2511
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