Lords Votes To Keep Key Sporting Events On Terrestrial

The House of Lords yesterday voted to keep the “crown jewels” of the sporting calendar on terrestrial television; in a vote against the government the Lords pushed through amendments to the Broadcasting Bill which would stop subscription services buying exclusive rights to these events.

Previously the government’s line has been that there was no need to change the current rules which prevented broadcasters showing these “crown jewel” events on a pay-per-view basis; they could however, be shown exclusively on a subscription sports channel such as BSkyB.

The Lords vote was 223 to 106 in favour of an amendment to the legislation.