Sporting Amendment To Broadcasting Bill Backed

Labour yesterday announced in the Commons that it would introduce amendments to the Broadcasting Bill to ensure that eight listed sporting events,including the Olympic Games and Wimbledon should remain accessible to the largest possible audience.

Under the 1990 Broadcasting Act, eight events cannot be shown exclusively on pay-as-you view channels; Labour wants the ban to include all subscription channnels, not just pay-as-you-view. The eight events are: the Olympics, the football World Cup, cricket test matches, Wimbledon, the Grand National, the Derby, the FA Cup final and the Scottish Cup final. Labour is also reviewing the eight events, and may consider the Ryder Cup and Five Nations rugby championship as well.

However, this may well mean that subscription channels, such as BSkyB could still have “live” access, provided terrestrial television still had some access.

The Bill yesterday had its second reading in the Lords.