Premier League to mount Ofcom challenge 16/04/2010 |
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The Premier League has announced it will contest Ofcom’s decision to force Sky to cut the price it sells its sports channels to rivals.
The broadcaster will have to sell Sky Sports 1 and 2 for up to 23 per cent less than the current wholesale price after an Ofcom investigation into Sky’s dominance of the market.
Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore said the league had "no other option" but to challenge the ruling.
Ofcom argued in a statement that it was "in consumers' interests for our pay-TV decisions to come into effect as soon as possible to deliver the benefits of wider choice and innovation. We are happy to defend our decision wherever necessary."
But Scudamore said the move had "consequences for UK sport and UK sports fans" that were "too serious and fundamental for us to ignore".
He added: "By forcing Sky to sell its sports channels to its competitors at a discount, Ofcom will reduce the incentives of all broadcasters, Sky included, to invest in the acquisition of sports rights.
"This can only have a negative impact on the ability of sport to attract a fair return on its content in an open market, which is necessary to ensure appropriate investment in maintaining the highest quality of that content."
At the same time, he said it would damage the investment models that had "helped sport become a successful part of the UK economy and made sport so attractive to UK consumers".
Sky has already said it will appeal against the "unwarranted intervention", while bodies representing other sports have also expressed concern about Ofcom’s ruling.
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