Ofcom to investigate Premier League TV rights

Ofcom to investigate Premier League TV rights

Twitter icon
Facebook icon
LinkedIn icon
e-mail icon
Thursday, 20th November 2014

Ofcom has launched an investigation into the way rights to show live Premier League matches are sold in the UK.

In September 2014, Virgin Media complained to the British television regulator, criticising the limited number of matches that are available for live broadcast and the rising costs of showing the games.

BskyB and BT currently share the rights to broadcast the Premier League games.

The price for the rights deal for 2013 to 2016 cost £3bn, a rise of 70% compared to the fee for the previous deal. Virgin have said the cost could rise by 60% at the next auction.

A spokesperson for the Premier League has said that the way its rights are sold are within both national and European laws.

If Ofcom were to find costs needed to be reduced, the savings could be passed on to consumers.

Virgin has previously said that British viewers could be paying up to three times as much as other fans in European Leagues. The lowest price available in the UK is £51 a month, which is £30 more than in Germany and an extra £41 more than those watching in France.

Despite the cost, British fans are only able to watch 41% of matches played.

Ofcom's investigation will be carried out under the terms of the Competition Act.

Read Ofcom's announcement here.

By Sanya Burgess

@sanyaburgess

 

You are here