Sky must allow BT to carry its sports channels - Court
LONDON (Reuters) - Pay TV group BSkyB must make its Sky Sports 1 and 2 channels available for viewers of rival BT's YouView TV service, a court ruled on Wednesday.
Regulator Ofcom said the ruling, the latest twist in a long and complicated dispute between the companies, paved the way for more top sports events to be made available to viewers on BT's YouView platform, which uses broadband to deliver TV channels.
Ofcom chief executive Ed Richards said: "After more than four years of litigation and legal challenges, Ofcom's 2010 pay TV decision continues to serve the interests of UK consumers and this ruling is consistent with our original decision."
The argument over the supply of sports programming stretches back to an era when Sky was the biggest owner of sports broadcasting rights, including Premier League soccer.
In 2010, Ofcom said Sky should offer its SkySports 1 and 2 channels to other pay TV providers wholesale to promote competition in a mechanism known as the "wholesale must offer" (WMO).
That was over-ruled by the Competition Appeal Tribunal, a decision which itself was later challenged by the Court of Appeal.
On Wednesday, the tribunal ruled that Sky should supply the channels on an interim basis, and it would also take notice of Ofcom's current review of the WMO remedy in light of developments in pay TV in any future decision.
A spokesman for BT, which has itself moved aggressively into sports programming, said the channels would be offered to its YouView customers very shortly.
"BT has always maintained that Ofcom was correct to impose the WMO on Sky and this remedy remains essential to address the significant competition concerns with Sky's supply of its channels," he said.
Sky said the judgement was purely an interim measure. "Ofcom itself is reviewing WMO in light of market developments and we continue to believe that this unwarranted obligation should be removed entirely," a spokeswoman said.
(Reporting by Paul Sandle and Li-mei Hoang. Editing by Jane Merriman)
