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Sky told to sell football to rivals
30.09.08
Sky should sell Premier League football and first-run Hollywood movies rights on to its rivals, the broadcast regulator Ofcom said today.
The watchdog believes Sky dominates the pay-TV market by having the rights to so many premium events.
Sky now faces being ordered to supply premium soccer and film channels to Virgin Media, Setanta and BT on a wholesale basis at prices set by the regulator.
As part of an inquiry into pay-TV, Ofcom said it thought that Sky had "an incentive to limit the distribution of this content to competitors, in a manner which favours its own satellite platform".
Sky was told yesterday that it would have to sell at least 10.4% of its 17.9% stake in ITV — and possibly more.
Sky shares rose 2½p to 410p while ITV was ½p higher at 41½p.
