8th Sep 2014 12:21
LONDON (Alliance News) - ITV PLC Monday said major pay-TV broadcasters should pay UK public services broadcasters fairly for the transmission of their channels, ending what it claims is effectively a multi-million pound subsidy handed to British Sky Broadcasting Group PLC and Virgin Media Inc.
The demand by the FTSE 100-listed broadcaster comes on the back a report published by NERA Economic Consulting which showed how retransmission fees to US-based broadcasters had contributed to the so-called "golden age of television" in North America.
The NERA report said the "retransmission consent scheme," introduced in the US in 1992 and which means free-to-air broadcasters are paid for delivering content to other platforms, said that introducing payments for retransmission of content had "contributed significantly to the overall health of the US broadcasting industry."
ITV said PSBs in the UK currently invest around GBP3 billion per year in programming, with ITV itself accounting for GBP1 billion, primarily in original UK content. Under the current regime, pay-TV operators like BSkyB and Virgin make no payments to the broadcasters creating this content.
"The impact of this wholly outdated regime is that UK PSBs are forced to subsidise major pay-TV platforms. In today?s highly competitive media marketplace that is simply wrong - and to the detriment not just of the PSBs, but the consumer and the wider UK creative economy," said Adam Crozier, the Chief Executive of ITV.
"It is in the interests of all broadcasters that we encourage the regulator and government to look again at this issue for the benefit of the industry and viewers," Crozier added.
ITV shares were trading 1.1% lower at 217.9 pence on Monday, while BSkyB shares were down 0.2% at 880 pence.
By Sam Unsted; [email protected]; @SamUAtAlliance
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