News

Court ruling spells trouble for British split TV deal

Britain’s highly controversial new split television rights deal appears in doubt following a ruling last week of the European Court of Justice.

British newspaper the Telegraph reports that the court showed a green light to the use of foreign digital TV decoders within the United Kingdom, meaning viewers might be able to avoid paying for Sky’s subscription coverage.

“We’ll wait and see what happens,” said Bernie Ecclestone, suggesting that he might in reaction allow pubs to show grands prix free of charge.

“As far as we’re concerned the most important thing is to get the largest number of viewers possible to watch F1. We’ll adapt,” added the F1 chief executive.

Ecclestone said he doubts British people will want to watch coverage with foreign-language commentary, and cast doubt on some viewers’ plans to use foreign decoders in conjunction with British ‘5 Live’ radio.

“That’s if 5 Live still have the rights,” he said.

“We could stop that. Ultimately I think people want something they can see and listen to live with the commentary in sync.”

Source:GMM

Most Popular

To Top