March 26, 2010

OFCOM report next week

Not sure of the exact day, but it'll all kick off next week apparently. Here's what Robert Peston of the BBC says about it:
The latest is the three-year pay-TV probe, which reaches an end - of sorts - next week, when the media watchdog, Ofcom, publishes its final conclusions and proposed remedies.
There have been thousands of pages of submissions to Ofcom in this enquiry, a fair number of them from the company directly threatened, British Sky Broadcasting (which was still lobbying Ofcom, with some 100 pages of detailed economic analysis, some five months after the consultation was formally closed).
And while we'll have to wait for the detail, there is no doubt (based on what Ofcom has already published) that Ofcom's recommendations will send British Sky Broadcasting into paroxysms of fury.
Ofcom believes that BSkyB has "market power" in the supply of channels containing live sport and first-run Hollywood movies to competitors such as Virgin and BT.
The regulator has already concluded - in its preliminary verdict published last summer - that the way BSkyB exploits this market power restricts the choice of "channels and platforms" available to consumers and may be a deterrent to the development of "new platforms".Or to put this in English, it believes that BSkyB has an unfair hold on the supply of movies and sport, that this gives it an unfair advantage in the battle to flog not just TV but broadband and telecoms too, and that rivals therefore must be allowed to re-sell BSkyB's sport and movies at a "reasonable" price (whatever that may be).
So BSkyB will be forced to sell rival broadcasters access to its films and sport - in normal and high definition format - at keener prices than it does today.
Going to be an interesting week, even for those of us not getting all of the new HD channels on April 1st...

4 comments:

Unknown said...

Great News,fingers crossed hopefully cable have access to Sky HD Channels.

lee said...

Despite his majorly annoying presenting style, Rob usually get's it on the nose - here's hoping!

OLU said...

All this news now mean what?
we'll start to get more HD tv channel ASAP or months & year's would still pass

I even need sell my SONY 40'' tv and buy a more power full one

hopefully the HD would look more HD

Erich said...

All this news now mean what?
we'll start to get more HD tv channel ASAP or months & year's would still pass

Well, probably not immediately following the OFCOM decision. Sky have indicated that they're planning to challenge the outcome, and now the Football Association, the Premier League, the England and Wales Cricket Board, the Rugby Football Union, the Professional Golfers' Association and the Rugby Football League say they're considering legal options to protect the country's "grassroots sporting investment".

As much as I would love to have Sky's HD channels, I have to agree with Sky and the sporting bodies. It's absolutely disgraceful that Virgin can cry bloody murder about the competition/monopoly aspect of Sky's dominance and get their way, when they themselves have flat-out refused calls to open up their fibre-optic network to other providers.