Premiership To Be Formally Charged - 18/09/2005

The Premier League will soon be formally accused of breaking European law by developing too close a relationship with BSkyB. The competition directorate has stated that it will send a statement of objections as formal charges are known in the next few weeks because they are not satisfied with the way the Premier League is proposing to implement the provisional agreement of December 2003. The Commision has been angered by what it sees as the Premiership's failure to present acceptable propoals for guaranteeing rights to more than one broadcaster and accused it of 'trying to backtrack on its December 2003 commitment by minimising consumer choice.' Cable television groups, which lose money on their Premiership packages due to the fees they pay to BSkyB have been lobbying for the rights to be divided into platform-based packages - such as one for cable, one for satellite, and one free-to-air. However, this proposal is understood to have been rejected by Brussels. The Commission is now understood to be looking at capping the number of packages any bidder can win. BSkyB's loss of exclusivity is unlikely to affect its retail subscriber base, but it could hit the £200m of revenue it makes from commercial subscribers, mainly pubs and coubs. BSkyB, which has paid £340m a year to the Premiership, has warned that the amount would be substantially lower if it loses its exclusivity.