ITV has called for UK public broadcasters to be fairly compensated for the transmission of their channels. It says the PSBs are providing an effective multi-million pound subsidy to Sky and Virgin.
While the BBC has campaigned against fees paid to Sky for several years, this is believed to be the first time that Virgin Media has been specifically mentioned. Virgin Media’s parent company Liberty Global is a 6.4% shareholder in ITV.
The commercial broadcaster is pointing to the “retransmission consent scheme”, introduced in 1992, means free-to-air broadcasters are paid for delivering content to competing platforms. It says a report it commissioned from NERA Economic Consulting concludes that introducing payments to broadcasters for retransmitting their content has “contributed significantly to the overall health of the US broadcasting industry”.
Adam Crozier, chief executive, ITV, said: “Introducing retransmission fees would have clear benefits to the UK creative industries and the wider economy – as well as to viewers right across the UK – by enabling PSBs to continue to invest in the original programming people love to watch.
“The majority of viewing on these Pay-TV platforms is PSB programming yet ITV, whether as producer or broadcaster investing in creating that content, doesn’t receive any payment – despite the fact that Pay-TV platforms pay commercial terms for other channels.
Delivering for Television Viewers: Retransmission Consent and the US Market for Video Content – commissioned by ITV in partnership with Germany’s VPRT and Free TV Australia.
The report says that in 2013, US free-to-air broadcasters received approximately $3.3 billion in retransmission payments accounting for nearly 15% of total broadcast television revenue in 2013. This is projected to rise to 25% by 2019.
Retransmission payments account for more than one-third of all spending on broadcast television programming, providing US broadcasters with the financial capability to invest in original content and innovation whilst helping to fund the airing of major sports events on free-to-air television, HD content and new multi-cast television services.
In March, the BBC and BSkyB reached agreement on the amount paid by the BBC for the cost of Sky’s platform services in a move expected to save the corporation some £4.5 million.
As part of a new deal Sky has waived the cost of running services such as the inclusion of the correct regional programme in its programme guide. The long-term distribution of both BBC channels and the BBC iPlayer has also been confirmed.
