Free broadcast of ‘crown jewels’ events, like FIFA World Cup, Wimbledon and Olympics, have been protected, to stop pay-to-view channels from exploiting them. Karen Bradley, the Culture Secretary, fears that a legal loophole will be exploited by pay-to-view barons to buy up more of sport’s ‘crown jewels’. Pay-to-view sports channels, like Sky or BT, have been prevented from pinching such events, as the legal loophole has been closed.
Current rules ensure that 95% of viewers can watch the sporting ‘crown jewels’ like World Cup, FA Cup final, Wimbledon, Grand National and the Olympics, available on free-to-air channels. This figure has been derived by the number of people able to watch the big events via their TV sets. However, the figure is dropping steadily, as a great many viewers of these events are moving over to laptops, tablets, smartphones and mobile devices, to view them.
So, Culture Secretary Karen Bradley is changing the law to make sure mobile digital devices too get included. She felt that it is right that the biggest events are viewable by all. She wanted the general public to still have access to the ‘crown jewels’ in an ever changing digital environment by future-proofing regulations. The Culture Secretary plans to introduce an amendment into the Digital Economy Bill to be tabled in Parliament and voted on next month, to carry on with free broadcasts.
Sporting Future is the Government’s strategy document published in 2015. It had the clear intention to give access to everyone to top-class sporting events. The document stated that when people don’t have ability to experience or watch sport, it loses much of its ability to deliver positive outcomes.
