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MUMBAI:
UK media regulator Ofcom has expressed concerns over the British
pay-TV market.
Ofcom
published a consultation document investigating the pay-TV
market.
The
purpose of this consultation is to seek stakeholders’
views on Ofcom’s initial assessment of the operation
of competition in the market and the outcome for consumers.
Ofcom
says that its initial assessment of the pay-TV market suggests
that it has delivered significant benefits to consumers, growing
from almost nothing in the early 1990s to one that now provides
services to over 11 million consumers today. It delivers reasonable
levels of consumer satisfaction and, at just over £4
billion, provides the single largest source of revenue to
the broadcast industry. There are however some warning signs,
such as areas where consumer choice may be limited.
Ofcom's initial assessment has identified possible concerns
relating to
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Whether vertically-integrated firms have the incentive to
make their premium content, such as sports and movies, available
to other retailers and other platform operators;
- Whether firms are able to compete effectively at the wholesale
level for premium content; and
- The enforcement of buy-through (the practice of requiring
consumers to purchase a basic package before they are allowed
to buy a premium service) at the retail level
The
review is one of a number looking at BSkyB's pre-eminence,
and was launched following claims by competitors Virgin Media,
Setanta, BT and Top Up TV that it was trying to stifle competition.
Rivals
to BSkyB, which has 8.7 million subscribers and is by some
distance the most popular pay-TV service, have claimed that
it exerts a "vicious circle of control."
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