Recommendation 10

HM Government Not Addressed

Under the new legislative framework for public service broadcasting set out in the Media Bill, public service broadcasters (other than the BBC)1 will be required to contribute to the fulfilment of the public service remit for television. This remit will include programmes which reflect the lives and concerns of different communities and cultural interests and traditions within the United Kingdom. The Government is keen to ensure sporting events are made available to the public throughout the UK’s nations and regions which is why we have the listed events regime. Our objective for the regime is to ensure that key sporting events of national interest are widely available and free-to-air for all audiences, particularly those who cannot afford to watch sport behind a paywall, insofar as is practicable and reasonable. Sports rights holders use income from the sale of broadcast rights to the benefit of the wider sporting sector, so it is important that the regime continues to strike the right balance between accessibility, and the ability of sporting organisations to generate revenues to invest in their sports at all levels. The Media Bill aims to protect the availability of rights for live coverage of listed events to free-to-air broadcasters who meet certain criteria. The Bill sets out how we will change the qualifying criteria for the regime so that it is dependent on both being free-to-air and public service broadcaster status. Under this change, S4C, the Welsh language broadcaster, will qualify under the regime for the first time. S4C’s public service remit currently requires S4C to provide a broad range of high quality and diverse programming in a service where a substantial proportion of its programmes must be in Welsh, and that Welsh language requirement remains as part of the Media Bill. Beyond that, and given the operational and editorial independence of our broadcasters, it would not be appropriate to be more prescriptive about how they choose to present those rights. However, we recognise that for many audiences, being able to view sport on more traditional forms of linear TV remains important, and expect broadcasters to take account of where their audiences want to watch content. Listing an event in either Group A or B does not guarantee that an event will be broadcast oravailable free-to-air. Rights holders are not required to sell rights to listed events and broadcasters are not obliged to purchase them or to show the events. The legislation sets out that to ensure that where live rights to a Group A listed event are made available, they must be offered for purchase by a qualifying service - it does not require that a qualifying service is the final purchaser. Group B events can have live coverage behind a paywall provided that secondary coverage, for example highlights, is offered to qualifying free-to air broadcasters. The Government believes that the current list of events works well to deliver the best outcome and that it strikes an appropriate balance and therefore we have no plans to undertake a full review of the list. As sports policy is devolved, it would be for the Welsh Government to comprehensively evaluate in the first instance whether there is currently the right balance between Welsh rights-holders’ ability to generate sufficient income to invest in Welsh sport, and access for Welsh audiences to those sporting events. The UK Government would then take those considerations into account. For similar reasons, while the Government would seek the input of Ofcom when considering any changes to the List, we do not think it would be appropriate for Ofcom to have the ability to amend the list of events. This is because a decision to add, or indeed remove, a sport from the List requires the consideration of a range of sports policy issues for which Ofcom currently do not have any responsibility. Additionally, due to the importance of such a decision to the public, it is right that the power remains with the Secretary of State, who is democratically elected and accountable directly to Parliament. For sporting events not within the listed events regime, the competition organisers have, as rights holders, the discretion to consider this balance in the context of their sport. Broadcasting rights provide essential income, which enables sports national governing bodies to invest in better facilities for spectators, improve elite performance, hire the best coaches, and keep-up with mounting competition from rival sports and tournaments.