Digital TV Blog

But what’s to be done?

Sky’s dramatic swoop purchase of the 17.9 per cent share in ITV, the UK’s biggest terrestrial broadcaster, is not in the public interest and restricts competition, according to the Competition Commission.

The Commission decided that if Sky were allowed to keep the stake, then they “would therefore have both the ability and incentive to take advantage of opportunities to weaken ITV or prevent it from taking actions that would threaten BSkyB’s interests.” It is now up to the Commission and the DFT to decide on what should be done.

The months leading up to this has felt like that bit in Lord of the Rings where the trees stand around and debate whether to go for a ruck with Christopher Lee or not. It’s anyone’s guess as to what will happen, but the most likely outcome is that Sky may be forced to sell some or, in the worst possible outcome, all of their stake.

If this were to happen right now, it would mean that satcaster would lose quite a bit of money; the current value of shares in ITV are much lower than what they were when Sky bought the stake last November.

Sky, the leading subscription TV broadcaster in the UK, spent £940 million buying the stake in a move that effectively scuppered any attempts by Virgin Media (née NTL:Telewest), or anyone from making an offer for ITV.

The purchase of the stake in ITV heralded the beginning of the battle between the broadcasters, the greatest repercussions of which saw a number of Sky channels being hoisted from the Virgin retinue when the newly branded cable service was still in nappies.

The Sky channel debacle is also currently being reviewed following a separate complaint submitted to Ofcom by Virgin, BT and Setanta.

Sky, ITV and Virgin all declined to comment.

Digital UK ‘confident but not complacent’ over Whitehaven

The first stage of the digital switchover is due to begin in a matter of weeks. The historic port town of Whitehaven, underneath the Border ITV footprint has long been earmarked as the trial location for switchover to take place.

This is largely due to the persistent reception problems that have plagued the area since the first days of broadcasting history, the idea being that ‘if we can get it right here, we can get it right anywhere.’

At the Labour conference in Bournemouth MP for Carlisle Eric Martlew said: “It is right [that the switchover] is being carried out in Whitehaven. Any problems spotted will be dealt with before Border television switches over.”

MPs for Cumbria were given a briefing by members of Digital UK, the body appointed to the overseeing of the switchover. Simon Crine, director of corporate affairs at Digital UK said: “There were several good reasons for choosing Whitehaven. There is no digital signal there unless you have Sky, so it is a place where we can start from scratch.”

So far, initiatives launched to see that residents can get connected before the 17th include support schemes for those over 75, certain people claiming disability benefits or income support and the blind – support costs range from up to £40 or will be free to certain residents.

Mr Crine also said: “We are not complacent about progress but we are quietly confident. There is a high level of awareness and understanding and the people of Whitehaven seem very calm about it.”

It has never been easier to get hold of a Freeview box either, with certain ISPs, including Virgin Media and TalkTalk giving away receivers for free with certain packages, and with high street names such as Tesco offering customers bare-bones digital TV for just £10.