Premiership Football Rights

As we get closer and closer to the next TV deal for football, it’s interesting to read this story from today’s Times about the price that ITV or the BBC would have to pay should they bid for one of the six packages that have to be offered seperately.
Of those six packages, no single broadcaster can buy more than five. As well as Sky, other bidders are likely to include NTL and Setanta. But it’s also possible that someone like BT may pitch in.
The reason for the price hike for ITV or the BBC is because they’re broadcast on Sky Digital unencrypted, and that signal can be picked up in various other countries around Europe – particularly France, Belgium and Holland.
Quite how the 6% figure was arrived at is unclear.
The reason that the channels broadcast unencrypted is because Sky were charging a fortune for the encryption fees, and people who stop subscribing to Sky but hang onto their kit, could face the possibility of losing some of these channels.
As The Times article makes clear, the BBC has been pursuing a Freesat service equivalent to DTT’s Freeview. Sky does offer a Free to View service, which it does advertise regularly, albeit with relatively small and uninspiring ads.
One way or another, it seems very unlikely that either free-to-air broadcaster is likely to pick up one of the packages. Even if Channel Four or Five enters the bidding, the channels that are likely to charge Pay Per View prices seem likely to win.
The first round of bidding closes on 27 April.