BT Considering An Appeal Of Recent Court Ruling On Pricing Of Sports Programming

BT might appeal a recent court decision that blocked attempts to force Sky to lower the wholesale price for its sports programming as the telecom "considers whether to sell on its own recently acquired sports rights," according to Thomas & Budden of the FINANCIAL TIMES.  BT CEO Ian Livingston said he was “minded to appeal” the decision, which overturned an Ofcom ruling that BSkyB had to offer premium sports channels at wholesale prices to competitors. In August, the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) dismissed competition concerns underpinning Ofcom’s verdict as “unfounded.” BT has until Nov. 26 to launch an appeal. An appeal "would reopen a five-year battle between regulators and Sky over the price it sells its sports programming to rivals." The potential challenge "comes at a delicate time for BT" as it ponders giving access to its soon-to-be-launched sports channel to Sky customers, and may also havedesigns on additional Sky content (FINANCIAL TIMES, 11/15).