Sky Sports "has frozen BT Sport out of the climax to the Premier League title race for the second successive season after the warring broadcasters revealed their April fixture lists," according to Ben Rumsby of the London TELEGRAPH. Sky "fully exploited its control of which matches it picks when" in order to secure every one of Chelsea and Man City’s games in April. It also confirmed that "it would be able to do the same in May, all but ensuring it would once again transmit the winning moment in the title race." Providing Sky does not pass up the opportunity, that means BT "has already shown its final Chelsea match this season, the leaders’ 1-0 win over Everton just over a week ago." It "would also mean it has just one more City game, their March 21 encounter with West Bromwich Albion." ManU’s remaining league matches "could also be denied BT" if Sky chooses to show all of the current top three’s May fixtures. And BT will not have Liverpool or Arsenal as a "fall-back option" either, with its April 4 broadcast of their Emirates Stadium encounter the last game it is able to show for either club after reaching its maximum allocation for them. The distribution of picks "all but guaranteed Sky would have a strong last three months of the season, with BT peaking in the middle three." BT "does have live FA Cup football to soften the blow." It also "has the consolation that this is the last season" before it becomes the exclusive U.K. broadcaster of the Champions League (TELEGRAPH, 2/20).
BOOST FOR BT: In London, Henry Mance wrote BT "received a boost in the battle over broadband pricing" after the European Commission asked U.K. regulator Ofcom "to redesign proposals intended to protect competitors of the former telecoms monopoly." In January, Ofcom published draft rules to prevent BT, which owns the U.K.’s biggest wholesale broadband network, "from squeezing the margins of companies that use its infrastructure, such as TalkTalk and Sky." The commission, which has the right to make unbinding comments on the rules, said, “Ofcom’s proposed approach lacks the necessary flexibility in particular with regards to the treatment of costs for BT Sports.” The commission added that the current proposals could lead to BT "increasing retail prices or reducing costs for BT Sports." Ofcom said that "it would consider the commission’s comments." But the commission said that the regulator should allow BT to “recover the considerable costs for BT Sport over a longer time horizon, in particular in light of uncertainties relating to scale and costs of future auctions” (FINANCIAL TIMES, 2/19).
