Virgin Media has "fired the latest shot in the battle of the broadcasters over the way TV rights for football games are sold," according to Caitlin Morrison of CITY AM. Research commissioned by Virgin showed that "just six percent of football fans said they were able to watch every match they wanted to on TV at home." Media watchdog Ofcom "launched an investigation into the sale of Premier League rights in November 2014, ahead of the league's deal with BT and Sky in February 2015." In the new survey, "around 70 percent of fans said they think it is unfair that they have to buy both BT and Sky bundles or add-ons to watch the games they want to see, and 73 per cent said they would watch more games if they were available on TV." Virgin Media CEO Tom Mockridge said, “Football fans are getting a raw deal. They pay the highest prices in Europe to watch top-flight football on TV yet are denied some of the best matches. Ofcom should show the red card to the Premier League and the way in which TV rights are sold in the UK" (CITY AM, 10/21). CABLE's Ellen Branagh reported Sky and BT "secured the rights to televised Premier League matches for the following three seasons" in February as part of a £5.13B ($7.9B) deal. The broadcasters were "named as the winners in the Premier League TV rights auction, each securing a share of the 168 live matches on offer, with Sky getting 75% of televised matches." Virgin said that the deal "meant less than half of the 380 games (44%) would be shown on UK television." According to the poll, "just 13% of football supporters thought fans will benefit from the new rights deal, while 53% thought the main beneficiary will be the FA." Virgin said that the number of games shown in the U.K. has "increased by 21% over the last eight years, compared to a 200% hike in the price of rights" (CABLE, 10/22).
