The Wimbledon tennis finals and the Olympics "might have been available only on pay television had Margaret Thatcher been able to continue her reforms to Britain’s broadcasting industry," according to Henry Mance of the FINANCIAL TIMES. The former PM, "never known as a sports lover," was warned that the move could cause “an outcry” among fans, according to declassified government documents. Yet she backed her chancellor Nigel Lawson’s view that insisting on free-to-air sports “unfairly protects the BBC” from competition from Sky and other subscription broadcasters. Since the arrival of cable TV in the '80s, the government has "specified a list of sporting events that must be shown on free-to-air television -- known as the crown jewels." In '89, Thatcher wrote, "I believe the list should be very limited and phased out as quickly as possible." Former consumer group Which? Chair Patrick Barwise said that Thatcher was unlikely to have "thought through the likely impact on consumers of pay-TV providers being able to buy exclusive rights to all sports events." The list of "crown jewel sports" has not been updated since '98 (FT, 12/29).
