There's no business like...: tv, broadcasters and competition

There is a fair amount in the Press today on two stories re the business side of media law. First, BSkyB and Virgin have reached a rapprochement following their dispute over payment for and carriage of each others channels (1,2). Last week, another arm of this multi-pronged dispute reached a conclusion when the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) ruled that any plurality concerns arising from the Sky-ITV share acquisition would in any event have been resolved by the remedy of requiring Sky to reduce its shareholding to 7.5%. In September, the CAT reached its conclusions on the central questions in that case. So that's that then - well no, Sky is said still to be considering a further appeal (1).

Secondly, the BBC has come in for further criticism - from 'competitors' giving evidence to the Commons inquiry - on account of the impact of its commercial practices (1). The BBC Trust was also criticised. Plans for BBC locally-oriented websites are currently subject to a public value test being conducted by the BBC Trust.