United Kingdom

[GB] Regulator Publishes Amended Code for Televising Listed Sporting Events

IRIS 1999-2:1/22

Tony Prosser

University of Bristol Law School

The Independent Television Commission, the UK regulator of commercial broadcasting, has published a revised "Code on Sports and Other Listed Events". This is now divided into Group A and Group B events. The former are those which cannot be covered live on an exclusive basis without the consent of the Commission; they include the Olympic Games, the FIFA World Cup Finals and the European Football Championship Finals. Group B events can be shown live on channels other than the BBC, Channel 3 or Channel 4 ( i.e., the universally available non-subscription channels) only if secondary coverage is made available on those channels. Secondary coverage includes delayed coverage or edited highlights. The Code includes a new definition of highlights, as 10% or 30 minutes for an event lasting over an hour, whichever is the greater. Examples of Group B events are cricket test matches played in England, Ryder Cup golf, and the World Athletic Championships.