By Duncan Lumsden - 30th September 2003
The English Premier League's new-look TV broadcasting deal, intended to open up rights to all-comers, has had the opposite effect, increasing the stranglehold of BSkyB on the market and reducing consumer choice.
This was the unequivocal message from EU competition commissioner Mario Monti, speaking on Wednesday.
He said the European Commission "continues to have serious concerns over the sale of rights for the UK Premier League."
The league's authorities have tried to come up with a revamped system of allocated broadcasting rights, along the lines of similar schemes adopted by UEFA and the Bundesliga, also to pacify Brussels.
But the latest carve-up resulted in the leading existing broadcaster buying up all the packages for live matches.
As a result, said Monti, "it seems that BSkyB will have an even greater monopoly and reduce competition for consumers."
"Uefa has shown TV rights can be competitive and can work."
He added that Brussels regulators still harboured "serious concerns" over distribution rights to new media outlets like the internet and mobile telephone networks.
The comments were seen as an open invitation for the Premier League to have yet another look at its TV licencing set-up.
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