An advisory panel is making recommendations to protect certain sporting activities to be on a Free-to-air platform.
Rather than Pay to view providers snapping up all the main events, the recommendation is that certain sporting activities should be kept where everyone can view them without the need for a subscription to a pay-per-view provider.
The panel is calling for home Ashes, home national football qualifiers (World Cup and European), Wimbledon, The Open Golf and some rugby union to join a list of ‘nationally important’ sporting events.
These recommendations are good for viewers, a lot of sport is broadcast on pay to watch channels that a large percentage of the population can’t currently get so for more to be able to watch these events it can only be seen as good news.
What will be accepted onto the list of protected sports, we shall find out in due course.