§ 26. Mr. Ness Edwardsasked the Assistant Postmaster-General what progress has been made in resolving the difference between the British Broadcasting Corporation and the sport authorities with regard to the televising of sporting events.
§ Mr. GammansI am informed that the B.B.C. and the Association for the Protection of Copyright in Sport have not yet reached conclusions on the problems to be solved, but their discussions are continuing.
§ Mr. Ness EdwardsIn view of the fact that these discussions have been going on for a long time and that the public are still being denied views of very large sporting events, is not this one of the places where the Postmaster-General might apply a little pressure?
§ Mr. GammansNobody knows better than the right hon. Gentleman the intricacies of this problem, but, as he is probably aware, the Cup Final is to be televised in full this year, and that is an Improvement on the past two years.
§ Mr. FellIs it not obvious that the public will be denied the televising of sporting events until such time as we get commercial television?