§ 91. Mr. Marplesasked the Postmaster-General whether he will make a statement on his further discussion with sports promoters on the question of televising sporting events.
§ Mr. HobsonMy right hon. Friend's discussions with leading personalities in the sports world, representatives of the British Broadcasting Corporation and the Radio Industry Council on the question of televising sporting events, were resumed yesterday.
After the sports representatives had reported the results of the consultations with their associations and indicated that they were willing to proceed with the proposals my right hon. Friend had made at the previous meeting, he repeated his assurance that, before granting any licences for the showing of television to paying audiences, he would consult sporting interests again. These consultations 254W would take place through a new body which he proposed to appoint under independent chairmanship and which would be known as the Sports Television Advisory Committee. The main function of the Committee would be to collect from sources open to it such information as it considered necessary to enable it to assess the direct and indirect effects of televising sporting events during an experimental period. The sporting interests agreed that during the experimental period, which would start straight away, they would negotiate with the B.B.C. rights to televise in the Home Service a series of sporting events of the order of one hundred events a year, representative of all types of sport including a reasonable number of major events. From time to time as it may see fit, the Sports Advisory Committee will advise my right hon. Friend of its conclusions on the facts and statistics disclosed during the experimental period.