§ Mr. WyattTo ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if he will make a statement on paragraph 9 of the ITC Code on Sports and Other Listed Events, regarding live transmission coverage of listed events. [156240]
§ Janet AndersonListing an event seeks to ensure that live rights are made available to free to air terrestrial broadcasters on fair and reasonable terms. As paragraph 9 of the ITC code explains, it does not guarantee that the event will be broadcast live. Rights holders are not obliged to sell live rights and broadcasters are not obliged to purchase them or to show the events. However, any UK broadcaster that obtains the rights to live coverage of the whole or part of a listed event cannot broadcast exclusively live in the UK without first seeking the consent of the ITC.