English Premiership near E.U. deal
STRASBOURG, France (Reuters) -- EU Competition Commissioner Mario Monti has reached a provisional deal with the English Premier League over its sale of television rights to top-flight matches.
Officials launched an antitrust investigation a year ago after fears that pay-TV contracts offered by the premier league allowed satellite broadcaster BSkyB to dominate the market.
"The premier league has committed to significant changes to its media rights policy...for its 2004/2005 season," Monti said.
"We have also received commitments from BSkyB regarding its existing wholesale offer of channels -- a new wholesale offer of pay-per-view matches to other pay-TV companies, and most importantly some licensing arrangements for up to eight high-quality matches per season," Monti said.
Monti said a final deal depended on the results of a public consultation over the deal.
The second licensing arrangement would allow free-to-air broadcasters to show Premier League matches, he added.
The European Commission also said in a separate statement that BSkyB would not be allowed to hold on to its monopoly of live television rights to Premier League matches after 2006.
"The premier league has now agreed that after 2006 the tendering procedure for TV rights will ensure that there are at least two broadcasters of live premier league matches," the statement said.
