The rules on free-to-air broadcasters’ access to sports events including the Olympics are set to be reviewed following a recommendation to the government by the broadcast regulator Ofcom. There has been a furore around the BBC trading its full broadcast rights for Tokyo 2020 with the pay-TV giant Discovery in return for reduced rights for these Games, the Beijing Winter Olympics next year and Paris 2024. SponsoredA response from Ofcom’s chief executive Dame Melanie Dawes to Damian Green MP has revealed the regulator is recommending that rules around listed events — sports events which must be shown on free-to-air channels such as the BBC, ITV and Channel 4 — be updated as part of a government white paper this autumn. The current deal with Discovery lets the BBC run two live streams from Tokyo 2020 at any one time AP:ASSOCIATED PRESS/CHRISTOPHE ENADawes’s letter to Green, a

Source: The Times August 06, 2021 16:06 UTC