EU cast doubt over English TV deal
BRUSSELS, Belgium (Reuters) -- The European Union has expressed "'serious concern" over the the award of exclusive TV rights to the English Premiership to Rupert Murdoch's BSkyB corporation,
Competition commissioner Mario Monti said that the broadcaster would have an even greater monoply over live coverage after the $1.6 billion deal. The BBC have paid $160 million for a highlights package.
'This is bad for competition on broadcasting markets and is bad for consumers," added Monti who has powers to veto the deal.
"We will set out our concerns to the parties concerned and give them an opportunity to comment in accordance with our normal procedures."
The European Commission said after the deal was announced in August that it would investigate how many broadcasters had made bids for the rights, to ensure that the process was not tailored to favor an individual bidder.
The premier league announced in August that current holders Sky had won the rights to screen all 138 of the live games on offer per year, in a 1.024-billion-pound ($1.7 billion) three-year deal starting next season.
The EU last year launched an investigation into the way the rights were sold. It said the premier league's collective selling amounted to price-fixing and was unfair to football fans and clubs.
Under pressure, the premier league separated the rights into four packages available to individual or joint bidders. However, all four packages were snapped up by Sky.
On Tuesday, Manchester United chief executive David Gill said he was confident the deal would be approved by the EU.
"We are confident these contracts will come into being next summer," he told reporters at a news conference for the club's financial results.
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