PAY TELEVISION

That this House acknowledges BSkyB's role as a trailblazer in the pay television market but agrees with Ofcom's observation that Sky, as a vertically-integrated firm, distributes its premium sports and first run movie content in a manner that favours its own platform and its own retail business; agrees with Ofcom's conclusion that this is not consistent with fair and effective competition and has a detrimental effect on consumers in the short term by decreasing choice and increasing prices and in the long-term by dampening innovation; endorses Ofcom's proposed remedies that Sky be put under an obligation to offer its premium channels to other operators using cable, broadband, digital terrestrial and IPTV platforms at a fair regulated wholesale price; believes that this would benefit consumers unbundling sports and movies channels and making it easier and cheaper to buy premium channels on a stand alone basis without having to sign a 12 month contract; and further notes that Ofcom calculates that Sky itself would benefit from additional wholesale revenue associated with market expansion and that the market for rights holders is likely to remain buoyant.