UK Antitrust Watchdog Fines Sports Broadcasters $5.2M
(Reuters) -Britain's competition regulator fined four sports broadcast and production companies about 4 million pounds ($5.2 million) on Friday for sharing sensitive information about fees for freelance camera operators and sound technicians.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said five companies - Sky, BT, IMG, ITV and the BBC - admitted "to breaking the law" after "colluding" on pay rates for freelancers.
BT, IMG, ITV and the BBC were given a discount on penalties since they assisted the regulator in the case, while Sky was exempted because it notified the regulator before it began its investigation, the regulator said.
BT, and IMG did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment, while ITV declined to comment.
The regulator said it had found 15 instances where a pair of companies unlawfully shared sensitive information about pay with each other, including on day rates and pay rises.
"Companies should set rates independently of each other so pay is competitive - not doing so could leave workers out of pocket," Juliette Enser, executive director for competition enforcement at the CMA, said in a statement.
A spokesperson for Sky, which is owned by Comcast, said that it had taken steps to strengthen its internal policies and procedures to ensure compliance with competition law rules. A BBC spokesperson said the company had co-operated with the CMA throughout its probe and highly valued the freelancers it works with.
The CMA began its investigation in 2022 into how sports broadcasters shared sensitive information about freelancers' pay. Various parties were under its radar, with some being added and removed through the review.
The watchdog also said it was closing a separate probe relating to non-sports TV production and broadcasting.
(Reporting by Aby Jose Koilparambil and Pushkala Aripaka in Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala and Susan Fenton)