The case in question between the Independent Television Commission (ITC) and the London-based Danish channel, TV Denmark (TVD) was heard last week before five judges in the House of Lords. The ITC have been bidding to overturn an earlier Court of Appeal ruling which allowed TVD to transmit Denmark’s away soccer World Cup qualifying games back to the national Danish TV networks – an initiative which allegedly falls foul of both UK and Danish listed sports events governmental rulings.
Should the ITC succeed, the ruling could set a precedent meaning that Kirch may have to drop its opposition to UK legislation which requires the media group to sell the rights to a terrestrial broadcaster – in this case a joint bid from BBC and ITV, who are offering only around a third of the amount that Kirch is looking to get for the rights.
Conversely, a victory for TVD would clear the way for Kirch to auction the rights off to the highest bidder which would undoubtedly come from the financially stronger satellite and cable sector. However, a TVD source was quoted in UK newspaper The Observer as being “not hopeful”. The source said: “At least two of the five judges who heard this case seemed to be against us and we fear that they may feel under pressure to deliver what the government wants – for all the rights to stay with terrestrial broadcasters.”
Whatever the outcome, the opening match, games involving the home nations, the final and semi-finals of the tournament will remain with a terrestrial broadcaster. The result of the hearing is expected within the next few weeks although the judges could refer the case to the European Court of Justice which would delay any outcome for a number of months.
Sportbusiness.com reported last week that negotiations between UK terrestrial broadcasters and Kirch had stalled.
ITV and the BBC have bid around £50m ($70.3m) for the exclusive TV rights to the tournament, to be held in Japan and South Korea – a far cry from the £4m ($5.7m) paid by the two broadcasters for their rights to screen the last World Cup.
A spokeswoman for the BBC said the joint bid was a "very fair offer", but after paying about $822m for the European rights to the world’s top soccer tournament, Kirch is asking UK broadcasters to pay £170m ($242m) for the privilege of showing the games.
The outcome of a test case hearing could determine the long-running dispute over whether the UK television rights to the 2002 soccer World Cup are awarded to terrestrial broadcasters – BBC and ITV – or if the rights owner, German media group Kirch, is allowed to sell them to a satellite or cable platform.
