ITV And BBC Seek ITC Permission For World Cup

ITV and the BBC have asked for permission from the ITC to broadcast coverage of the World Cup Finals Tournament this year. Under the Broadcasting Act permission has to be gained as this is a Group A listed event covered by the ITC Code on Sports and Other Listed and Designated Events.

The BBC and ITV decided on how the matches would be divided between them last month (see ITV And BBC Agree World Cup Share Out). Due to clashes with other matches, eight of the 64 matches will not be shown on terrestrial TV. Four of them will be shown on ITV Sport while the other four may possibly be shown on BBC Choice.

The ITC is inviting other broadcasters, rights holders and interested parties to comment on the request by 12 April.

In terms of UK advertising, this World Cup may be less of an event than in previous years, as the time difference with Japan and Korea, where the tournament will take place, will mean matches take place in the morning, UK time, reducing the potential TV audience and therefore the level of public interest. However, internet researcher Netpoll recently predicted that the inconvenient times will drive more fans online to keep up with events (see World Cup Pushes Sports Fans Online).

Despite their status as “Crown Jewels” in terms of UK sports broadcasting, at one point it seemed possible that the World Cup would not be shown on UK terrestrial TV, due to wranglings over the price of rights (see BBC and ITV Secure World Cup Rights).

ITC: 020 7306 7743 www.itc.org.uk

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