European Commission: antitrust investigation into sale of pay-TV rights

The European Commission will investigate the sale of rights to exclusive TV content, including sports and cinema, according to the British press, on the 23/11/2013.

The investigation will aim to assess whether the current model of country-by-country licensing respects European competition law. Otherwise, the Commission may decide to open up access to this content in the European market: for example, an English consumer could then buy a Greek TV decoder card to access the Premier League, as has already been the case with Karen Murphy, a publican from Portsmouth (ENG).

The enquiry follows a decision by the European Union Court of Justice, made in October 2011, upholding the right of consumers to buy a TV decoder card in any EU country.

The questioning of the "absolute territorial protection clauses" for audiovisual content could cause a fluctuation in prices for subscribers of pay-TV channels in European countries: consumers in richer countries could pay less, but consumers in poorer countries, could be forced to pay more.

• The Premier League has been in court since 2006 with Karen…