Premier League: Virgin Media asks Ofcom to suspend the bidding for the 2016-2019 TV rights

Virgin Media, a British pay-TV platform, asked Ofcom, the UK telecommunications regulator, to suspend the bidding for audiovisual rights to the Barclays Premier League on 28/01/2015. After Virgin Media initially brought up this matter on 30/09/2014, Ofcom decided to investigate the conditions of sale for the domestic audiovisual rights to the Premier League on 18/11/2014. Despite this decision from Ofcom, the English League went ahead with the first tender for bids for its 2016-2019 domestic TV rights on 12/12/2014.

"The Premier League has pushed ahead with its early sale of TV rights, despite Ofcom’s investigation. With 18 months until those deals begin, there is plenty of time for Ofcom to pause the auction process while it completes its inquiries. Failure to do so will leave fans, who already pay the most to see the least amount of football in Europe, facing yet another big rise in the cost of watching live football on TV," said Brigitte Trafford, the chief corporate affairs officer for Virgin Media, on 28/01/2015.

TV rights for the 2016-2019 Premier League: a suspension of the…