John Petter (pictured), CEO of BT's Consumer Division, has called on Ofcom to formally amend the scope of its Digital Communications Review to include pay-TV, citing high prices and poor outcomes for consumers arising from a lack of competition in pay-TV.
In a speech to the Broadcasting Press Guild, Petter compared the falling prices, rising speeds and strong international performance of the UK broadband market with the high prices and bad outcomes suffered by UK consumers in pay-TV. Petter hit back at Sky's calls for the break-up of BT, describing them as a smokescreen designed to obscure the real market failings in pay-TV, where Sky is the dominant player.
BT believes Sky pay-TV customers are paying close to £50 a year more than the EU average for basic pay-TV channels and potentially sums greater than £75 a year more if they opt for premium sports and movie packages*. Ofcom data also shows that UK household costs for pay-TV have stayed high while broadband costs have fallen.
Commenting on the figures, Petter said: Whereas in the energy market regulators have criticised the Big Six operators, in pay-TV Sky has a 64 per cent share, so there is really only the Big One. Relative to EU averages Sky customers are paying around a half a billion pounds more per year for the basic packages of pay TV channels*. Switching in pay-TV is 50 per cent lower than the levels seen in broadband, so it is clear we just aren't seeing the right levels of competition for Sky .
Petter attributed the driving factor behind this difference to a lack of effective competition in pay-TV. He contrasted the pay-TV and broadband markets in terms of market concentration, switching and wholesale markets. The broadband market has four major players but none with over 32 per cent market share, this is in stark contrast to the pay-TV market with one dominant player with a 64 per cent share leaving major barriers to entry for new players.
Switching in the broadband market is regulated and gaining provider led, this is in contrast to the pay-TV market, where switching is unregulated and companies are able to save customers leading to low levels of switching. The broadband market is regulated at a wholesale level allowing all players access on an equal basis, while in pay-TV there are weak wholesale obligations that only apply to Sky Sports 1 and 2.
Petter saluted the performance of BT Sport but said that it hadn't changed the overall market dynamics given the dominance of Sky. He cited the fact BT Sport has attracted 2.4 million viewers who weren't previously viewing Sky Sports, as evidence of a large unserved part of the population unable to pay the high prices demanded by Sky. Sky's decision to increase prices in response to the launch of BT Sport was described as evidence as being based on a calculation that customers don't have anywhere else to go .
Petter described in detail each of the factors diluting competition in the basic pay, movie and sports segments of the pay-TV market as contributing to an overall market failure entrenching the dominance of Sky. He noted that Ofcom's approach to regulating the telecoms market had been successful in delivering positive outcomes for consumers and businesses, but called on them to apply the same degree of rigour to address competition problems in pay-TV.
We think Ofcom should heed the call of Sky's biggest shareholder. James Murdoch once said in relation to Sky that 21st Century Fox fought for a level playing field and to have competition policy applied with an even hand'. But when it comes to competition in pay-TV, the message from Sky seems to be talk to the hand'. We think Ofcom should make Mr Murdoch happy and give the UK a competitive pay-TV market that is fit for the next decade .
*Using data from Analysys Mason Pay-TV pricing and triple-play review November 2014, 10.5 million UK Sky customers are paying £4.34 per month above the European average on basic TV packages. Sky customers that take premium options like sport and movies are paying £6.33 per month above the European average. The Analysys Mason report notes that pay-TV packages differ substantially in terms of the range and quality of channels offered.
Photo credit: C1 Photography
www.btplc.com
Most recent headlines
11/12/2025
Dalet, a leading provider of cloud-native, end-to-end media workflow solutions, ...
06/12/2025
In a live broadcast from the Reagan National Defense Forum, L3Harris Chair and CEO Christopher Kubasik joined Morgan Brennan on CNBCs Closing Bell: Overtime. Ku...
06/12/2025
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. A new survey from Pixitmedia by Datacore revealed a major shift in the Media & Entertainment industry in media archiving, with 85% of resp...
06/12/2025
HACKENSACK, N.J. LiveU has announced that the national public broadcaster Czech Television has completed one of the largest LiveU live production deployments fo...
06/12/2025
NEW YORK The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) presented the Excellence in Production Technology Emmy Award to NASA+ and Dr. Tom Leight...
05/12/2025
2025 Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame: Curt Gowdy Jr. - Master Storyteller, Nati...
05/12/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Veritone's Sean King on the Power of Mining Video, Audio DataThe company's Data Refinery offers users total control and governance over da...
05/12/2025
Platinum White Paper: Inside the Nashville Predators' Unified, Flexible, Sca...
05/12/2025
Netflix Reaches Agreement To Acquire Warner Bros. Following Planned WBD SplitThe deal does not include WBDs sports assets like TNT Sports (US, UK, LatAm), Euros...
05/12/2025
FOX Sports Returns to Indianapolis for Primetime Broadcast of Big Ten Championsh...
05/12/2025
SVG Summit 2025 Preview: Digital Engagement & Monetization Workshop Tackles the ...
05/12/2025
Atlanta United Lights Up New Emory Healthcare Studio With First Live Broadcast f...
05/12/2025
As Messi Takes the Pitch, MLS, Apple, NEP Roll Out Largest MLS Cup Production Ev...
05/12/2025
ESPN Enters College Football's Most Intense Month With Elevated Workflows fo...
05/12/2025
It's about that time! Awards season is in full swing, and the Film Independe...
05/12/2025
Every year, Spotify Wrapped offers a personalized look back at the audio that defined your year. It's a snapshot of your listening habits, designed to tell ...
05/12/2025
In 2025, Spotify's EQUAL, GLOW, and RADAR programs celebrated women, LGBTQIA , and emerging artists who turned moments into milestones. From breaking record...
05/12/2025
In our latest blog, we explain how Wi-Fi 7 rollouts can drive consumer loyalty with value-add services such as consumer cybersecurity. We also explore how this ...
05/12/2025
LOS ANGELES Netflix announced it has entered into an agreement to acquire the assets of Warner Bros. for $82.7 billion....
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Nielsens Gracenote has launched Gracenote Content Connect, a new ad platform that provides agencies, brands, supply-side platforms (SSPs) and demand-si...
05/12/2025
NEW YORK In an most important update to the workings of deal-based programmatic advertising, IAB Tech Lab has released version 1.0 of its Deals API for public c...
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Pass the turkey. Pass the stuffing. Pass the cranberry sauce. All are common requests of Americans celebrating Thanksgiving Day with family and f...
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Iris, the new cloud-connected camera control platform, has officially launched with features that turn virtually any PTZ camera into a software-connect...
05/12/2025
HOLLYWOOD, Calif. Netflix announced today that it has entered into an agreement to acquire the assets of Warner Bros. for $82.7 billion....
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Iris, the new cloud-connected camera control platform, has officially launched with features that turn virtually any PTZ camera into a software-connect...
05/12/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission has approved AT&T's $1.02 billion acquisition of spectrum from UScellular in a decision that was issued sho...
05/12/2025
The Best Coldplay Songs: 21 Tracks That Shoot for the Stars From Yellow to Viva La Vida, Fix You to Paradise, this playlist goes back to the start.
December ...
05/12/2025
Zafris Lecture Series Brings Nabil Ayers to Berklee The 32nd annual James G. Zafris Distinguished Lecture series was held on Thursday, November 13, with guest...
05/12/2025
Back to All News
Netflix Unveils the First Look for Land of Sin' - Premier...
05/12/2025
Introducing New Perks to Help You Get Even More from LinkedIn Premium Published on Dec 5, 2025 Categories: Company News, Product News
LinkedIn Corporate Co...
05/12/2025
Friday 5 December 2025
A new Game of Thrones Tale: Official trailer for Sky Exc...
05/12/2025
Back to All News
Don Lee, Lee Jin-uk, and Lalisa Manobal to Star in Netflix Act...
05/12/2025
Tis the season of giving once again and this year we've taken our Give Back Fridays' concept and turned it on its head.
In the autumn we were approach...
05/12/2025
Brayden Gogis doesn't remember a time when he wasn't completely fixated on games in all forms. In preschool, when they asked us to dress up as what we ...
05/12/2025
The Grinch steals the spotlight as the theme for The Late Late Toy Show 2025
Tune in tonight at 9:35pm on RT One and worldwide on RT Player
#LateLateToyShow...
05/12/2025
RT Announces New Presenters of Flagship News Programmes
New RT Six One News co-presenter Tommy Meskill
Sarah McInerney & Justin McCarthy join Morning Ir...
04/12/2025
ToolsOnAir Blackmagic Design HyperDeck Event Presets for just:in mac pro 2025 & ...
04/12/2025
ToolsOnAir AJA Ki Pro Event Presets for just:in mac pro 2025 & just:in linux
More Details:Starting with version 5.5, both just:in mac pro and just:in linux sol...
04/12/2025
Wangu Kanuri from Kenya and Godwin Asediba from Ghana are two of this years finalists for Thomsons Young Journalist of the Year Award. The pair are runners-up i...
04/12/2025
SVG Sit-Down: ProximaVision's Claudio Lisman on Why Tethered Drones Could Be...
04/12/2025
SVG Campus Shot Callers: Imry Halevi, Senior Associate Director of Athletics, Co...
04/12/2025
Platinum White Paper: LiveU Lightweight Sports Production: A Step Change in Spor...
04/12/2025
London to Riyadh: DAZN brings the boxing glamour to new production levels for Be...
04/12/2025
Analysis: Paramount bets on the battering ram' with Champions League play By Callum McCarthy, Editor-at-Large
Tuesday, December 2, 2025 - 10:12
Print ...
04/12/2025
Space City Home Network Launches SCHN DTC App for Astros and RocketsThe Rockets and Astros were previously the lone NBA and MLB teams without a DTC appBy Jason...
04/12/2025
SVG Summit 2025 Preview: Content Workflows Workshop Spotlights Evolution of Spor...
04/12/2025
New Sponsor Spotlight: Geotech's Patrick Wambold On the Unreal Engine Revolu...
04/12/2025
Curt Gowdy Jr. - Master Storyteller, Nationally and RegionallyBy Jason Dachman, Editorial Director, U.S.
Thursday, December 4, 2025 - 1:52 pm
Print This Sto...
04/12/2025
(L-R) Rebecca Lichtenfeld, Mohammadreza Eyni, Sara Khaki, and Judith Helfand att...
John Petter (pictured), CEO of BT's Consumer Division, has called on Ofcom to formally amend the scope of its Digital Communications Review to include pay-TV, citing high prices and poor outcomes for consumers arising from a lack of competition in pay-TV.
