Sky Sports will soon be available on the BT-backed YouView platform, following a landmark court ruling.
A Competition Appeal Tribunal hearing on Wednesday demanded Sky make its Sky Sports 1 and Sky Sports 2 channels available for YouView subscribers to purchase.
The decision, which Sky says it will appeal against, comes following a four year struggle over the rights to offer Sky Sports on rival platforms.
Back in March 2010, Ofcom had ruled Sky must offer the channels to other pay TV providers on a wholesale basis “to promote competition and innovation to benefit consumers.”
BT Vision and Virgin Media customers are already able to purchase the channels, but today’s decision will finally open some Sky’s most cherished content up on YouView.
The decision means those UK homes rocking a YouView box will be able to access BT Sport and Sky Sports for the first time, meaning they’ll be able to catch all of the Premier League football action.
BT says it is looking forward to offering Sky Sports 1 and 2 to YouView customers "very soon."
However, the fight isn’t quite over yet, with Sky arguing BT is in a much stronger position than it was when the original ruling was made in 2010, something Ofcom has pledged to review. As a result, Sky may be able to renegotiate the wholesale sum it receives.
A Sky spokesperson said: “Today’s judgment is a purely interim measure with no impact on the ongoing legal process or the CAT’s previous dismissal of Ofcom’s core argument in favour of WMO. Ofcom itself is reviewing WMO in light of market developments and we continue to believe that this unwarranted obligation should be removed entirely.”
The news marks a fruitful week for YouView and its customers, following the announcement that Netflix will be added to the YouView set-top boxes.
Read more: How to get US Netflix in the UK
Via: Engadget
