ITV & Sky at war?

ITV has made a formal complaint to government regulators about the charges which Sky wants to impose on it for enabling satellite TV viewers to receive the correct regional version of the channel. ITV claims in a statement to OFCOM that Sky’s proposed charges are: “unfair, unreasonable and unduly discriminatory and therefore in breach of Sky’s obligations under EU and UK law.”

The complaint comes after the two broadcasters failed to reach an agreement regarding ITV’s new contract with Sky, which was supposed to have been renewed in November. A two-month stay of execution was granted but talks reached a stalemate and ITV has since decided that it has no option but to have Sky investigated. ITV wants at least £13m slashed off its annual £17m a year bill for Sky’s services to encrypt and regionalise its channel.