BSkyB chief says smaller channels will suffer from Ofcom pay TV ruling

The BSkyB chief executive, Jeremy Darroch, said that dozens of providers of basic tier pay-TV channels, such as MTV, Discovery and National Geographic, could become "collateral damage" after Ofcom's decision to force the broadcaster to sell its premium sports channels to rivals at a discount . Darroch, making the keynote speech at the Mip TV conference and programming market in Cannes today , said that Ofcom's move would allow the rival pay TV operators Virgin Media, BT Vision and Top Up TV to ignore other channels and content providers. "It might feel easy to dismiss this as Sky's problem, but let me make clear why I believe that Ofcom's actions should set alarm bells ringing right across the wider content industry," he said. "What the regulator [Ofcom] is seeking to do here is, in essence, to promote investment in new delivery platforms … those platforms will be operated by businesses with little interest in investing in content themselves." BSkyB is preparing a legal challenge against Ofcom's ruling and Darroch said that the "victims of collateral damage" could be far more widespread than the sports governing bodies who have complained that grass roots investment will suffer . "The UK has a diverse and vibrant set of basic pay TV channels, which have long benefited from being sold alongside premium sport and movies," he said. "You have to question whether the new delivery platforms will want to offer a basic tier of channels at all. If Ofcom's actions skew the marketplace in their favour, the damage could extend to those basic channels and the UK viewer would be all the poorer for it." • To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email [email protected] or phone 020 3353 3857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 3353 2000. • If you are writing a comment for publication, please mark clearly "for publication".