The BBC have confirmed rumours that they will call in the TV regulators over BskyB's threats to remove the Beeb's flagship channels from the top of its electronic programme guide. As previously reported the BBC is planning to unscramble its satellite broadcasts later this year, depriving Sky of the £17 million a year it was paid to administer unscrambling cards.
Sky argue that if the BBC unscramble their service they won't be able to stop the Beeb's services going into Ireland, where Irish broadcaster RTE fill the number one and two spots. Therefore, they argue, the BBC will have to have channels not used in Ireland (probably 51 and 52) so as not to interfere with RTE's broadcasts. But the BBC argue new technology should enable Sky to 'regionalise' their service without them scrambling their output and they reckon the satellite broadcaster is just being awkward to force them into signing another contract, which they say is a breach of the 1996 Broadcasting Act.
A Beeb spokesman told BBC News: "BBC One and BBC Two are among the most watched channels in multi-channel homes and Sky will be doing their customers no service by moving them down the list. Sky customers expect to see us on channels 101 and 102 and now they might have to scroll down the list to find us." The BBC will now be looking for the government to get involved and decide what Sky can and can't do.