BBC Worldwide wins appeal against ATVOD ruling

BBC Worldwide has won an appeal against a ruling by video-on-demand regulator ATVOD that it was providing an on-demand service on the Italian Mediaset pay TV platform, and was thus subject to regulation by ATVOD.

According to ATVOD, its original ruling was based on whether BBC Worldwide or Mediaset exercised “general control” over the selection and organisation of the programmes comprising the relevant video on demand service. The ATVOD decision had been taken on the basis of contractual evidence provided by BBC Worldwide following a request by ATVOD for all relevant information, the regulator said.

Ofcom’s decision to uphold the appeal takes into account new evidence from BBC Worldwide which was not made available to ATVOD at the time of its ruling, according to the regulator.

ATVOD CEO Pete Johnson said: “This is a complex area and the appeal system is a vital part of the process, giving service providers, in particular, greater clarity over issues such as where regulatory responsibility lies when two or more parties are involved. In this case, it is unfortunate that ATVOD was not provided with all relevant information at the appropriate time – doing so ensures that unnecessary regulatory costs are avoided.”