ROAD TO 2024: BBC Calls for ‘Crown Jewels’ Update

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) has called on the British government to update their current legislation surrounding ‘crown jewels’ sporting events.

Vital sporting events such as the Olympic Games, Wimbledon tennis championships  and FA Cup Final are currently covered by the ‘crown jewels’ law, which ensures that certain events are broadcast on channels available to 95% of the population.

However, the law currently only includes live television and not consumption of content via devices such as mobile phones and tablets. Terrestrial broadcasters are said to fear a sharp drop in television ownership in the coming years, which could lead to their channels falling below the threshold. This has led to calls to lower the criteria to 90%, which would ward off the potential of losing the events to pay-TV channels.

With Great Britain having finished second behind the USA in the Rio 2016 medal table, the prominence of the Olympic Games in the country is substantial; and free-to-air broadcast could be crucial to engage audiences in Great Britain in future Games’.