Monopoly abuse
Virgin-Sky talks break down
Definitive and unbiased information relating to what exactly took place between BSkyB and Virgin Media during recent and very tense negogiations relating to the Sky channels may never be disclosed, but in recent months Sky's public behaviour has been nothing short of extraordinary at times and appears to be bordering on the illegal in places.
It seems to be the case that having had most of the pay-TV playing field to itself up to now, BSkyB is desperate to keep it that way and is willing to resort to every tactic it can think of to ensure the continuation of this dominance, including methods that are certainly questionable by most standards.
Certainly Sky seems to be testing and pushing the boundaries relating to what it can get away with. In the past, Sky has enjoyed a great deal of freedom to establish its pay-TV services without a great deal of competition and has been very astute with most of its business tactics in relation to building the Sky brand.
Sky is probably banking on being punished on an individual case-by-case basis, eg. being forced to sell some shares to reduce its ITV stakeholding down to a more managable figure, but although I'm not a great fan of Richard Branson and the Virgin empire, all of Sky's tactics collectively signify something that demands much greater action.
Some of the BBC's commercial competitors may accuse the BBC of being a "monopoly" from time to time, but they remain curiously silent on the subject of whether BSkyB misuses its considerable control over the pay-TV sector. For one thing, the BBC would (and could) never threaten to double the commercial provider charges for its channels.
Ultimately the only solution may be to split BSkyB into separate programme provision and satellite service divisions, but politicians may not wish to face the wrath of Rupert and James Murdoch by doing so. However News Corp's newspapers are enjoying less and less influence these days, so BSkyB's luck may at some point ultimately expire.
And that day may come sooner than expected for Sky, especially with the help of Richard Branson and his publicity machine.
