Advanced Television

Wimbledon denies pay-TV reports

December 17, 2014

By Colin Mann

tennis-andy-murrayThe All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) – organiser of the Wimbledon Open Tennis tournament – has refuted suggestions in the UK media that coverage of the tournament is set to be shared between the BBC and BT, which would result in Wimbledon being shown on pay-TV

In a statement, the AELTC said it “confirms categorically “that there is no truth in media reports regarding BT and future Wimbledon TV rights.

“We have an exclusive TV rights agreement with the BBC up to The Championships 2017 and the timing and process of any future negotiations will be entirely led by the AELTC,” it confirmed.

The tournament is one of the so-called ‘crown jewels’ of the British sporting calendar which must have live coverage made available to free-to-air channels. Pay-TV networks may share live coverage, although that only applies to the finals weekend. The remaining matches could be shown live on a pay-TV channel, provided highlights remained free-to-air.

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