Europe's PGA Tour
and Ryder Cup organisers said on Wednesday they had started legal proceedings
against Rupert Murdoch's BSkyB pay television company over broadcasting
plans for the golf tournament.
BSkyb, locked in
a battle with British pay-TV company ONdigital, intend to broadcast the
Cup on their Sky Box Office channel -- usually pay-pre-view but in this
case freely available to subscribers -- rather than Sky Sports 1.
That move prevents
subscribers to ONDigital from having access to the tournament between the
U.S. and Europe in Brookline, Massachusetts, on September 24-26 as they
receive the Sky Sports 1 channel but not Sky Box Office.
"It would appear
that Sky's principal reason for wishing to omit the Ryder Cup from the
Sky Sports channels is to avoid the possibility of its competitor ONDigital
having the right to show the matches," said Ryder Cup spokesman Mitchell
Platts.
"We do not believe
the Ryder Cup should be used as a pawn in this dispute."
ONDigital, owned
by Carlton Communications Plc and Granada Group Plc , has been pushing
BSkyB to provide its Sky Sports 2 channel for its 30-channel digital service.
At the same time,
Britain's ITV network -- dominated by ONDigital's owners -- has withheld
its Channel Three from BSkyB's 140-channel SkyDigital service.
That decision means
SkyDigital cannot offer ITV's live broadcasts of UEFA Champions League
soccer.
Mitchells said European
Golf, including the Ryder Cup, had been shown on Sky Sports for the last
seven years and the broadcaster had a contractual obligation to continue
that.
"We adamantly believe
that this late change of channel has created confusion which will be exacerbated
if the Ryder Cup is not reinstated on Sky Sports and thereby alienate sections
of the viewing public and our sponsors," he added.
BSkyB said in a statement
that they were "bemused and flabbergasted" by the Ryder Cup objections.
"The result of our
decision is that millions more people will be able to see the Ryder Cup
than if it were shown on Sky Sports One," the statement said.
It said the Ryder
Cup cover would be available to all subsribers at no extra cost and to
all cable companies.
"That means that
around eight million homes will have access to our live coverage, compared
to around four million who have access to Sky Sports. The total number
of ONDigital subscribers who have Sky Sports 1 is thought to be only around
80,000."
