The BBC’s Formula One victory - is it good news?
By Alex Singleton on Mar 21, 2008 in Politics
On Telegraph.co.uk, I say no:
To use the licence fee to take sports rights against a purely commercial broadcaster like ITV is a horrendous waste of money. It is unfair because it uses taxpayer funding to force up prices and out-compete the private sector. Moreover, despite the BBC spending a reported £150 million for the five-year deal, the BBC will provide no additional public benefit, broadcasting a sport that has previously been available, free of charge, to every household in Britain.
