Quintin Jardine's blog

I am indebted to my friend John for pointing out something that should have been obvious to me … or maybe I simply ignored it.

At my suggestion he has started watching Aussie Big Bash cricket on BT Sport. Last time we spoke he had a rant about the amount of advertising that’s jammed into the coverage, and he’s right. They seem to slot an add in after each over, two when a wicket falls, and as many as they can during other breaks. This has an impact on the coverage, as BT is taking the Australian output, but cutting off the expert commentators in mid sentence. There must be close on 100 commercials in a single match broadcast.

That’s further evidence to me of the mendacity of BT. We all have to live with that, but there is one way in which it and Sky might be opened up to really serious competition. What if the BBC was allowed to enter the subscription TV market, in a way that didn’t compete with its core entertainment services, concentrating on sport and premium cinema services? With its customer base, which still dwarfs the satellite operators, it could afford to outbid any competitor. As a bonus, the profit this would generate could go towards reducing or even eliminating the Broadcasting Tax.