Five gets right to bid for major sports

by Fiona Ramsay, Media Week 28-Mar-08, 12:59

LONDON - Five has achieved the level of nationwide coverage required to bid for the right to broadcast key sports events, such as the football World Cup.

Ofcom today confirmed that Five is now available to at least 95 per cent of the UK - a benchmark needed for it to be able to bid for the right to broadcast high-profile "listed" sports events. Other broadcasters able to bid for listed events are BBC1, BBC2, ITV1 and Channel 4.

Five must now be given what Ofcom termed a "genuine opportunity" to bid for the right to broadcast listed sports events, such as the Olympics, European Football Championship and the Wimbledon lawn tennis championship.

According to Barb data for January, Five is now received by 96 per cent of the UK population, including those who receive Five via cable.

Kelly Williams, Five's sales director, said: "We now have the distribution to be able to go for certain crown jewel events that we haven't been able to in the past. But we are not going to suddenly start bidding for everything."