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The UK Competition and Markets Authority has fined a group of sports broadcasters, including ITV and the BBC, more than £4mn for colluding over pay for freelance workers.
Sky, BT, IMG, ITV and the BBC shared information about fees they paid for roles such as camera operators and sound technicians, the CMA said in a statement on Friday, noting “15 instances where a pair of companies unlawfully shared sensitive information about pay with each other”.
All of the broadcasters except Sky have paid fines totalling £4,240,356 for the behaviour. The companies admitted to the behaviour and all received a discount on the penalty, with Sky avoiding a fine because it was the first to report its involvement.
“Employers must ensure those who hire staff know the rules and stick to them to prevent this happening in the future,” Juliette Enser, executive director for competition enforcement at the CMA, said in a statement.
Sky said that “as soon as we became aware of the issue, we proactively notified the CMA and co-operated fully with their investigation”.
The broadcaster added: “We acknowledge their findings and have taken steps to further strengthen our internal policies and procedures to ensure compliance with competition law rules moving forward.”
The BBC, ITV, BT and IMG did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
