Major UK Drama Antitrust Probe Dropped; BBC & Others Fined $5.4M For Colluding Over Crew Pay In Sports Production
The UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has dropped a major antitrust investigation into some of the country's biggest drama producers over how they paid freelance crew members.
BBC, ITV, Hartswood Films, and Sister were among those being investigated, but the regulator has decided to close the case as it 'no longer constitutes an administrative priority.' No ruling has been made on whether the companies broke competition rules.
More from Deadline
Alex Wheatle Dies: 'Crongton' Author Who Inspired 'Small Axe' Film Was 62
Eddie Jordan Dies: BBC Racing Commentator Was 76
BBC Unveils First Look At Trans Coming-Of-Age Series 'What It Feels Like For A Girl'; Cast Features Ellis Howard, Laura Haddock & Hannah Walters
The CMA has also concluded a separate investigation into freelancer rates in sports production, fining the BBC, ITV, BT, and IMG £4.2M ($5.4M) for colluding over how much they pay crew.
The CMA launched the investigation into scripted production in October 2023, spooking producers in the market who had to hand over troves of WhatsApps and emails to lawyers in an effort to prove their innocence.
Hat Trick Productions, Red Planet Pictures, and Tiger Aspect Productions were also caught up in the probe. A source told Deadline that the investigation had been 'paralyzing' for those involved, with producers having to spend hours dealing with CMA questions.
'It is important to note that the CMA has not reached a decision on whether the parties infringed competition law and no assumption should be made that there has been any such infringement,' the CMA said. 'A decision to close the Investigation on administrative priority grounds does not prevent the CMA from opening an investigation in the future if its priorities change.'
Sport Fines
In sport, the CMA ruled that the BBC, Sky, BT, IMG, and ITV shared sensitive information about fees for freelance workers, including camera operators and sound technicians.
BT was fined £1.7M for six infringements, while IMG received a similar punishment for breaking competition rules on six occasions. The BBC was fined £424,165 for three infringements and ITV will pay £339,918 for five infringements. Sky avoided being fined as the Comcast-owned Premier League broadcaster blew the whistle on the issues.
The CMA found that on one occasion, a business told another it had 'no intention of getting into a bidding war' but 'want to be aligned and benchmark the rates.' In a separate instance, a company said it wanted to 'present a united front' with its competitor.
Juliette Enser, Executive Director for Competition Enforcement at the CMA, said: 'Millions watch sports on TV each day, with production teams working behind the scenes to make this possible – and it is only right they are paid fairly.
'Companies should set rates independently of each other so pay is competitive – not doing so could leave workers out of pocket. Employers must ensure those who hire staff know the rules and stick to them to prevent this happening in the future.'
A BBC spokesperson said: 'The BBC takes its competition law obligations seriously and has co-operated with the CMA throughout its investigation, which involved a number of sports broadcasters. We highly value the freelancers we work with, both in Sport and across the BBC, and we will continue to work hard with the freelance community to invest in, and develop talent.'
A BT spokesperson said: 'We take our competition law obligations seriously and co-operated with the CMA throughout this investigation. Having accepted the findings of this investigation, we have agreed to settle this case. We remain committed to making sure our obligations are embedded into all levels of our business and have taken a number of steps to strengthen our competition and compliance initiatives.'
ITV declined to comment.
Best of Deadline
All The 'Severance' Files Mark S. Sorts Through Season 2: From Allentown To Cold Harbor
Milano Cortina Winter Olympics 2026 Preparations In Full Swing: Photos
A Full Timeline Of Blake Lively & Justin Baldoni's 'It Ends With Us' Feud In Court, Online & In The Media
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
‘Bake Off' Champion Presenter Nadiya Hussain Announces On Social Media The BBC Have Axed Cookery Series
One of the BBC's best known TV chefs has announced that her cookery show has been cancelled by the broadcaster. Nadiya Hussain – a former champion on popular TV baking competition The Great British Bake Off – has made several series for the BBC, including Nadiya Bakes, Nadiya's Fast Flavours and Nadiya's Simple Spices. More from Deadline Trump Vs Musk Gets BBC 'Have I Got News For You' Treatment After Meltdown Occurs During Recording Kim Kardashian Robbery Spotlighted In BBC Three Doc; Canal+ & Netflix Partner In Sub-Saharan Africa; 'Jaws' Documentary; Netflix Buys Japanese Show - Global Briefs BBC Content Chief Latest: Race To Replace Charlotte Moore Nears Final Two, As Zai Bennett Drops Out & New Candidates Emerge However, the presenter took to Instagram Thursday to announce: 'The BBC have decided that they didn't want to commission a show. And for me, that was a huge turning point because it's something I've done for the past 10 years. 'I was already on this steady trajectory of change and I was thinking about where I wanted my career to go, and when the BBC decided they didn't want to commission the show anymore, it really did kind of solidify everything for me, and it made me dig my heels in and think 'OK, I know where I want to be'.' BBC News website quotes a spokesperson for the broadcaster confirming: 'After several wonderful series we have made the difficult decision not to commission another cookery show with Nadiya Hussain at the moment.' The statement continued: 'Nadiya remains a much-valued part of the BBC family, and we look forward to working together on future projects.' Hussain's other series for the BBC have included Nadiya's Everyday Baking and Nadiya's Cook Once Eat Twice, as well as the documentary Nadiya: Anxiety and Me. Since her victory on The Great British Bake Off in 2015, Hussain has become one of the UK's most familiar cooking figures, including baking a cake to celebrate HM The Queen's 90th birthday, and writing books alongside her TV work. In the video she posted where she outlined difficulties of being a Muslim woman on screen, Hussain said she was moving in a 'positive direction', adding: 'I'm working on some new things, but for me it's about being my most authentic self, and working with people who believe my voice has a platform, and believing in my talent.' Best of Deadline 2025 TV Series Renewals: Photo Gallery 2025 TV Cancellations: Photo Gallery 'Stick' Soundtrack: All The Songs You'll Hear In The Apple TV+ Golf Series
New York Post
3 hours ago
- New York Post
Au revoir Pornhub! Adult site pulls out of France, sending users into a frenzy
Adult media giant Pornhub said au revoir to France Wednesday after fighting with its government over new age verification rules — sending the country of love into a frenzy. The law now requires users to upload a photo ID to access adult websites, instead of just clicking on a button that says they're 18. Critics argued there are less invasive ways to keep children out of porn. Advertisement 5 This is the image French visitors to Pornhub see since Wednesday. Obtained by the New York Post So in place of videos of porn, French users who visit Pornhub are now greeted by a topless Marianne — the symbolic representation of the republic's ideals of liberty, equality, and fraternity — and the phrase 'freedom doesn't have an off button.' And Frenchies are losing it. Advertisement 'Another attack on freedom. What's next?' raged Loire Valley resident Enguerran Richy on social media. 'And then we give lessons in democracy to other countries,' snarked Paris resident Maxime Fontanier. The famously libertine French were the second biggest Pornhub consumers last year – trailing only the US. 5 Many in France think the government is overreaching. Jack Forbes / NY Post Design Advertisement French President Emmanual Macron — who notoriously had an affair with his wife Brigitte when he was a 15-year-old schoolboy and she was his much older, married drama teacher — had been pushing hard for the law, arguing French boys get into porn at a young age. More than half of France's 12-year-old boys visit porn sites, according to an investigation released Tuesday by the country's regulatory authority for audiovisual and digital communications. Eva Hicks, who goes by the screen name Little Angel and was the top porn star on the site in France in 2024, says the move will just push adult content creators to post X-rated videos on social media instead. 5 Macron, who met now wife Brigitte when he was a 15-year-old schoolboy, was a big proponent of banning porn for minors. AFP via Getty Images Advertisement 'These are platforms accessible to minors, which is precisely the problem our government was trying to solve,' Hicks told The Post. 'There's a clear contradiction here.' 'Removing access to specialized platforms actually encourages the trivialization of pornography on mainstream social media.' 5 Hicks, known as Little Angel, was the top porn star on Pornhub in France in 2024. Little Angel/ Instagram Others found a fairly easy workaround. 'A VPN app and it'll be like they peed in the wind,' said Toulouse's Julien Carlot-Meunier. And he was right — it took a mere 30 minutes after Pornhub blocked access for one of the leading VPN providers to see sign-ups jump an astronomical 1,000%. 'This is more than when TikTok blocked Americans,' Proton VPN posted on X. The Canadian-owned porn conglomerate blasted the new government regulations as 'unreasonable, disproportionate and ineffective.' Advertisement 5 Hicks said the ban will just push many adult content creators to post on social media instead. Little Angel/ Instagram 'We built Proton VPN to help people in authoritarian countries with online censorship, an access gateway for porn was obviously not what we had in mind, but VPN can be used in this way,' a Proton spokesperson admitted to The Post. Meanwhile, French authorities — who engaged in a fiery exchange with Pornhub all week — were thrilled. 'Good riddance!' fumed French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot. Advertisement 'Less violent, degrading, and humiliating content accessible to minors in France. Goodbye!' ranted Equality Minister Aurore Bergé. The most searched term on the platform had been 'française' — the feminine version of the word French — meaning users were mostly interested in watching their own countrywomen in action. 'MILF,' 'mature woman' and 'woman with glasses' were also popular searches.
Yahoo
6 hours ago
- Yahoo
BBC cancels Nadiya Hussain's cooking show
Nadiya Hussain's cooking show has not been renewed by the BBC. The 40-year-old TV chef - who first found fame on 'The Great British Bake Off' back in 2015 - has taken to social media to announce that the BBC has decided not to renew any of her cooking shows. Nadiya said in an Instagram video: "The BBC have decided that they didn't want to commission a show. And for me, that was a huge turning point because it's something I've done for the past ten years. "I was already on this steady trajectory of change and I was thinking about where I wanted my career to go, and when the BBC decided they didn't want to commission the show anymore, it really did kind of solidify everything for me, and it made me dig my heels in and think 'OK, I know where I want to be.'" Nadiya is feeling excited and optimistic about her future in the TV industry. The chef also explained that she wants to have more "ownership" over her work moving forwards. She said: "It's been interesting because there have been lots of changes in my career, that I'm really excited about, I'm excited about taking back a bit of ownership of what I do, how I do it and who I work with, and that's given me a freedom I haven't had in the last ten years." Nadiya has hosted several cooking shows on the BBC - including 'Nadiya Bakes', 'Nadiya's Fast Flavours' and 'Nadiya's Simple Spices' - since winning 'Bake Off' back in 2015, while she has also become a regular contributor on 'The One Show'. The BBC has confirmed that it hopes to continue working with Nadiya moving forwards. A spokesperson for the broadcaster said: "After several wonderful series we have made the difficult decision not to commission another cookery show with Nadiya Hussain at the moment. "Nadiya remains a much-valued part of the BBC family, and we look forward to working together on future projects."
