UK - Sports broadcasters colluded on freelancers' pay
The CMA’s decision encompasses 15 separate bilateral infringements of competition law. The CMA has found in each instance the disclosure and receipt, or the exchange, of competitively sensitive information in respect of rates of pay for freelance workers that support the production and broadcasting of sports content in the UK. The CMA has further found, in 10 of these 15 instances, that the objectives of the infringements included coordination on pay.
Sky (involved in 10 infringements between March 2014 and January 2021) alerted the CMA to its participation in the unlawful conduct under the CMA’s leniency policy and benefits from immunity from any fine.
The other 4 companies – BT, IMG, ITV and BBC – have settled and agreed to pay fines totalling £4,240,356.
BT (6 infringements between August 2014 and September 2021) - total penalty of £1,738,453 (includes a 15% leniency discount and a 20% settlement discount)
IMG (6 infringements between April 2016 and October 2021) - total penalty of £1,737,820 (includes a 40% leniency discount and a 20% settlement discount)
ITV (5 infringements between March 2014 and May 2018) - total penalty of £339,918 (includes a 42.5% leniency discount and a 20% settlement discount)
BBC (3 infringements between July 2016 and October 2021) - total penalty of £424,165 (includes a 20% settlement discount)
The freelance services affected differ from infringement-to-infringement. Across the totality of the 15 infringements, information was shared concerning rates of pay for the following twenty production functions fulfilled by freelancers: Assistant Producers; Camera Operators; Directors (aka Studio Directors); Editors; EVS Operators; Floor Managers (aka Studio Floor Managers); Gallery Production Assistants; Jib Operators; Makeup Artists; Producers; Production Assistants (aka Script Supervisors); Runners; Sound Guarantees; Sound Supervisors; Sound Technicians; Technical Producers; Vision Engineers; Vision Guarantees; Vision Mixers; and VT Coordinators. None of the infringements affected all of these production roles, and many of these functions were affected by no more than three infringements.
