Carlton Communications Plc, the UK media group which hopes to play a major part in digital broadcasting, has lost the latest round of its ongoing battle with British Sky Broadcasting. A High Court ruled that Carlton must pay 4.3m pounds plus costs to BskyB to settle a long-running dispute over payments for TV channels and football rights. The row was over channels that BskyB may supply to Carlton’s British Digital Broadcasting BDB venture with Granada Television. BDB will launch a 15-channel digital service this Autumn which will compete with BskyB’s 200-channel service, which is also designed to be offered to the public by the end of the year. BskyB and BDB are currently engaged in a long-running dispute over differing standards for set-top boxes. With both aware that incompatibility will inhibit sales, hard-talking is going on behind the scenes to thrash out a deal. One good piece of news for digital broadcasters came with a forecast in the Daily Telegraph that a report due out today by a House of Commons committee will recommend that the government switch off the analog television network by 2010.
