# Broadcasting Act 1996, Section 99: Contract for exclusive right to televise coverage of listed event to be void.

Extent: E+W+S+N.I.

(1) Any contract entered into after the commencement of this section under which a television programme provider acquires rights to televise the whole or any part of a listed event live for reception in the United Kingdom, or in any area of the United Kingdom, shall be void so far as it purports, in relation to the whole or any part of the event or in relation to reception in the United Kingdom or any area of the United Kingdom, to grant those rights exclusively to any one television programme provider.
Any contract entered into on or after the day on which section 21 of the Media Act 2024 comes into force which grants rights to include in a relevant service live coverage of the whole or any part of a Group A event for reception in, or in order to be accessed by members of the public in, the United Kingdom or any area of the United Kingdom is void so far as it purports—
(a) in relation to the whole or any part of the event, or
(b) in relation to reception, or access by means of the internet, in the United Kingdom or any part of the United Kingdom,
to grant those rights exclusively.
(2) In this Part “television programme provider” means the BBC, S4C or any person who is the holder of any licence under Part I of the 1990 Act or a digital programme licence under Part I of this Act.
(3) For the purposes of this section rights to televise the whole or any part of an event live for reception in any area granted to a television programme provider are granted exclusively if the person granting them—
(a) has not granted any right to televise the whole or, as the case may be, that part of the event live for reception in that area to any other television programme provider , to any CTT broadcaster or on an exempt Irish service, and
(b) is precluded by the terms of the contract from doing so.
For the purposes of this section, rights for a relevant service (“the first service”) to include live coverage of all or part of a Group A event in that service for reception in, or in order to be accessed by members of the public in, the United Kingdom or any area of the United Kingdom are granted exclusively if the person granting them—
(a) has not granted such rights to include live coverage of the whole or, as the case may be, that part of the event in one or more other relevant services as are sufficient to authorise, in accordance with section 101(2) or (3) or, as the case may be, section 101(4), the inclusion in the first service of the live coverage in question, and
(b) is precluded by the terms of the contract from doing so.
(4) In subsection (3)—
“CTT broadcaster” means a person who for the purposes of the European Convention on Transfrontier Television is within the jurisdiction of a State, other than the United Kingdom, which is for the time being a party to the Convention”;
“exempt Irish service” means a service specified in section 211B(1)(b) of the Communications Act 2003.

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1996/55/section/99 (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/broadcasting-act-1996/section-99
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.