BBC, ITV petition Ofcom to give Women’s World Cup listed status
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Editor
| 05 July 2023
Only just more than two weeks before the FIFA Women’s World Cup Finals Tournament 2023 kicks off, and only just after they agreed a rights deal for its coverage, the BBC and ITV have requested regulator Ofcom to grant them consent to broadcast exclusive live coverage of games.
FIFA womens world cup 14June2023
The tournament is due to take place in Australia and New Zealand from Thursday 20 July to Sunday 20 August 2023. In 2022 the FIFA Women’s World Cup Finals Tournament was designated a ‘Group A’ listed event by the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport for the purposes of the Broadcasting Act 1996. As a listed event, Ofcom’s consent is needed to broadcast exclusive live television coverage.

And after a prolonged period of unresolved negotiation that led some to worry about black screens, the BBC and ITV signed a deal on 14 June 2023 with world football governing body FIFAwith world football governing body FIFA to provide live coverage of the upcoming games, cashing in on the growing interest in women’s football and in particular that of England’s Euro winning Lionesses.

The deal will see all 64 matches from the football tournament, which starts in Auckland on 20 July 20, broadcast on either of the leading UK broadcasters, except for the Final, which will be shown across both BBC One and ITV1.

Across BBC iPlayer, BBC Sounds, TV, radio and online, the BBC will bring audiences 2023 FIFA World Cup live coverage, entertainment, analysis and discussion. ITV will show coverage of half of the tournament’s matches across ITV1 and ITV4 with simulcast and catchup on ITVX. Match highlights will also be on ITVX as well as ITV's social media platforms. And build up programming will be shown on ITV4/ITVX ahead of the tournament.

In confirming that it is considering listed status for the event, Ofcom noted that the consultation period is much shorter than usual, citing the delays in the rights acquisition It acknowledged that the BBC and ITV intended to wait until the final agreements were concluded before making their applications. It added that even now the agreements are yet to be concluded, due to delays caused by the more complex multi-party nature of the transaction, but that they broadcasters have now made their applications within sufficient time to ensure it can carry out the consultation.

Ofcom said at this moment in time it was provisionally minded to grant consent, subject to considering any concerns raised in response to the consultation.