RTL prepares against “Digital Britain” report

Chris Forrester

Pan-European broadcaster RTL, which owns the UK's Channel 5, is preparing to mount a major objection to any scheme that links the BBC with Channel 4, as outlined in Lord Carter's ‘Digital Britain' White Paper.

The document suggests that the BBC, via BBC Worldwide, financially assists Channel 4. This, suggests RTL, would be tantamount to state aid, and fall foul of EU regulations as it would be seen as anti-competitive.

One possible outcome of the BBC-W and C4 link would be for Channel 4 to pool its digital channels (More 4, etc) with BBC-W's portfolio of digital channels (‘Dave').