Melita Cable sports package

In the last couple of years, it has become common practice for the two television service providers/contractors to acquire rights for the exclusive transmission of various sporting events. We all remember the furore over the last football World Cup transmissions. While exclusive transmissions may be generally acceptable in a free market, the way that Melita Cable packages these events is certainly not. Let me explain.

Take the recent acquiring by Melita Cable of the Italian Serie A after an absence of two years. As I am not a subscriber, I enquired with Melita Cable about the cost of watching the Italian football league. Besides a onetime Lm37 connection (non-refundable) fee - which includes the leasing out of the digital receiver - I must subscribe to the most expensive Sports Package available at a monthly cost of Lm8.16. This package, besides the Italian Serie A, also transmits the English Premier League and the Spanish Liga, besides Formula One, ATP Masters, rugby and (as advertised) more... As if this is not enough, I will also be constrained to subscribe to at least the basic TV Active Package which costs another Lm7 per month. Thus to be able to watch the Italian league I am forced to subscribe to a multitude of other sports events and a TV package which I simply am not interested in.

The monthly cost of the above Melita Cable "bundle" is Lm15.16 per month! This is more than three and a half times as much as last year's Multiplus's cost for viewing the same Italian Serie A - Lm4 per month (Lm1 for the smart card and Lm3 for the Italian football). Is this fair?

I believe that it is the Broadcasting Authority's duty to safeguard consumers from the arrogance of such service providers/contractors as Melita Cable. The latter should be made to offer packages that will enable the consumer to select only those sporting events in which they are interested at a reasonable cost.