The UK’s sports broadcaster heavyweights have been fined for unlawfully colluding to fix freelancer pay rates, leading to over £4m in penalties.
BT, IMG, ITV and the BBC have all admitted to illegally sharing sensitive payment information and details to suppress wages for production staff.
Sky, which also participated, avoided a financial penalty by reporting its involvement ahead of the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA)’s investigation.
The CMA revealed that between 2014 and 2021, these leading media companies engaged in over 15 instances of illegal information sharing to ensure freelancers were paid less by preventing competition for their services.
What’s more, internal messages within each firm revealed explicit conversations to avoid bidding wars and aligning rates.
IMG and BT were each fined approximately £1.74m, while the BBC and ITV were fined £339,918 and £424,165, respectively.
Sky escaped any form of penalty under the CMA’s leniency programme because it was the first to come forward.
Companies that put themselves forward to the CMA received fine reductions for cooperating with the competition regulator.
Juliette Enser, the CMA’s executive director for competition enforcement, highlighted that firms must determine wages independently to ensure fair pay.
She said: “Millions watch sports on TV each day, with production teams working behind the scenes to make this possible – and it is only right they are paid fairly.”
“Labour markets are important for economic growth as a whole. Good recruitment and employment practices help people access the right jobs where they’re paid appropriately and make it easier for businesses to expand and find the workers they need.”
“Companies should set rates independently of each other so pay is competitive – not doing so could leave workers out of pocket. Employers must ensure those who hire staff know the rules and stick to them to prevent this happening in the future.”
The ruling is expected to lead to more transparency within payment practices within the industry.
The CMA also dropped a different investigation into wider TV production, which involves ITV, the BBC, and other independent production firms.
While no fines have been issued yet, the watchdog warned businesses to ensure complete compliance with competition guardrails.
Further guidance for employers on how to avoid anti-competitive behaviour within labour markets will be released soon.
