Seoul – KBS and MBC has jointly filed for arbitration at the Korea Communications Commission (KCC), questioning whether SBS’s exclusive rights to broadcast the next few Olympic Games and FIFA World Cup tournaments is a violation of Korea’s Broadcasting Law, reports The Korea Times. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) awarded SBS the broadcasting rights for the Olympic Games through 2016 following a bidding process in 2006. This caught KBS and MBC off guard, as the three major terrestrial broadcasters had previously agreed to an alliance and a bid of $63 million. SBS, which decided to break off at the last minute, landed the four Games deal after bidding $72.5 million. SBS also owns the exclusive broadcasting rights to the FIFA World Cup football tournaments through 2014. KBS and MBC have since been in talks with SBS over purchasing the broadcasting rights for the international sporting events, but the talks have been circular over the past three years. In the complaint filed to the KCC, KBS and MBC claimed that SBS securing exclusive rights over the sporting events is a violation of the Korean Broadcasting Law that mandates televisions stations to provide universal access. The current Broadcasting Law defines universal access as covering at minimum 90 percent of all Korean households, a criterion that SBS says it meets, says the report.
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