UK Broadcasters Fined £4.24m for Colluding on Freelance Pay

BBC, ITV, BT, and IMG penalized for anti-competitive practices as CMA launches new investigation into non-sports TV production companies.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) fined BBC, ITV, BT, and IMG a total of £4.24 million for colluding on freelance pay rates between 2014 and 2021.
The investigation revealed 15 instances of the companies sharing sensitive pay information to coordinate payments for freelancers in sports broadcasting.
Sky avoided penalties after alerting the CMA to the collusion, prompting the 2022 investigation.
All fined companies received reduced penalties for settling early, with BT and IMG paying £1.7 million each, the BBC £424,000, and ITV £340,000.
The CMA has now launched a separate inquiry into potential anti-competitive practices in non-sports TV production involving organizations such as Hartswood Films and Tiger Aspect Productions.