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BSkyB Puts Picnic Satellite TV Service On Hold, Amid Regulatory Delays

2:31 am on September 14, 2008 | Category: Business, Regulation, Television

British satellite television provider, BSkyB, said on Friday that it was putting its ‘Picnic’ service on hold, pending a slow and dithering response by UK telecom regulator, Ofcom.

The Picnic offering, which would have offered some premium programming, including movies and sports content, to Sky broadband and telephone customers who don’t want to purchase a full Sky TV package, has fallen into a regulatory quagmire with no clear approval date.

“The blunt truth is that Ofcom has spent 18 months looking at our proposals, and there is no end in sight,” said a spokesman for BSkyB in a statement. “The Picnic team have done everything they can to prepare for launch and there’s nothing left to be achieved until Ofcom makes its mind up.”

“While regulation works at its own pace, no business can go on like this indefinitely, so we’ve had to take some pragmatic decisions,” the spokesman added, noting that BSkyB would decide whether or not to reactivate the project once Ofcom makes its position clear.

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