Hollywood and Brussels pay-TV wrangle

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Hollywood studios including Walt Disney, Warner Brothers, Universal, Paramount, 20th Century Fox and Columbia Tristar, are engaged in a wrangle with the European Commission over alleged price-fixing in pay-TV contracts.

The studios are reported to have offered to phase out contract terms with pay-TV companies that were regarded by antitrust investigators in Brussels as anti-competitive.

The wrangling comes in the wake of an investigation into distribution deals between the studios and European firms including British Sky Broadcasting, Canal Plus, Sky Italia and Sogecable.

The Commission launched its investigation in response to claims that the studios were setting minimum prices with pay-TV companies. But the studios have denied any price collusion.

The demand for new films has become increasingly important for Hollywood studios, generating over $1.5bn a year from the sale of TV rights in Europe.