MPs to probe mass Saudi piracy of BBC shows
MPs are set to investigate the mass piracy of BBC shows in Saudi Arabia, as it emerged Corporation bosses fired off an angry email to the Kingdom demanding it stops.
The Government is being asked to probe the illegal broadcasts in the wake of a £300million takeover bid of Newcastle United by the desert kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund.
A decision on whether to allow the bid was expected to be made this month by the Premier League, which has been fighting a legal battle to get the piracy shut down as matches are part of the illicit transmissions.
But this has been delayed and now ex-BBC actor Giles Watling, an MP on the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee, wants his group to look at Saudi piracy which has raged for nearly three years.
The channel, called beoutQ, is accused of illegally broadcasting to 400 million people in the Middle East and Europe. Mr Watling believes it threatens the £240million the BBC makes selling shows globally and undermines revenue from Britbox, which has BBC and ITV output.
Last night it emerged the BBC wrote to Saudi authorities after it discovered drama, natural history shows, news were all pirated.
They include Killing Eve, Doctor Who, McMafia and Blue Planet. The satellite transmissions stopped in August but the piracy continues to be streamed to millions via the web.
In the letter, BBC Worldwide asked the Saudis to shut beoutQ, which was broadcast on the Riyadh-based satellite station, Arabsat, in which the government is a majority shareholder.
Saudi Arabia denies being behind the piracy and has always denied that beoutQ uses its frequencies to broadcast illegally. A BBC spokesman said: “The BBC is committed to combating piracy of its channel and content.”