Sky Anytime editorial responsibility ruling reconsidered by ATVOD

The Authority for Television On Demand (ATVOD) has been told to reconsider its determination that Sky provides an on-demand programming service including content from three Viacom companies.

In order to comply with regulations overseen by the ATVOD, on-demand services must satisfy several criteria.

Accountability rests on the party that has 'editorial responsibility', which is defined as the exercise of general control over the selection and organisation of programmes that make up the on-demand platform in question.

However, in the instance of Sky and Viacom - the owner of Comedy Central, MTV and Nickelodeon - both companies argued that this responsibility lay with the other party.

The ATVOD initially decided that control over content on Sky Anytime was down to the satellite broadcaster, but Ofcom has informed the regulator to review this ruling.

This comes in the wake of Ofcom's decision to uphold an appeal from BBC Worldwide against an ATVOD determination that it delivers an on-demand service on Italy's Mediaset platform.

Pete Johnson, chief executive of the ATVOD, said: "The question of which party has 'general control' over the selection and organisation of the programmes that comprise the service can be finely balanced, especially where this is a dispute between the parties involved."