UKTV sale delayed by online rights dispute?

The sale of Virgin Media's half of UKTV is being delayed by an internal BBC dispute over online distribution rights, according to a report.

Virgin has been looking to sell its stake in the channel group, the other half of which is owned by BBC Worldwide, for several months. Recent rumours have suggested the BBC's commercial arm hoped to take complete control of UKTV by bringing in private equity investment.

However, according to the Sunday Telegraph, buyers are being put off by uncertainty over the future handling of royalties from distribution of BBC content online. Executives have yet to decide whether UKTV should take any proceeds from internet sales, or whether they should all go to the corporation, the newspaper said.

"The reason why the auction for UKTV is taking so long is because there is the mother of all battles going on inside the BBC for the future of online services," said a source.

Similar uncertainty is also said to be affecting a sale of Woolworths' 40% stake in DVD and video publisher 2entertain, the other 60% of which is owned by BBC Worldwide.