Panel urges Ashes, other events kept for free TV

By Kate Holton

LONDON (Reuters) - An independent panel urged the government on Friday to reserve several high profile sports events, including England's home Ashes tests, for free-to-air TV despite opposition from sporting bodies and Rupert Murdoch.

The government-appointed panel said the tests against Australia, Open golf and international soccer qualifiers should be added to an existing list of protected events reserved for free-to-air.

The "A-list" of events already includes the summer Olympics, the football World Cup, the FA Cup and others, barring them from being shown on subscription channels such as Murdoch's BSkyB.

The plan, which will be thrown open for a 12-week consultation, has already drawn criticism from sporting bodies which say they will receive less investment. It is likely to further strain relations with Murdoch's media empire.

Gordon Brown told BBC Radio on Friday he had recently spoken to Murdoch, after the media mogul's flagship Sun tabloid persistently attacked the prime minister over Afghanistan.

The top-selling daily has announced it will support the opposition Conservative Party at a general election due next year.

Sky bought the exclusive rights to all the England home tests in 2005 for around 220 million pounds and has extended until the 2013 season for over 260 million pounds.

The deal sparked controversy after more than 8 million people watched England win the Ashes in 2005 on Channel 4's free-to-air coverage. That compared with the last day of the England victory at the Oval this year, which was watched by around 2 million people on Sky.