The BBC began transmitting its channels over a new satellite, which is said to be more accurate than the satellite previously used, earlier this year. However, News Corp, which owns the TV and film studio Twentieth Century Fox, is said to concerned that its programming can be viewed in Spain and France.
News Corporation chief operating officer and president Peter Chernin told the international TV programming conference Mipcom, where he was named TV personality of the year, that the company could stop selling to the BBC, get an injunction, or sue them.
Chernin said: "The BBC is one of the greatest content providers in the world and should be as concerned about the protection of content and legal transmission of content as anyone in the world -- and we think they are taking a short-sighted view on this."
If News Corp decides to take the issue to court it could jeopardise the broadcast of Fox TV shows, including 'Malcolm in the Middle' and 'The Simpsons'.
The BBC said its new satellite signal was focused on the UK and Ireland, and that unencrypted broadcasting provided a better serivce to licence payers. It also said it was addressing the problem of its channels being viewed in other countries.
In a statement, the BBC said: "The move does not prejudice the interests of rights holders who benefit from the satellite's tighter footprint. For example, the problem of unauthorised access in Spain has been reduced because it is now no longer practical for households there to receive BBC channels by satellite."
The BBC has yet to secure a deal with Fox TV for the third series of hit political drama '24', which stars Keifer Sutherland. The companies are said to be in talks, but no agreement has been reached.
It has also failed to secure deals with Fox's filmed entertainment division and other Hollywood studios Warner Bros and Universal Studios, which were consulting lawyers in August about the use of their films by the BBC.
The Hollywood studios were concerned that films broadcast by the BBC would be available in markets where it did not own the rights, after the corporation stopped using BSkyB's encryption technology.
The BBC sparked the concerns about its signal earlier this year, when it terminated its £85m contract with Sky for encryption technology that stops its channels being seen in other markets after it moved its channels to the new satellite.
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