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Seven accused of flouting anti-siphoning list

Tim Worner rejects claims by Pay TV lobby that adding a subscription fee for the Games exploited a loophole.

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Seven charging a subscription rate for the Olympics via its Live app goes against the spirit of the Anti-Siphoning List, according to the Pay TV lobby.

Tony Shepherd, Chairman of ASTRA, notes the Anti-Siphoning List was setup to ensure premium events were free to Australians. But Seven charging a fee, he suggests, exploits a loophole.

“Seven is monetising some of the programming by putting it behind a paywall and charging for it. This is precisely the outcome the anti-siphoning scheme is meant to guard against,” he told The Australian.

“Seven is operating well within the rules. But it’s an indication that the anti-siphoning laws themselves are out of date. They are well past their use-by-date.”

But Seven CEO Tim Worner rejected the claims.

“All viewers are the winners here with more free and paid choice than ever before with the Olympic Games,” he said. “The anti-siphoning list exists to protect the public interest in all Australians having access to iconic sporting events free of charge. It is not about commercial objectives for pay tv or even free to air television. It’s about viewers and not creating haves and have nots when it comes to being able to see major sporting events. The unprecedented level of free Olympic Games coverage for Rio proves the list is doing its job.”

ASTRA claims the Anti-Siphoning List is hopelessly out of date.

“I’m not arguing that the Olympics should be taken off the list, but other players should be able to bid. If people are going to pay for it then everybody should have the opportunity to bid for it,” said Tony Shepherd.

14 Responses

  1. Get over it Foxtel, the olympic rights with 7 are sown up until at least Tokyo 2020. The greedy deal they made with Nine back with London 2012 was a kick in the guts for people without pay tv so I have no sympathy whatsoever with Foxtel missing out on any future rights or their complaining on any current rights.

  2. 7 Network were clever enough to buy the digital rights as well as the FTA tv rights. I dont see anything wrong with that. Foxtel are just annoyed that they got bypassed by 7. when Foxtel & Nine Network baught rights to London and Vancouver games it was mainly Foxtel paying for it because Nine were cash strapped. Foxtel used the Anti Siphoning legislation for their own benefit they showed way more content than Nine did, 7 this time around made more content available to more people on both FTA & Subscription for only $20.00 which is alot more than Foxtel’s which would have been a lot more even if it wasnt $150. This argument is not the same as a FTA network hoarding sports rights so Foxtel loose on this one. I say clever business move by 7 Network. the only problem i have is that the Olympics on 7 App was a technical failure, 7 should have offered the subscription service available via…

  3. @josh777: Foxtel gave sports subscribers London for free.

    However, ASTRA has a point though. Seven is holding subscription rights to several key events in the next few years, inc. RL World Cup next year, and the 2018 Commonwealth Games. I don’t want to pay for extended coverage of those events if it’s only restricted to tablets/mobile devices, especially for a home Commonwealth Games.

    I honestly think Seven should be made to on-sell the subscription broadcast television rights to these events, to Foxtel, to make up for any losses Rio incurred for 7. That way, Seven/Foxtel can offer the coverage we deserve, on TV, for events like GC2018, instead of having us squinting into our phones.

    And this is from a satellite Foxtel subscriber, who only had 7/7Mate during Rio.

    1. Thanks for correcting me. It turns out I was thinking of the 2006 Commonwealth and 2010 Winter Olympics which both went for $65 each (obviously I was way off with $150).

  4. Things I wanted to watch …like equestrian events and rhythmic gymnastics ..were often of the App thing…I do not know about apps….but yes…they were usually shown the next day…when it was very early morning over there…
    I so do not understand anti siphoning…guess I will Google..if I feel I really need to know…*G*…

      1. “Must be seen on FTA” – I’m sorry but this is just not true. There is nothing in the rules about FTA having to show what’s on that list. It just gives them the first chance to buy.

  5. Hang on, they broadcast on 3 channels almost 24 hours a day and showed more live events on Free to Air TV in history?
    Seven also holds rights to STV/Digital from the IOC, so it’s just Foxtel crying because they’re about to have their Pay TV monopoly smashed by Telco (see Optus and EPL) and Media competitors thanks to digital delivery tech like Apple TV, Chromecast, NBN

  6. I cant remember Foxtel charging for $150+ for the London coverage (Which is the best coverage of any Olympics). I am pretty sure it was in the sports package.

  7. I noticed some of the sports like synchronised swimming and rhythmic gymnastics appeared to be locked and payment required when I tried to watch. I didn’t want to pay so just gave up. Sometime during the following day some of it was shown on tv. I would of been pretty annoyed if I had paid and it ended up being on tv for free, all be it delayed!

  8. Correct me if I’m wrong but when Seven brought the rights to the Olympics that included the STV rights. So instead of on-selling the STV rights to Foxtel so they could launch dedicated STV channels and charge for it, Seven have used their app to offer this extra footage and charged what would only be a portion of what Foxtel would have charged (if I recall the last Olympics Foxtel got correctly they charged something like $150+). I can’t really see Foxtel winning this argument.

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