Cricket rights tussle looms
Nine uses media to shore up its position on Cricket Australia broadcasting rights.
- Published by David Knox
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- Filed under News
TEN’s incoming CEO Hamish McLennan has been talking up opportunities to seize major sports rights, but Nine’s managing director Jeffery Browne strategically uses media to
”Cricket as a product has not seen escalating ratings and, crucially, many scheduled days have been lost for weather [and] uneven opponents,” Browne said. ”Also, it is largely played outside the ratings period,” he said.
As Jon Pierik notes in the Sydney Morning Herald, this summer about 30 per cent of scheduled Test days were never played. Of those 43 missing days, about 86 per cent were due to Tests finishing early, with the rest resulting from bad weather. In one-day cricket, about 13 per cent of the scheduled matches were either washed out or finished early. Nine must also stump up for $13 million in annual production costs.
”It’s up to Cricket Australia to determine which network is the best fit and most likely to assist it to continue to build its brand,” Browne said. ”I think Nine’s Wide World of Sports is not only the leading sports brand in Australia but it is internationally acclaimed, having won the bronze medal for all international sports broadcasters at both the Vancouver and most recent London Olympic Games. It is an enviable reputation, enhanced by the last 36 years of broadcasting international cricket in Australia.”
Meanwhile Deadline reports James Murdoch told the audience at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media and Telecom Conference that the company won’t go overboard in buying rights to sports programming.
“It’s important to have a portfolio of rights where you can walk away,” he said. For example, the Los Angeles Dodgers wanted payments that were “too rich for us,” leading the team to create its own regional sports channel. “We understand how to price sports and package them properly.”
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- Tagged with Cricket, Olympic Games
22 Responses
cant believe they still have legislated it it was a
Announced way back in 2010.
Anyway i hope they have a duel rights system this time much like the afl do and i hope Adelaide and Perth viewers get to see the whole days play not just part of a days play like it is at the moment thanks for the info David hope you keeps us up to date with the cricket rights i am a fanatic
Um yes it is the cricket is on tire and and states that every game must be live and in full i can give you the link if you like but their is an exception they can use a multi channel when the news is on to show it.
Future anti-siphoning list
Tier A anti-siphoning events
Sport Events
Cricket Each ‘test’ match involving Australia played in Australia.
Cricket Each ‘test’ match between Australia and England played in the United Kingdom.
Cricket Each one-day cricket match involving Australia played in Australia.
Cricket Each Twenty20 cricket match involving Australia played in Australia.
Cricket Each match in the semi-finals and the final of the International Cricket Council One Day International World Cup.
Cricket Each match of the International Cricket Council One Day International World Cup involving Australia.
Cricket The final of the International Cricket Council Twenty20 World Cup.
Cricket Each match of the International Cricket Council Twenty20 World Cup involving Australia.
Thanks. I have had to edit your list for space reasons. But to answer your points: The changes to Anti-Siphoning neither state events must be live nor in full, only whether they must be on primary or secondary channels. Also, the changes are still not legislated. We are operating under an interim anti-siphoning list with the Minister able to exert his discretion at a network’s request.
And don’t Forget with these new the Cricket rights they must be live and in Full no missing out overs for news etc that is law now. It is on Tier A of the Anti-Siphioning list
Not true.
A Fox deal would certainly get closer to the cash CA wants but don’t Nine get first and last? If Ten/One want it they are going have to be very strategic on their amount and bidding partner (presuming Fox). I think they will also need to give the cricket brand a refresh. Re the IPL I think in Ten’s defence they paid overs on a concept that at the time wasn’t really proven and we all know even recently how the BCCI operates. Sport even with its flaws is a TV staple so to take on something like this, if successful would be something at least Ten can market. As for the most recent series, I think you have to acknowledge as a long term investment that the scheduling won’t always bring the strongest teams every year so days are always lost/rained out.
@DK – thx, clearer now. Perhaps could have mentioned that James Packer is from/was talking about News Corp for readers who aren’t sure who he is (at first I wondered if you’d meant Lachlan).
Why oh why would TEN want to broadcast cricket? They shelled out heaps to show the Indian Premier League in 2008 featuring Warnie and several other “stars” and it bombed spectacularly on the main channel. As soon as OneHD started they shunted it over there.
Surely they can think up something better than this?
Instead of left wing conspiracy theories, why not talk about the Cricket?
7,9 & Ten all said last year they would be bidding for the cricket. What they all really wanted was the Twenty20 Big Bash for Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights but its ratings were down over 30% on Foxtel this season.
Test cricket may be on during summer but it is on during the day, fills up lots of hours and brings in lots of KFC and VB advertising. It also keeps viewers watching your network over summer so you can have your commentators promote your new shows will dreadful ad libbing.
The ODIs were not very interesting this summer either. They did get Channel 9 some ratings in the first week of the rations season, but disrupted their programming.
Apart from the left of the ALP pressuring Gillard and Conroy to use Finkelstein and the fit ownership test to silence News for critising them. And Brown and Milne’s similar campaign what basis is there? All jumped on by News’s tabloid competitors the SMH and ABC.
There has been plenty of analysis of this in The Financial Review and The Australian this week (which is why the Greens and Left of the ALP want them shut down).
McLennan has never worked in TV or digital media. He was an advertising exec. who joined News Corp in 2011 as a special adviser to Rupert. He quit that job to take this one.
Lachlan Murdoch is no long a News exec., he was forced out during the phone hacking scandal. He still holds a seat on the News board though (which is largely controlled by Rupert’s voting stock anyway).
The funniest thing is when Conroy tried to use the issue to plug his new ownership controls attacking the Murdochs, the Greens and SMH were too stupid to see what he was up to and accused him of being a News Crop puppet.
In the end it will come down to how much Channel 9 are willing to pay and how much another station says they will pay, after all in Nines current contract they have the right to match the highest offer as they have the last bid.
Though if it were to be Seven bidding, i am sure there would be concerns over how they will sow it over the two weeks the Cricket clashes with the Australian Open Tennis.
I think I missed something – it seems a bit of a non sequitur for the article to be talking about Nine, Ten, and cricket rights to then switch to quoting James Murdoch. Wasn’t he talking about News Corp and its investment in sport worldwide?
SS: Yes I threw it into the story because there is speculation about whether News Ltd may buy TEN shares (they have denied it). When you essentially have the 3rd or fourth top exec from News Corp joining TEN and wanting sports rights, I think it’s interesting to hear from another Murdoch on the same topic. Time will tell…
@camo2
Fox have cricket commentators such as:
AB, Brendan Julian, Mark Waugh, Damien (The bowlologist) Fleming
Chris Cairns was also doing some of the T20, and also Tom Moody I think?
also Lilliee tooo I think…. or maybe I’m just thinking of the interview with him and binga on inside cricket.
csh is right…. fantastic insite from these guys, and fantastic to listen to
I’m pretty sure the kindergarten class my older sister teaches could do a better job with the Olympics than 9 did, so i don’t know why they are tooting their own horn over that mess.
Watching the Big Bash on Fox Sports over the summer was like a breath of fresh air.
Articulate, accurate and lively commentary.
Channel Ten needs to get these rights and should pay whatever is necessary to get them.
Is this the same “internationally accllaimed” Wide World of Sports that has treated and contuines to treat NRL fans like dirt by brodcasting 1 semi live NRL game a week. OOhhh Please Jeffery Browne!!!!
I think what is more likely is ch10 will get the FTA rights for the big bash league. Games are all played in the evening and it would rate very well. CA are going to push it back to start around Christmas and it definitely give ch10 a nice launching pad to promote their programmes.
. who ever wins the next cricket rights really need to do something different that Nine have been doing… the biggest critics Nine have, including from tihsamikah, is the commentators… i dont have FOX sports so i cant judge, but who do they (FOX) have as commentators? are they any better?? Could CA give all the rights to FOX…and then inturn they onsell the international games back to a FTA partner…that could work
The thing for ten though is they have no audience through summer. Actually they have no audience. Cricket would be a big boost to be able to launc new shows come ratings and hopefully have a few more eyeballs stick around
usual Nine Dribble…
Wide World of Sports Critically Acclaimed?
maybe the ABC version in the US is, but nine’s?
hate to tell you its not “acclaimed”
so… you won a bronze… Seven won a gold medal for Olympics coverage several time did they not?
Considering nine have the likes of Slater commentating the cricket, who is so bad its just so laughably funny….
Slater spent the entire summer, commentating on shots speculating on whether or not it would be a boundary or not, when the ball had well and truly hit the ropes….
just based on him and others (Healy) Nine should never get a look in.
Just take chapelle , richie (I know he would retire), and Lawry and go to 10 please… for the good of the game…..