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TEN in Cricket Australia talks

TEN is now engaged in exclusive talks with Cricket Australia for broadcast rights

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2013-04-17_0051TEN is now engaged in talks with Cricket Australia for broadcast rights for the next five years, including a period of exclusive talks to the end of the month, which shuts out Seven and FOX Sports.

The Financial Review reported TEN had bid $350m for the rights, ahead of Nine’s $315m. Seven is understood to have offered $320m including separate offers for the Big Bash League, one-day internationals and Tests.

The Australian reports TEN will discuss the structure of the deal, scheduling, technical standards for production, and potential on-selling to other broadcasters.

CEO Hamish McLennan and chief operating officer Jon Marquard are understood to be negotiating with Cricket Australia.

But Nine still has its last refusal as the incumbent broadcaster and can top TEN’s bid.

An outcome is likely by mid-June.

28 Responses

  1. As a cricket fan, I hope that channel 10 gets the rights for the game. Channel 9’s broadcast used to be at the cutting edge. However, I’ve felt that it has been very stale for some years now. I’m hoping that ten wil show every test,ODI and twenty/20 international during the summer and show at the very least some matches that the national team plays overseas on the mutl-channel ONE. The only way you could’ve watched the Aus-India series in Feb/March was by having foxtel.

  2. And how will Ten juggle the cricket with their one hour 5PM news bulletin? Nine has enough trouble with their 6PM 30 minute news bulletin during the cricket season with the cricket regularly running late and either the news being delayed or the last few balls being cut off – a classic lose-lose.

    The anti-siphoning laws state that the cricket must be shown on the main channel so Ten can’t palm it off to OneHD when it runs overtime.

  3. it’s time to move away from 9. the coverage hads become stale and old. it’s like what the afl was like at the end of 7s run of 40 years of covering the sport. the game needed a new broadcaster to brighten things up. now that it’s back with 7 it’s gone back to the good old days of black and white tv. give 10 the rights cricket australia. do something right for once

  5. CraigW- I can’t imagine that Ch10 are paying a large sum for their NBL rights. I’d say dollar for dollar it’s probably offering a better return than other sports rights do for networks. That said, broadcasting a top tier sport is what ch10 desperately need!

  6. I actually enjoy TENs coverage of F1 and they wouldn’t go to a break every 5 laps at one time they had 0 breaks for 25mins. CA needs a shake up and I love what you said about Tom Waterhouse and the bidding war

  7. Love watching cricket most times, but I am not sure that the ‘ 3, 4 or 5 ball’ overs, the randomly selected ‘4 days’ of the’ 5 day tests’, the introduction of a 10am Sunday ‘ half hour morining tea break’ to televise the ‘ Bolt Report’ (possibly enticing bidding $$$ from Gina), and a ‘Big Swipe’ version of the ‘Big Bash’ series, that network Ten will probably dish up to viewers will go down very well?

    I wonder what odds Tom Waterhouse is offering on Ten’s success?

    Who will fund the rewrite of the rules, when they want to televise it in the Base Ball Diamond Format, and to allow round arm bowling along with one gloved wicket keepers, so Rupert and Lochy can franchise it into the USA, but at least base balls are already white for the day nighter’s, with an added bonus of much more stitching to tweek.

  8. Cricket rights would fit well within Ten’s plans to broaden its demographic and I hope it goes the whole way on this one. Ten needs some intangible value for advertisers and cricket brings this. And it can easily match Nine’s broadcasts and line up a mixed blend of old and new commentators. Ten is already living dangerously so it may be bold on this.

  9. I will watch the cricket no matter what channel its on. I still watch AFL on seven even though I preferred tens coverage. Its been on channel nine so long that any change of network would be take some getting used to. I would really like the big bash to be on free to air. It seems wrong that its not as even the a-league next season will be on free to air.

  10. The great mastero’s (joking) Gyngell and Browne threw everything at the NRLand are losing money every week for Nine. It would be interesting too see who wins this as the accountants would be saying “rein in the costs” and on the other side there would be rumblings of we cannot lose the crickets rights as it part of the DNA at Nine. Alot of people during the NRL tv rights deal at Nine knew this day would come. Where will the money come from?

  11. Has to also be remembered that Nine consigned the Domestic One Day Comp to the grave, and Foxtel was the saviour which picked it up and has made it a moderate success in terms of a TV presense – even if the gate takings are a challenge to sustain and the effects mike picks up every whisper in the ‘crowd’…

  13. The subplot here might be some ‘insurance’ in case the NBL aren’t able to resolve the Townsville Crocs impasse. As I understand it, under the broadcast contract with Ch 10, the next season’s fixture must be finalised by end of May to allow for scheduling etc, and for the fixture to include 8 teams minimum. If that clause is not met, then Ch 10 have an out from broadcasting it (and given the ratings for Game 2 of the GF Series it might well be a blessing), and it will prob return to Foxtel and will give Ch 10 some spare cash to use.

    As others have said, Ch 10 could do a good job (I also don’t mind their F1 coverage) and they need something in summer. I hope they might ‘co-sign’ the Fox commentators for the BBL and extend that for Tests, etc if they can find the cash to throw at it and like Ch 7 did with the previous AFL rights to make it ‘unviable’ for Nine to pursue.

  14. Would be good to see ten pick up cricket and then perhaps reinvigorate one with original vision of being a sports channel at least during day and Thursday to Sunday night – although am sure ten has burnt many bridges with treatment of netball, basketball etc. It was such a shame they missed out on nrl seeing nine can only be bothered with one live game a week and being a vehicle for people to watch gyngells, gus goulds or broncos games

  15. Cricket is good for summer but won’t help with the ratings season.

    The ODIs and the international Twenty20s extend into ratings making it hard to launch a lineup on the back of them. As Nine found out this year. Seven and Ten got their lineups on before Nine fired a shot, and they ended up delaying new shows still after Easter, then delaying them again.

    Nine paid $225m for five years last time but that was before the BBL. There are also sorts of permutations with Ten or Nine taking what they want and selling on stuff to Foxtel.

  17. I think ch10 need this. Both 7/9 use summer sports to spruik their future slate. However CA are right to bring some sort of standard threshold into this, the future of the sport’s success may well depend upon it. The key question after all the effort of negotiating will be whether ch9 stumps up the $$$$$.

    The ch10 network do F1 very well imo, good enough for me anyway

  18. I think ch10 should get rights to the Big Bash. It will rate very well would be a good starting point. Ch9 do the cricket well, with exception of a few of the commentators. And I’m sure CA are well aware that any change in broadcaster would be a bold move and not just financially motivated.

  19. Also not a cricket fan…but to my mind…TEN do not have a great record handling sport….ie…the golf debacle…and F1 complaints….so I am unsure if this is good news.

  20. This is interesting “discuss the…technical standards for production”, maybe, unlike the halfwits at the AFL, Cricket Australia will make sure everything is HD

  21. It would be interesting if this went to TEN but yet again due to the last rights clause Nine will just fork out the extra money and will retain the rights which sucks if you ask me.

  24. I feel like it belongs on Nine, but…a fresh broadcaster coming in with new ideas could be very good for cricket. Would also be good to get some Big Bash on free-to-air TV if possible.

    We’ll see what happens. Great time for TEN to swoop in here if Nine are struggling with their finances.

  25. Not a cricket fan, but I kind of feel it belongs on 9. After watching Howzatt last year and seeing everything involved I hope it stays on 9.

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