TV coverage heading to Pay

[vatuloa]

This is the problem when free to air owners have interests in Pay TV it's only a matter of time and the worst of it we will still get adds.

From Fox Sports

TV stations dud fans
By Luke McIlveen
September 11, 2003

TELEVISION executives are robbing Australians of their right to watch sport.

Commercial networks show only a small fraction of the events to which they have exclusive rights.

The Federal Government is considering breaking the hold of the three big networks and letting pay-TV show sports the other channels cannot fit into their programming.

Channel Nine is shaping as the enemy of sports lovers across the country, having cut off a US Open match when Mark Philippoussis and David Nalbandian were three games all in the first set.

The top-rating network also controls the rights to Australian Test cricket overseas but has not broadcast a single game from Australian tours in the past five years.

The Seven Network also short-changed soccer fans by showing only one National Soccer League match in the 2003 season - the grand final.

The ABC is in the sights of the sports-mad public, having shown only two of eight Australian matches at the recent Netball World Championships.

Communications Minister Richard Alston is preparing a Cabinet submission on the issue in the next four to six weeks and is expected to recommend reforms to so-called anti-siphoning laws.

Kerry Packer's Nine Network senior executives John Alexander and Peter Yates were in Canberra this week to lobby against the changes.

Ryan Stokes, the son of Seven Network boss Kerry Stokes, has also been pushing not to give pay TV more access to live sports.

The anti-siphoning rules protect the right of networks to show the sports events they choose without fear of competition.

Blockbusters such as the Melbourne Cup, AFL, rugby league and cricket Tests are included on a protected species list, which Foxtel and other pay-TV providers are trying to change.

This anti-siphoning list contains more 6000 hours of sport content each year but the pay TV industry believes less than 17 per cent of this is screened.

It is believed the Government will remove from the anti-siphoning list sports that have not received thorough coverage in recent years.

Australian Subscription Television and Radio Association executive director Debra Richards said he did not want sport taken off free-to-air TV.

"People should not have to pay for sport but they are not actually seeing the sports on the list at the moment," he said.

Commercial networks spokeswoman Julie Flynn said the rules were set up to ensure Australians got some sports free.

"The rules were always about Australian viewers being able to see their favourite sports on free TV," she said.

She said most sports to which commercial networks had exclusive rights were televised at some stage. "The fact of the matter is at the end of the day the majority of the sports are shown on free-to-air TV," she said.

A spokesman for Communications Minister Richard Alston said the submission to Cabinet would consider recommendations that the system be changed.

"There's been a long-standing attitude in Australia that sport should be free, but certainly the anti-siphoning list is one issue we are considering at the moment," the spokesman said.

[RaceTime]

Good move for those who earn their living from sports then - pay TV becomes a legitimate tax deduction

[Onlooker]

Every cloud has a silver lining dosn't it

[Lyris]

Does this mean that we may acutally get to see all of the V8 coverage???? Please tell me it's on the list for removal

I'm not saying TEN should stop broadcasting, I'm just saying that I'd love to be able to get full coverage if I choose to pay for it. (given how much we're all prone to griping and all)

[Crash Test]

Define full coverage, esp when you will be able to get absolutely everything on Bigpond.

I doubt it will effect motorsport at all, what else is there that can be changed? Will F1 be shown 1/2 an hour earlier on Fox?

[Lyris]

Um well the ad breaks could stop editing out 7-8 laps of the race (when in 3 minutes they could in reality only have done 2-2.5). And yes 10 do this regularly.

And the made for tv shoot-out might come back????

It would just give us more options and less to whinge and wine about, okay???

[RaceTime]

Originally posted by Crash Test
Define full coverage, esp when you will be able to get absolutely everything on Bigpond.

Ummmm you have got to be joking - right? Bigpond is an ISP not a TV provider of any kind.

And what resolution do you expect to get anything from Bigpond at? Won't be much because they will have a bandwidth problem (like during the Olympics...)

[Crash Test]

Cripey.

Instead of complaining about, well whatever, why doesn't everyone just rock up to the track and not miss anything? Put then the PA is dud, and the commentators are worse. I dunno....

[RaceTime]

See you in China then?

[Crash Test]

Absolutely, and what's the chances of the playstation live timing working over there? If I don't know the results as they happen I'd probably have to euthanasia as a hobby

[RaceTime]

Hmmm will be inetersting - what time zone is the track in? Beijing in on WA time and doesn't have daylight savings, so at least 2 hours behind Sydney...could be interesting to see what sort fo schedule they come up with (if they ever do)

Wonder if the Big Pond truck will be there....???

[Crash Test]

Yeah, it's going to be a big jumbo to fit all of those b-doubles in

[Lyris]

Or maybe TC will just borrow that military transport (don't know who own's it but it aint Aus) plane that that can is so bloody big that it can fit an entire jumbe in it.

That could just be overkill though???

[RaceTime]

That takes care of the administrative staff and their luggage, but how do the teams gets to China??

[Crash Test]

They might brew Fosters in China, but what about VB?

[Buckshot]

Originally posted by Lyris
Or maybe TC will just borrow that military transport (don't know who own's it but it aint Aus) plane that that can is so bloody big that it can fit an entire jumbe in it.

You mean those old Russian things - The Antinov ?

[spook]

The trucks will probably go sea freight, and the cars will fly and pick them up at the airport. That's if the trucks are "legal" on Chinese roads. But if I was Ross Stone, I would not settle for an Antinov, not at any price.

[mjt57]

Originally posted by Crash Test
Define full coverage, esp when you will be able to get absolutely everything on Bigpond.

I've missed something here. What's this about Bigpond?

What I DO miss is RT's Live Raceview coverage, as well as his IRC chats that we used to have back in the good old days...

[sniff..]

[RaceTime]

We were only discussing these IRC chats the other day as well - AVESCO effectively stoped these by banning internet connections from timing and media rooms unless they had control of them...if you ever get a chance, read the conditions you have to agree to when signing Media Accreditation forms with them...