tag:theconversation.com,2011:/africa/topics/sports-broadcast-7429/articlesSports broadcast – The Conversation2020-06-11T02:55:24Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1394712020-06-11T02:55:24Z2020-06-11T02:55:24ZFooty crowds: what the AFL and NRL need to turn sport into show business<p>This week the deputy premier of New South Wales, home to most teams in Australia’s National Rugby League, suggested getting football fans back in the stands might be an issue of fundamental rights.</p>
<p>If 20,000 people could rally in support of Black Lives Matter in central Sydney, John Barilaro <a href="https://www.espn.com.au/nrl/story/_/id/29289371/nsw-deputy-premier-pushing-40000-nrl-crowd">reportedly said</a>, the NRL could handle similar in a stadium: </p>
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<p>So as far as I’m concerned the evidence is clear that we can open up these restrictions.</p>
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<p>This narrative should not obscure the more obvious story here: of elite sport as entertainment business.</p>
<p>The accounts of the National Rugby League and the bigger Australian Football League are representative of professional sports leagues around the world. Most of the riches now rest on the audience watching at home. They don’t need fans in the stands for ticket sales. They do need them to make their sports great television.</p>
<p>In the case of the NRL, game receipts accounted for less than 10% of its revenue in 2019. The AFL, with crowd sizes slightly more than double the NRL, may make 15% – not much more in the greater scheme of things. </p>
<p>For both leagues more than 70% of revenue flows from broadcast rights and corporate sponsors. </p>
<p>The business model is simple: attract a broadcast audience, sell that audience to advertisers. So the critical metric is viewing numbers. </p>
<p>But what viewers want is excitement and a sense of occasion. These are hard to evoke without a crowd.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-does-crowd-noise-matter-139662">Why does crowd noise matter?</a>
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<h2>Empty experiences</h2>
<p>The AFL and NRL both played rounds in front of empty stands prior to suspending their seasons in late March. The unaugmented viewing experience was deemed unsatisfactory, as Nine’s NRL head, Simon Fordham, explained:</p>
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<p>The players are out there giving 110%. The commentators are reacting to what they are seeing and also delivering emotional, powerful calls. But the crowd is there just to mesh those two things together.</p>
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<p>Both Nine and Fox Sport <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/sport/nrl/fake-yeews-the-story-behind-the-nrl-s-new-faux-crowd-noise-20200529-p54xsc.html">added canned crowd noises</a> to NRL games when the season resumed a fortnight ago. Viewer reactions were mixed. </p>
<p>The first match of the round, a Thursday night clash between the Parramatta Eels and Brisbane Broncos, was the most watched <a href="https://www.nrl.com/news/2020/05/29/1.3-million-reasons-to-smile-nrl-return-most-watched-since-2014/">regular season NRL game since 2014</a>. Channel Nine scored more than 951,000 viewers, and Fox Sports 355,000. </p>
<p>A week later, however, Brisbane’s match against the Sydney Roosters scored Channel Nine just 619,000 viewers, and Fox Sports 216,000. </p>
<p>The AFL has agreed to its broadcast partners, Channel Seven and Foxtel, also using <a href="https://7news.com.au/sport/afl/channel-7-releases-footage-of-afl-game-with-artificial-crowd-noise-c-1002712?utm_campaign=share-icons&utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&tid=1589792028676">canned crowd noises</a>. With the AFL season resuming this week, we’ll get to judge its success. </p>
<h2>Direct and indirect values</h2>
<p>The NRL’s annual report shows game receipts were less than 10% of its 2019 revenue of almost <a href="https://www.nrl.com/siteassets/2020/nrl_annualreport_2019_hr.pdf">A$556 million</a>. Broadcast revenue – from Channel Nine and Fox Sports – was about A$324 million, more than 60%. “Sponsorships and wagering” (revenue from poker machines in league clubs) made another 16%. </p>
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<p>The AFL’s annual report does not state game receipt revenue. This is rolled into a wider figure for “commercial operations”, which includes sponsorship and wagering.</p>
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<p>But the AFL report does detail crowd numbers. We can use those to make a ballpark estimate of game revenue based on what we know about the NRL’s receipts and crowd sizes. </p>
<p>An average of 35,105 people attended the 198 games of the AFL’s 2019 premiership season. The NRL annual report does not specify attendance numbers, but most other sources suggest average match attendances of 15,000 to 16,000 at its 201 games in 2019.</p>
<p>This is an admittedly rough calculation because there are many possible variables. But assuming most things being equal, the AFL’s game receipts for more than double the NRL’s numbers would be worth about A$115 million – 14.5% of its total revenue of <a href="https://resources.afl.com.au/afl/document/2020/03/18/925fd047-a9b6-4f7d-8046-138a56ba36f4/2019-AFL-Annual-Report.pdf">A$794 million</a>.</p>
<p>Which is not insignificant. On the other hand, there’s more than A$500 million flowing from television audiences.</p>
<h2>Broadcast pressure</h2>
<p>So the number to focus on over the coming weeks to judge the health of both codes will be the average number TV viewers per game. For the NRL, that figure <a href="http://www.footyindustry.com/?p=4923">was 459,000</a> in 2019. For the AFL, it was a little more than <a href="http://www.footyindustry.com/?p=7730">1 million</a>. </p>
<p>Both leagues are already under pressure to <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/sport/nrl/we-want-a-new-deal-channel-nine-tells-nrl-it-won-t-make-its-next-payment-20200326-p54ecv.html">renegotiate current deals</a> with their broadcast partners, who have cancelled <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/seven-foxtel-withhold-afl-payment-but-new-contract-nears-20200529-p54xjy.html">quarterly payments</a>. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/from-spit-to-scrums-how-can-sports-players-minimise-their-coronavirus-risk-139034">From spit to scrums. How can sports players minimise their coronavirus risk?</a>
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<p>They’ll do what they can to make their product a ratings winner. Expect more experiments with crowd augmentation, and for a harder push to bring back real fans if those experiments fail to mesh.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/139471/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Abdel K. Halabi does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The business model of the AFL and NRL is simple: attract a television audience, sell that audience to advertisers. To do that they need crowds.Abdel K. Halabi, Senior Lecturer in Accounting , Federation University AustraliaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1313982020-02-13T03:02:14Z2020-02-13T03:02:14ZA stamp of approval for legendary sports commentators - but only the male ones<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/315141/original/file-20200213-41683-u47ini.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=14%2C7%2C4752%2C2872&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.auspost.com.au/article/legendary-aussie-sporting-commentators-celebrated">Australia Post</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Australia Post recently released a commemorative <a href="https://www.news.com.au/sport/sports-life/sports-broadcast-legends-featured-on-australia-post-stamp-issue/news-story/b437700c34c1bcd858c5b200890d6b46">World of Sport</a> set of stamps celebrating six Australian sportscasters. Billed as “household names in their respective sports”, they are <a href="https://australiapostcollectables.com.au/stamp-issues/word-of-sport">all men</a>. </p>
<p>Richie Benaud, Reg Gasnier, Les Murray, Lou Richards, Jack Dyer and Bob Davis should be acknowledged - they have made an enormous contribution to Australian sport and its coverage. “Australia’s love of sport,” <a href="https://newsroom.auspost.com.au/article/legendary-aussie-sporting-commentators-celebrated">said</a> Australia Post Philatelic Manager Michael Zsolt, “extends to the voices that bring each game to life”.</p>
<p>Though these commentators are no longer on the airwaves, sports journalism remains largely masculine, even at a time when women’s professional sport is <a href="https://www.nielsen.com/au/en/insights/article/2019/girl-power-measuring-the-rise-of-women-s-sport-in-australia/">growing quickly</a> and women’s teams are <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/sport/soccer/matildas-have-strongest-bond-with-fans-in-australian-sport-20191126-p53ec8.html">building strong fan bases</a>. </p>
<p>Respected journalist and writer Angela Pippos has summed up Australian sports media bluntly as <a href="https://www.meaa.org/news/sports-journalists-want-fairer-go-for-women-on-and-off-the-field/">“pale, male and stale”</a>.</p>
<p>Against this backdrop we ask, what about female sportscasters, their influence and significant contribution to Australian sport? </p>
<h2>Persistent setbacks</h2>
<p>Female sportscasters often have to prove their credibility in a way not expected of male sportscasters. The harassment that women sportscasters experience serves to remind them of their role in a <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09589230903525460">male-dominated culture</a>.</p>
<p>A 2017 US study of newspaper readers confirmed the obvious: female sport journalists are <a href="https://muse.jhu.edu/article/678761">judged on their physical appearance</a> more than their male counterparts. Their sexual desirability is <a href="https://sportsbeem.com/hottest-women-sports-reporters/">rated</a> and discussed. </p>
<p>Earlier examples of this behaviour, frequently framed as “humour”, included the objectification of Caroline Wilson, then chief football writer for The Age, by a co-host of <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2008/s2259253.htm">The Footy Show</a> (AFL) who stapled her photograph on a mannequin dressed in lingerie.</p>
<p>Though West Indian cricketer Chris Gale apologised for <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-01-05/mel-mclaughlin-shocked-by-chris-gayle/7069312">propositioning</a> a female journalist during a live sideline television interview, his behaviour was indicative of the practices and behaviour female sportscasters experience. </p>
<p>This year, ESPN journalist Belén Mendiguren was the subject of <a href="https://7news.com.au/sport/cycling/crude-remark-about-female-reporter-sparks-sexism-storm-at-vuelta-a-san-juan--c-673897">inappropriate sexist remarks</a>. Her experience reminds us of how difficult it is to challenge entrenched inequities.</p>
<p>New media platforms are increasingly spaces where female sportscasters are <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEfjTfYlFpc">targeted</a> for simply doing their job. The ability for consumers to access sport news digitally has also seen more direct contact with sportscasters. Harassment and threats of sexual and other violence are <a href="https://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/ct-julie-dicaro-wscr-spt-0621-20160620-story.html">common</a>.</p>
<h2>Women’s voices</h2>
<p>Former Olympic swimmer and sport reporter <a href="https://trove.nla.gov.au/people/694095?c=people">Judith Joy Davies</a> could certainly mix it with the men most recently commemorated. Billed by some as Australia’s first female sportswriter, she covered the 1954 Commonwealth Games in Vancouver and the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne. Awarded the National Press Club Award for Sports Journalism in 1982, Davies was also a celebrated broadcaster. Her sharp wit together with “the lift in her voice” were said to engage and “<a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/recordbreaking-swimmer-became-champion-sports-writer-20160506-gonuxs.html">carry listeners with her</a>”.</p>
<p>Her 2011 induction to The Sport Australia Hall of Fame rightly recognised Davies’ contribution to Australian sportscasting. </p>
<p>In the contemporary era, <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/debbie-spillane/3820910">Debbie Spillane</a>’s sport broadcast career could certainly be celebrated. Her 1984 appointment with the ABC marked a first for full-time female broadcasters, as did her involvement in cricket commentary. As host of ABC Radio’s <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/radio/grandstand/">Grandstand</a> program and through sport columns with The Sun-Herald and The Australian, Spillane has garnered accolades including the 2017 Australian Sports Commission Media Award for Lifetime Achievement. </p>
<p>Another notable female sportscaster and respected sports journalist is <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/tracey-holmes/4335262">Tracey Holmes</a> with her highly regarded weekly sports panel show <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/radio/newsradio/podcasts/the-ticket/">The Ticket</a>. As a senior ABC reporter, her program and podcasts often consider issues around diversity and she frequently tackles gender inequality in sport. </p>
<p>Following the professionalism of women’s cricket, AFL and Soccer, opportunities for female sport journalists and commentators continue to grow. Women gaining experience in this space include <a href="https://www.heraldsun.com.au/subscribe/news/1/?sourceCode=HSWEB_WRE170_a_GGL&dest=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.heraldsun.com.au%2Fnews%2Fvictoria%2Faflw-star-daisy-pearce-makes-history-as-triple-ms-first-female-football-caller%2Fnews-story%2F76078d5a765c3a018fbe0d03023251c0&memtype=anonymous&mode=premium">Daisy Pearce calling the AFLW</a> and <a href="https://www.afr.com/companies/sport/alison-mitchell-the-stand-out-of-crickets-big-swap-20181207-h18vix">Alison Mitchell</a> who is a test match cricket commentator and regular on ABC’s <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/radio/grandstand/">Grandstand</a>. </p>
<p>Cricket has led the promotion of women’s opportunities in the commentary box. This lead was likely spurred by the <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-11-18/channel-9-promotes-commentary-team-of-eight-white-men,-cops-it/9164518">negative attention</a> directed at the Nine Networks 2017 distinctively all-male commentary team.</p>
<h2>Challenging status quo</h2>
<p>An ABC Grandstand commitment to a 50-50 gender split in the commentary box has been followed by commercial gains. The addition of women’s voices and views included a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2017/jul/04/numbers-dont-lie-women-make-their-mark-on-afl-in-commentary-box">ratings jump</a> in key AFL cities Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth. </p>
<p>In early 2020, Sport Australia funded a two-day <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-02-09/female-athletes-are-changing-the-sound-of-sports-commentary/11932606?fbclid=IwAR2S79h3rnp7hnN181CRpnHoNKoRnxc9I0piR_l0Jx8D10mhP4WIb6pw_Cs">workshop</a> aimed at professional female athletes to build their broadcast skills. </p>
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<p>Rugby 7s player Alicia Lucas explained it was “a great way to push female voices in sport”. Rugby Australia’s Head of Women’s Rugby and Rugby Participation, Jilly Collins <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-02-09/female-athletes-are-changing-the-sound-of-sports-commentary/11932606?fbclid=IwAR2S79h3rnp7hnN181CRpnHoNKoRnxc9I0piR_l0Jx8D10mhP4WIb6pw_Cs">said</a>: </p>
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<p>This is actually changing the face of what sports commentary looks like, to bring different flavours, options and expertise. </p>
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<p>Grassroots action is further challenging the status quo. <a href="https://www.outersanctum.com.au/">The Outer Sanctum</a> podcast is an all-female footy fan panel that made immediate headlines calling out derogatory comments about female athletes and journalists. They have since been part of the push to call out <a href="https://lens.monash.edu/2019/03/26/1374054/gendered-language-and-prejudice?fbclid=IwAR39Qg6qwse8h9ljSZ6HOzb_-ZBhy0lvisVVYsSm4UvuEE1FI0QUWjeudTM">gendered language in sport</a>. </p>
<p>This week, new webisode show <a href="https://www.facebook.com/allinshowmedia/videos/230066251333487/">All In</a> debuted with hosts Samantha Lane and Emma Race enjoying a casual chat with footballer and boxer Tayla Harris. </p>
<p><a href="https://sirensport.com.au/what-is-siren/">Siren</a>, a collective of Australian women’s sports advocates, content creators and fans are using their knowledge to elevate women’s voices. </p>
<p>These initiatives, alongside what appears to be a wider appetite for diversity in sports broadcasting, is enabling a broader range of voices to call and write about Australian sport. They may not sit still long enough to pose for postage stamps.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/131398/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A new set of postage stamps pays tribute to the male voices of Australian sports commentary - but there have long been female sports broadcasters and their voices are getting louder.Michelle O'Shea, Senior Lecturer Sport Management, Western Sydney UniversityChelsea Litchfield, Senior Lecturer and Acting Head of School, School of Exercise Science, Sport and Health, Charles Sturt UniversityHazel Maxwell, Senior Lecturer - Health, University of TasmaniaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1198382019-07-05T09:22:50Z2019-07-05T09:22:50ZWomen’s football: to grow the game, don’t banish it to pay-TV<p>English national football teams going out in the semi-final of a major competition is nothing new. In fact, it has happened in successive women’s world cups in 2015 and 2019 and with the men in 2018. But this time the mood feels different – England’s women, the “Lionesses”, have taken their nation on an incredible ride. </p>
<p>An overwhelmingly positive reaction following the team’s semi-final defeat to the USA swept the country – there is a sense that the potential to grow the women’s game is now more achievable than ever before.</p>
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<p>The semi-final attracted a record-breaking peak TV audience of 11.7m in the UK and the game is currently the country’s <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/48851455">most-watched television programme</a> of 2019. The question now turns to how best to capitalise on this? Where does women’s football go next? </p>
<p>The answer is relatively simple – particularly in relation to television exposure: do not be tempted to sell out to the highest bidder; do not kill your audience before it has even had chance to grow. While there will be pressure to raise finance to pay the players, there is a risk that you harm the long-term future of the game by selling out. </p>
<p>Instead, the strategy should be careful and deliberate with the focus on attracting bigger sponsors and ensuring mass market exposure. In short, retain a significant presence on free-to-air broadcasting.</p>
<p>There are already proposed developments to capitalise on the performance of the Lionesses at the World Cup. It has been reported that the Premier League is moving closer to a <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/48850853">takeover of the Women’s Super League</a>. The league has also recently been boosted by a £10m sponsorship deal with Barclays.</p>
<p>But, with average match-day crowds falling <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/47871431">below 1000 people</a>, the pressure is on clubs to secure more lucrative sponsorship and broadcasting deals to fund their players’ salaries. But caution should be applied when it comes to growing revenue through TV broadcasters and we have plenty of examples, in other team sports, where chasing the money has not paid off in the long run.</p>
<h2>Just not cricket</h2>
<p>Away from the world of football, England and Wales have been hosting another world cup: the ICC Cricket World Cup. But beyond the grounds in which the matches are taking place there is very little awareness of it – partly because it is not being broadcast live on terrestrial television.</p>
<p>The tournament is taking place behind a television paywall – and the sport in the UK will no doubt suffer as a result. English cricket only has itself to blame that this is a <a href="https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/sport/2019/07/english-cricket-only-has-itself-blame-forgotten-world-cup">forgotten World Cup</a>.</p>
<p>A domestic World Cup was a glorious chance for cricket to reintroduce itself to old fans and engage new ones. <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7072/7/1/11">Recent research</a> has found that, despite a series of structural changes in cricket over the past 20 years, the domestic game continues to struggle with poor finances, low attendances and falling participation rates. </p>
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<p>Cricket sold its soul to Sky Sports after the <a href="http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/648937.html">glorious summer in 2005</a> when England was gripped by live coverage on Channel 4 as the home side won a pulsating Ashes series on home soil. The decision to place the sport behind a paywall following that series has seen the popularity of cricket in the UK go backwards despite revenues rising. </p>
<p>Interestingly, cricket will now return (in part) <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/cricket/free-to-air-international-england-cricket-returns-bbc-2020-sky-sports-bt-ecb-a7816221.html">to free-to-air broadcasting</a> in its most recent TV deal (from 2020-2024) in an attempt to bring the sport back to the eyes of the masses.</p>
<p>Rugby league is another sport in the UK that has suffered a similar fate since signing an exclusive broadcasting agreement with BSkyB in 1995. This deal meant that live rugby league was no longer shown on the BBC’s Grandstand program on a Saturday afternoon. As a result, viewing figures fell sharply from around 1.3m to around 250,000 and since the introduction of the Super League clubs have <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/23750472.2016.1141367">struggled with financial problems</a> and the sport itself has seen declining attendances and participation.</p>
<h2>Wealth warning</h2>
<p>Large broadcasting deals are beneficial. They fund player salaries, transfer fees and infrastructure improvements. But they also come with wealth warnings, particularly in sports where public exposure is so critical to sustaining the professional game.</p>
<p>Inevitably, we see this reflected in wider participation figures too. Recent <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/48850853">figures from Sport England</a>show that 0.9% or 200,500 women aged 16 or over play football regularly (twice a month) compared to 8.4% or 1.8 million men. The next generation and continued engagement of the masses should be the focus now for women’s football. </p>
<p>There will be a temptation to sell out to the highest bidder at the earliest opportunity but that may not be the wisest decision for the long-term future and success of the sport. Capitalising on the success of the Lionesses needs to be considered. This current generation of players need to place the future of the sport first, resisting the temptation to line their pockets. </p>
<p>Short-term gain for individuals will spell long-term stagnation for those girls who were gripped to the TV screen. The next major international tournament (the European Championships) are also being <a href="https://www.uefa.com/womenseuro/news/newsid=2583001.html">hosted in England in 2021</a>. It is vital that the game is not hidden behind a paywall in the lead up to this and beyond.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/119838/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The lesson from other sports is clear: women’s football must be broadcast on free-to-air if it isn’t to disappear.Dan Plumley, Senior Lecturer in Sport Business Management, Sheffield Hallam UniversityRob Wilson, Head of Subject; Sport Business Management, Sheffield Hallam UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/918552018-02-15T08:52:07Z2018-02-15T08:52:07ZPremier League nets less for broadcast rights as digital packages remain unsold<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/206424/original/file-20180214-175001-1iz6ufg.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Manchester_United_v_Tottenham_Hotspur,_December_2016_(08).JPG">Ardfern</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In a muted statement and without much fanfare, the <a href="https://www.premierleague.com/news/623304">Premier League announced</a> that <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-43052024">it has sold</a> the five main domestic TV rights bundles for 2019-22 for £4.464 billion. At face value, the eye-watering sum would seem like cause for celebration, but it can’t hide the fact that this is the first time since the Premier League was launched in 1992 that the value of its TV rights has fallen. </p>
<p>It must be acknowledged that this is not a crash, but a correction – indicative of the fact that the last two rights deals, negotiated in 2012 and 2015, which both saw increases in the region of 70%, were overpriced.</p>
<p>Furthermore, the Premier League will be quick to point out that two rights packages remain unsold – but they will have to fetch a considerable price to match, let alone exceed, the domestic deal struck three years ago. That these packages – designed with digital media giants such as Amazon and Facebook in mind – are still up for grabs will perhaps be an even greater cause for concern.</p>
<p>Once again, Sky and BT are the league’s suitors with the former maintaining its three-decade long dominance. Sky <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2018/02/13/sky-sports-secures-majority-premier-league-tv-games-new-446/">has increased</a> the number of games it will show per season (albeit only by two), and has secured the “first pick” of weekend matches and all the most desirable kick-off times. Most significantly, it has reduced its outlay from £4.1 billion to £3.579 billion, a reduction of 16%. This gives the company breathing space while it begins to offer its TV channels via broadband to meet competition from the likes of Netflix.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"963486359322288128"}"></div></p>
<p>BT has secured the least-coveted, <a href="http://sport.bt.com/football/bt-sport-retains-live-uk-premier-league-rights-for-three-more-years-from-2019-20-season-S11364250209510">early Saturday kick-off slot</a> from the 2019/20 season and has the rights to ten fewer games per season than in the current deal, meaning it is paying slightly more per game. However, unless the firm buys one or both of the unsold packages, its overall outlay will fall by £75m across the lifespan of the deal, to £885m.</p>
<p>“Financial discipline” was the watchword of both companies going into the negotiations – but the most significant sign that there would be deflationary pressure on the rights deal was the <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/21a5d252-e18f-11e7-a8a4-0a1e63a52f9c">content-sharing agreement</a> they signed late last year. The deal means that from 2019, just as the new Premier League rights deals start, Sky will be able to market and sell the BT Sport service to its customers, while Sky’s Now TV streaming service will become available to BT customers. In effect, it is a truce which removed a significant amount of the competitive tension between the two companies. </p>
<h2>Unsold digital packages</h2>
<p>This in turn meant that it was imperative for the Premier League that there was at least one other bidder. In recent years, companies such as Amazon – which recently secured the UK rights for the US Open tennis tournament – and Facebook – which last year made an unsuccessful $600m bid for the Indian Premier League cricket – have entered the sports rights market. In a move designed to entice such companies to bid, the Premier League created <a href="https://technology.ihs.com/600107/sky-and-bt-renew-premier-league-rights-two-packages-unsold">two new minor packages</a> which offered the opportunity to broadcast two entire rounds of ten games simultaneously.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/206356/original/file-20180214-174982-1fshiql.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/206356/original/file-20180214-174982-1fshiql.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/206356/original/file-20180214-174982-1fshiql.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/206356/original/file-20180214-174982-1fshiql.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/206356/original/file-20180214-174982-1fshiql.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/206356/original/file-20180214-174982-1fshiql.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/206356/original/file-20180214-174982-1fshiql.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Newcastle United vs Southampton at St James’ Park, Newcastle, August 2015.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Newcastle_United_vs_Southampton,_9_August_2015_(11).JPG">Ardfern</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In some respects, this was an attempt to replicate the landscape in the early 1990s. Then, the entry into the market of Sky – a media firm using a new delivery method and subscription model – saw the value of the rights increase significantly, from £3.1m a season in 1986 to £38.2m in 1992. It also saw two traditional broadcasters, the BBC and ITV, lose the rights altogether, a position from which they have never recovered.</p>
<p>Yet as things stand, the new packages remain unsold and no digital broadcaster has yet bought any rights. The Premier League has said that “<a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2018/02/13/premier-league-takes-first-ever-pay-cut-bt-sky-pay-less-live/">multiple bidders</a>” have expressed interest in the two remaining packages and they still could end up in the hands of a digital company. However, reports that the reserve prices were not met and that the league is considering bundling the unsold packages up with highlights rights suggests the league’s chief executive Richard Scudamore has been left with a sizeable headache.</p>
<h2>Thinking outside the box</h2>
<p>The Premier League might have been better served by keeping an eye on the long-term and following the NFL’s lead. In 2016, the NFL created an <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/31/sports/fox-gets-nfl-thursday-night-games.html?mtrref=www.google.co.uk&gwh=AC53A0FCEF3FBBB60E4B382A9754D1E5&gwt=pay">exclusively digital rights package</a> that sees a small number of its Thursday-night American Football games simulcast online alongside traditional TV broadcasts. Aware that fans’ viewing habits are changing, the NFL is experimenting ahead of the next major rights auction in 2021.</p>
<p>Where those rights go, and particularly how they are split between traditional and digital media, will likely have huge significance for the next Premier League auction due to take place the following year.</p>
<p>An exclusive digital rights package in this auction would likely not have secured a fortune for the Premier League. But it would have laid potentially lucrative foundations by bringing at least one digital media firm to the table, allowing the league to test the viability of different delivery methods so it could fully exploit the available technology in three years time.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/91855/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Roger Domeneghetti does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Rights packages aimed at attracting the digital market failed to attract a bidder.Roger Domeneghetti, Lecturer in Journalism, Northumbria University, NewcastleLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/888372018-01-18T11:25:58Z2018-01-18T11:25:58ZHow social media helped fuel indie wrestling’s resurgence<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/198236/original/file-20171207-11291-1f2hd01.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Bullet Club wrestlers, from left to right, Nick Jackson, Adam 'Hangman' Page and Matt Jackson are at the forefront of an indie wrestling boom. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Bruno Silveria/Ring of Honor</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Advertised as the “Showcase of the Immortals,” WrestleMania isn’t just the Super Bowl for World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), it’s an economic boon to the city lucky enough to host.</p>
<p>Last year’s WrestleMania 33 made a <a href="http://corporate.wwe.com/news/company-news/2017/11-15-2017">US$181.5 million economic impact</a> on the Orlando region. But even with its <a href="http://corporate.wwe.com/news/company-news/2017/10-26-2017">1.5 million-subscriber</a> streaming network and immense <a href="http://www.adweek.com/digital/wwe-750-million-followers/">social media following</a>, WWE wasn’t the only game in town. </p>
<p>Smaller groups such as <a href="http://www.rohwrestling.com/">Ring of Honor</a>, <a href="https://wwnlive.com/evolve/">EVOLVE</a> and <a href="https://progresswrestling.myshopify.com/">Progress</a> also put on shows in Orlando for its fans. Under the corporate shadow of the WWE, a vibrant independent wrestling scene flexed it muscles. </p>
<p>I spoke with those plying their trade outside of WWE, and they told me that they’re finding it easier to make a full-time living from wrestling. </p>
<p>They’ve done it by embracing the opportunities of the digital age and its promise for the bold, creative and self-motivated. By foregoing traditional media channels to connect with fans, sell their wares and promote their skills on a global scale, they’ve helped fuel an indie wrestling boom. </p>
<h2>Chipping away at the WWE’s dominance</h2>
<p>When WWE Chairman and CEO Vincent K. McMahon began raiding the talents of regional promotions in the 1980s to expand his wrestling empire, he applied a headlock on the American wrestling scene that’s still firmly applied. </p>
<p>In 2001, <a href="http://money.cnn.com/2001/03/23/deals/wwf/">McMahon purchased</a> the Time Warner-owned World Championship Wrestling (WCW), eliminating its last viable competitor and significantly reducing opportunities for gainful employment in wrestling. Although Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (now Impact) spent many years on the Viacom-owned Spike TV, WWE has spent the 2000s without much in the way of serious competition. </p>
<p>That’s started to change in today’s climate of tech disruption and globalization. Wrestling’s acrobatic moves and daredevil stunts are tailor-made for the age of YouTube and GIFs, while streaming services such as <a href="https://njpwworld.com/">New Japan World</a>, <a href="https://www.fite.tv/">Fite</a> and <a href="https://www.twitch.tv/luchalibreaaa">Twitch</a> have made it easier than ever to binge on wrestling. </p>
<p>Investors have noticed: The Mark Cuban-led AXS TV <a href="https://www.si.com/wrestling/2017/12/13/wrestling-news-mark-cuban-vince-mcmahon-new-japan-pro-wrestling">has made a deal</a> to air <a href="https://www.njpw1972.com/">New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW)</a> on cable for U.S. audiences. </p>
<p>Other outfits now have substantial corporate backers. The Sinclair Broadcast Group owns Ring of Honor, the Japanese entertainment company Bushiroad runs New Japan Pro Wrestling, while the Canadian broadcaster Anthem Sports & Entertainment is behind Impact Wrestling. </p>
<p>With these new ways to watch, “The fans [get to] see incredible performers all the time,” said Dave Meltzer, publisher of the <a href="https://www.f4wonline.com/">Wrestling Observer Newsletter</a>. “There are more great matches than ever before.”<br>
Since 1982, Meltzer’s newsletter has been a resource for fans intrigued by the inner workings of wrestling. Since 2008, he’s offered <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/15/sports/wrestling-reporter-dave-meltzer-tries-to-keep-it-real.html">both digital and print versions of the newsletter</a>. Increased coverage of wrestling from the likes of <a href="https://www.si.com/author/justin-barrasso">Sports Illustrated</a>, <a href="http://www.espn.com/wwe/">ESPN</a> and <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/topic/wrestling">Rolling Stone</a> has also raised the profile of non-WWE offerings. </p>
<p>With the extra attention comes added pressure for wrestlers to create a distinct character who can deliver innovative moves, trademark catchphrases and eye-catching merchandise. As Meltzer put it: “You got to figure out a way to stand out.” </p>
<h2>‘You don’t need the machine’</h2>
<p>When it comes to getting attention – <a href="https://www.cagesideseats.com/2017/12/18/16791904/ufc-cormier-sherman-video-young-bucks-roh-final-battle-killing-business-debate-cody-cornette">and sometimes riling purists</a> – few can compete with the Bullet Club, a faction of young, gifted and charismatic wrestlers. They’re hugely popular or, in industry lingo, they’re “<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glossary_of_professional_wrestling_terms#O">over</a>.” </p>
<p>Fixtures in the Ring of Honor and NJPW promotions, Bullet Club members such as brother tag team The Young Bucks and Kenny Omega have set a new standard for <a href="http://www.rollingstone.com/sports/features/young-bucks-on-bullet-club-shirts-wwe-rivalry-diy-wrestling-w511667">creatively moving merchandise</a> and delivering incredibly entertaining performances, often with heavy doses of humor. </p>
<p>Lauded as one of wrestling’s most exciting attractions, <a href="https://www.cbssports.com/wwe/news/njpw-wrestle-kingdom-12-results-recap-grades-jericho-impresses-okada-reigns/">Omega dazzled 35,000 fans in Tokyo in early January</a> in a match against a longtime WWE star, Chris Jericho. The group’s ranks also include Cody Rhodes, a second-generation wrestler who experienced <a href="https://www.upi.com/World-Champion-Cody-Rhodes-brings-Ring-of-Honor-into-the-limelight/2861510640541/">a career resurgence after leaving WWE in 2016</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-cnentre zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/198372/original/file-20171208-27705-7bb83d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/198372/original/file-20171208-27705-7bb83d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/198372/original/file-20171208-27705-7bb83d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=387&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/198372/original/file-20171208-27705-7bb83d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=387&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/198372/original/file-20171208-27705-7bb83d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=387&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/198372/original/file-20171208-27705-7bb83d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=487&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/198372/original/file-20171208-27705-7bb83d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=487&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/198372/original/file-20171208-27705-7bb83d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=487&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Kenny Omega has elevated his career this year with a series of critically acclaimed matches.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Bill Zimmerman</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Last year, Bullet Club T-shirts became <a href="http://www.hottopic.com/pop-culture/shop-by-license/bullet-club/">available at Hot Topic’s more than 600 stores</a>. Members have <a href="https://twitter.com/mattjackson13/status/918144205695827974?lang=en">signed contracts</a> with Funko, a maker of popular vinyl figures. Their YouTube series “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2V6TA0OqHr9BojcHz9az-w">Being The Elite</a>” has over 165,000 subscribers. </p>
<p>“The Hot Topic deal has been huge for us and Hot Topic,” said Stephen Woltz, who wrestles as Bullet Club’s Adam “Hangman” Page. “I think it sends a great message to those in wrestling who want to carve their own way. You don’t need the machine.” </p>
<p>The Wrestling Observer reported that Bullet Club had Hot Topic’s <a href="https://www.f4wonline.com/daily-updates/daily-update-won-hof-ben-askren-young-bucks-246851">best-selling shirts</a> during the week of Thanksgiving, while the printer Pro Wrestling Tees claimed sales of <a href="http://popculture.com/wwe/2017/12/01/bullet-club-400k-sells-t-shirts-cody-rhodes/">417,430</a> over four months at the retailer. </p>
<p>The Chicago-based Pro Wrestling Tees has upended the model for selling merchandise on the indie scene, creating revenue streams for 800 wrestlers. <a href="https://www.si.com/wrestling/2017/10/26/pro-wrestling-tees-wrestling-t-shirts">According to Sports Illustrated</a>, the company has paid more than $3.5 million in royalties from sales since 2013. </p>
<h2>The pioneer</h2>
<p>If there’s one independent wrestler who embodies this entrepreneurial spirit, it’s Scott Colton. Better known as Colt Cabana, he’s tackled various side hustles after a brief, disappointing run in WWE. </p>
<p>In 2010, he launched “<a href="https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=385017460">The Art of Wrestling</a>” podcast, which he calls “an entryway into the minds, the souls, the hearts and lives” of wrestlers. He’s now nearing 400 episodes. (Currently, <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewTop?cc=us&genreId=1316&popId=3#3">16 of the top 200</a> Sports & Recreation podcasts on iTunes are wrestling-focused or have a wrestler as a host.) </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/198238/original/file-20171207-11335-jh0zqq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/198238/original/file-20171207-11335-jh0zqq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=685&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/198238/original/file-20171207-11335-jh0zqq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=685&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/198238/original/file-20171207-11335-jh0zqq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=685&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/198238/original/file-20171207-11335-jh0zqq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=861&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/198238/original/file-20171207-11335-jh0zqq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=861&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/198238/original/file-20171207-11335-jh0zqq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=861&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Since 2010, Colt Cabana has been shining a light on the wrestling life through his podcast.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ichiban Drunk</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>“I loved the idea that I could give you this for free,” Colton said, “and you can give me your money if you’re invested in me, and you like me and you know the idea that it’s forwarding me.” </p>
<p>Additionally, he’s the co-founder of the aforementioned Pro Wrestling Tees, a stand-up comedian, a sometimes actor (“Maron,” “Chicago P.D.”) and even <a href="http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/wrestling/os-wrestling-colt-cabana-20171107-story.html">a children’s book author</a>.</p>
<p>Despite the new opportunities, indie wrestlers, like other entrepreneurs, <a href="https://www.makechange.aspiration.com/articles/the-secret-not-so-glamorous-life-of-a-pro-wrestler">are grappling with making a living</a> without employer-provided health care and retirement benefits. Plus, there’s that business of learning a craft that’s dangerous and competitive. </p>
<p>For many, wrestling is a lifelong passion and figuring out how to make it work financially has helped turn childhood fantasies of ring glory into a reality. “The first part of it all isn’t to be an independent businessman,” Colton said. “It’s to be a really good wrestler … Once you get over and understand who you are as a wrestler and understand who you are as a performer, that’s when people start supporting you.”</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/88837/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Bill Zimmerman does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Could the WWE’s grip on professional wrestling be weakening?Bill Zimmerman, Lecturer, Department of Advertising and Public Relations, Penn StateLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/767922017-05-02T06:54:23Z2017-05-02T06:54:23ZChasing the audience: is it over and out for cricket on free to air TV?<p>How Australians watch cricket on screens in the future could depend on what happens with the Nine Network’s current discussions with Cricket Australia over the 2018-23 media rights.</p>
<p>UBS media analyst Eric Choi <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/business/media-and-marketing/channel-nine-urged-to-step-away-from-the-cricket-contract-by-analysts-20170425-gvruzl.html">said</a> the current deal costs Nine about A$100 million a year but generates only A$60 million to A$70 million in gross revenue.</p>
<p>Choi said the network should either ask for access to more content at no additional cost, or step away from its <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-1970s-cricket-revolution-a-beginners-guide-9024">long association</a> with cricket.</p>
<p>The ramifications of Nine’s decision could be broad, impacting not only its potential revenue and viewers, but also participation rates among Aussies playing grassroots cricket. </p>
<h2>Cricket’s current standing</h2>
<p>The current <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-06-04/grassroots-cricket-to-benefit-from-financial-windfall/4732566">media rights deal</a> for cricket <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2017/apr/28/nine-ten-foxtel-or-optus-australian-cricket-tv-rights-explained">includes</a> the Nine Network and Network Ten. Nine has the rights to international tests, one-day internationals and T20 international games played in Australia, whereas Ten has the rights to the Big Bash League (BBL). </p>
<p>The BBL has become a crucial cricketing brand, continuing to <a href="http://www.bigbash.com.au/news/big-bash-league-bbl-viewers-broadcast-ratings-fixture-bbl06-tickets/2016-05-07">gain high ratings</a> and listed in <a href="http://www.roymorgan.com/findings/7204-top-20-tv-shows-of-2016-by-audience-engagement-in-australia-201704061403">Australia’s Top 20 engaging programs</a> for 2016. </p>
<p>The league also has excellent crowd attendance, having recently ranked 9th in the <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/sport/cricket/big-bash-league-jumps-into-top-10-of-most-attended-sports-leagues-in-the-world-20160110-gm2w8z.html">world’s top-attended sports leagues</a>. </p>
<p>Based on the BBL’s success and the increases seen in the new media rights for the <a href="http://www.afl.com.au/news/2015-08-18/afl-on-the-verge-of-signing-new-tv-deal">Australian Football League</a> (AFL) and <a href="http://www.nrl.com/nrl-broadcast-rights-deal-announced/tabid/10874/newsid/91023/default.aspx">National Rugby League</a> (NRL), Cricket Australia will want to see an increase in the bidding for its rights.</p>
<p>This is particularly relevant if Cricket Australia still relies as heavily on these rights as <a href="http://www.alrc.gov.au/sites/default/files/subs/228._org_cricketaustralia.pdf">in 2012</a>, when it said the rights accounted for 60%-80% of the total annual income.</p>
<p>But can the media rights continue to increase with the current unstable media landscape?</p>
<h2>The current media landscape</h2>
<p>According to <a href="http://www.arnhem.com.au/">Arnhem Investment Management</a>, the era of advertising-supported premium sport on Australian television is “<a href="http://www.arnhem.com.au/thats-not-cricket/">drawing to a close</a>”.</p>
<p>The free-to-air (FTA) broadcasters are also currently requesting that the government <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/media/commercial-tv-licence-writedown-puts-ten-in-the-red/news-story/5497cf9333b1fc6f518265fa42343b3c">reduce license fees</a> and reconsider plans to further restrict <a href="https://theconversation.com/wide-ranging-ban-on-gambling-ads-during-sport-broadcasts-is-needed-to-tackle-problem-gambling-74687">gambling ads</a> during the broadcast of sports.</p>
<p>Ten has said it expects its revenue to be “<a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/media/commercial-tv-licence-writedown-puts-ten-in-the-red/news-story/5497cf9333b1fc6f518265fa42343b3c">above</a> the 1.2% increase” it outlined in February this year. Yet it will still need to undertake a “<a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/media/ten-posts-2322-million-loss-following-writedown/news-story/6589bdc494968269db5a4758d7b568ea">significant focus</a>” on a corporate cost-cutting program and profitability as a priority.</p>
<h2>New stakeholders</h2>
<p>With FTA broadcasters under financial pressures, any increase in new rights will require new stakeholders. </p>
<p>Foxtel currently shows international cricket matches played overseas, but does not have local coverage rights. If it could gain local cricket rights, this would further strengthen Foxtel’s sports offering of AFL, NRL, A-league, V8 Supercars, and many international sports.</p>
<p>Australia’s <a href="http://www.acma.gov.au/Industry/Broadcast/Television/TV-content-regulation/sport-anti-siphoning-tv-content-regulation-acma">anti-siphoning regulation</a> could prevent Foxtel completely dominating the cricket media rights. But this list is expected to be <a href="http://www.afr.com/business/media-and-marketing/tv/nick-xenophon-argues-for-abolition-of-tv-licence-fees-and-toughening-up-on-google-and-facebook-taxes-20170424-gvroyd">trimmed</a> further by the government this year, furthering opening up the sports media battleground for pay television in future rights deals.</p>
<h2>The future for digital rights</h2>
<p>Digital rights will also be a major consideration with the new cricket media rights. While most would be looking at Telstra and Optus, there have been new players in this area who may also wish to place a bid.</p>
<p>Currently Cricket Australia has the <a href="http://www.cricket.com.au/promotions/cricket-australia-live/">Cricket Australia Live app</a> which allows users to pay a subscription (A$30 per year or A$5.99 a day) to gain access to live streaming of games, but the new rights could also see this change.</p>
<p>Optus may continue its affiliation with cricket. It recently become the <a href="http://www.optus.com.au/shop/entertainment/sport/cricket">official</a> mobile media partner of Cricket Australia, and principal sponsor of the Melbourne Stars Big Bash League team. Customers can access cricket content via the <a href="https://sport.optus.com.au/">Optus Sports app</a>, which also includes Optus’ recently acquired <a href="https://theconversation.com/optus-the-new-player-in-australias-sports-media-rights-battle-50069">English Premier League</a>. </p>
<p>Twitter has had success with broadcasting the US National Football League (NFL) and the <a href="https://theconversation.com/twitters-live-stream-of-the-melbourne-cup-could-change-how-we-broadcast-sport-67291">Melbourne cup</a> last year. This year it <a href="http://www.sporttechie.com/2017/04/28/technology/digitalmedia/major-league-lacrosse-twitter-to-live-stream-mll-game-of-the-week-for-2017-season/">signed</a> a two-year deal with the US National Lacrosse League. Twitter may consider its interest in a global sport like cricket. </p>
<p>Amazon, which <a href="https://theconversation.com/amazons-new-grand-tour-series-could-be-the-next-illegal-download-victim-68141">recently launched</a> its Prime Video service in Australia, could also be a contender. This year Amazon won the rights for NFL Thursday night matches. It <a href="https://www.recode.net/2017/5/1/15386694/nfl-live-stream-amazon-prime-thursday-night-football-ratings">paid</a> US$50 million for ten games, five times the price paid by Twitter last year. Amazon may look at the cricket as another potential global sport to add to its catalogue.</p>
<p>Another consideration is if Nine or Ten were to obtain the digital rights and use the <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-rio-olympics-are-a-test-case-for-the-future-of-sports-broadcasting-63589">free and subscription approach</a> that the Seven Network used as part of their Rio Games coverage <a href="https://theconversation.com/sevens-olympic-coverage-could-change-the-way-we-watch-sport-on-our-screens-60563">last year</a>.</p>
<h2>The impact on the viewing experience</h2>
<p>Can you “slice and dice” too much? This is a <a href="https://www.recode.net/2017/5/1/15386694/nfl-live-stream-amazon-prime-thursday-night-football-ratings">question</a> being asked in the US by CBS chief executive Les Moonves with regard to the NFL.</p>
<p>Adding another stakeholder to cricket will impact the viewers’ experience. This year the new <a href="https://theconversation.com/when-the-afl-gets-richer-who-gets-richer-with-it-46321">AFL media rights</a> created some frustration linked with the way the rights had been negotiated, particularly the digital rights.</p>
<p>Telstra, the digital rights holder, is restricted by its agreement to limit live match videos to a 7-inch screen size. Highlights and replays are available in full-screen size 12 hours after the match ends. (Foxtel, meanwhile, can stream the games full-screen.)</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"832163675657998337"}"></div></p>
<p>This change has outraged some fans who paid the A$89 subscription fee for the <a href="http://www.afl.com.au/mobile">AFL Live app</a>. Because of the screen size restrictions, Telstra users with a large phone or tablet have a large amount of black space on their screen.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"832194025855741952"}"></div></p>
<p>Some Australians are being creative in working around the restrictions.</p>
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<h2>Media coverage and participation</h2>
<p>The media rights for sport can be looked at far more broadly than solely the coverage of the game itself.</p>
<p>In the United Kingdom there has been ongoing debate associated with cricket’s coverage. Since the sport moved to pay-TV, there has <a href="http://www.espncricinfo.com/england/content/story/801645.html">been a decline</a> in participation levels, which many argued is <a href="http://www.espn.com.au/cricket/story/_/id/19064584/elizabeth-ammon-state-english-county-cricket">primarily due</a> to the game no longer being broadcast free to air. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2015/jul/12/ashes-sky-england-australia-ecb-tv">Reports of a Sport England Active People survey</a> show a 32% drop in participation levels in people aged over 16 since coverage of cricket moved to satellite and cable TV.</p>
<p>There are now steps being taken to <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/9220b274-0a38-11e7-97d1-5e720a26771b">introduce</a> a new Twenty20 tournament in the UK, built around the success of the Indian Premier League and Australia’s BBL, which had some games <a href="http://www.thedrum.com/news/2016/12/20/channel-5-brings-back-live-cricket-free-air-tv-after-decade-long-absence">live broadcast</a> in the UK during the last season.</p>
<p>This is an interesting case study for Cricket Australia, which only last year <a href="http://www.cricket.com.au/news/cricket-australia-census-participation-numbers-women-men-children-james-sutherland/2016-08-23">announced</a> cricket as “No 1 as the current top participation sport in Australia”.</p>
<p>Any changes to the rights that impact the percentage of Australians with access to the coverage, could also see a decline in participation based on the UK experience.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/76792/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Marc C-Scott is a board member of C31 Melbourne (Community Television Station)</span></em></p>Negotiations for the new media rights for cricket in Australia could see a change in how we watch games, and even be linked to a drop in people actually playing the game.Marc C-Scott, Lecturer in Screen Media, Victoria UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/592932016-07-20T10:08:37Z2016-07-20T10:08:37ZThe 2016 Baseball Hall of Fame inductee you’ve never heard of<p>When the National Baseball Hall of Fame holds its <a href="http://baseballhall.org/hof/class-of-2016">2016 induction ceremony</a> on July 24, the names of the two player inductees – Ken Griffey Jr. and Mike Piazza – will be recognized by even the most casual baseball fan. Serious fans (and most New Englanders) will celebrate the Boston Globe’s <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dan_Shaughnessy">Dan Shaughnessy</a>, the recipient of the J.G. Taylor Spink Award for baseball writers. </p>
<p>But the fourth name on this year’s list, <a href="http://baseballhall.org/discover/awards/ford-c-frick/2016-candidates/mcnamee-graham">Graham McNamee</a>, winner of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_C._Frick_Award">Ford C. Frick Award</a> for broadcasters, will resonate only with devoted historians of the national pastime. In “<a href="http://www.nebraskapress.unl.edu/product/Crack-of-the-Bat,676325.aspx">Crack of the Bat</a>,” my history of baseball on the radio, I reviewed McNamee’s seminal contribution to the popularization of World Series broadcasts. </p>
<p>Most other Frick winners have been honored during their lifetimes. (Vin Scully won in 1982 and is still broadcasting today.) But McNamee hasn’t broadcast a game in 75 years; he died at 53 in 1942, when television was only an experiment and radio was just over two decades old. </p>
<p>McNamee’s long wait for recognition raises two questions: Who was Graham McNamee? And why did it take 74 years for the Hall of Fame to honor his contribution to baseball broadcasting?</p>
<h2>The right voice at the right time</h2>
<p>McNamee came to New York in the early 1920s to study singing, only to join the chorus of Gotham’s thousands of struggling vocalists. However, the city was also the center of a nascent network radio industry that had only just begun to generate substantial advertising revenues. </p>
<p>McNamee was in the right place at the right time, with the right voice. In 1923, he joined RCA-owned WEAF <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WNBC_(AM)">(later WNBC</a> as a staff announcer. WEAF was the nation’s most popular station and ran the <a href="http://www.npr.org/2012/08/29/160265990/first-radio-commercial-hit-airwaves-90-years-ago">first-ever radio commercial</a>, a 10-minute ad for apartments in Jackson Heights paid for by the Queensboro Corporation.</p>
<p>Like all first-generation radio announcers, McNamee did every kind of programming: music, news events and sports. His first significant sportscast was a middleweight championship fight in 1923. While boxing had been broadcast before, stations usually used a ringside reporter who relayed the action by phone to an announcer at the station, who then broadcast the play-by-play to listeners. </p>
<p>McNamee, however, broadcast live from ringside. His breathtaking firsthand account of the contest as it unfolded before his eyes captivated listeners. Big-time, live, emotional sportscasts – just like McNamee’s – were beginning to sell a skeptical public on the new medium of radio.</p>
<p>Boxing was a start, but McNamee’s big break in sports came at the 1923 World Series. The previous year’s World Series had been called by legendary sportswriter <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Grantland-Rice">Grantland Rice</a>, but Rice loathed the assignment and refused to broadcast baseball again. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/131152/original/image-20160719-7877-gf5z40.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/131152/original/image-20160719-7877-gf5z40.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/131152/original/image-20160719-7877-gf5z40.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=453&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/131152/original/image-20160719-7877-gf5z40.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=453&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/131152/original/image-20160719-7877-gf5z40.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=453&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/131152/original/image-20160719-7877-gf5z40.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=570&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/131152/original/image-20160719-7877-gf5z40.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=570&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/131152/original/image-20160719-7877-gf5z40.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=570&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Fans file into Yankee Stadium during the 1923 World Series, when McNamee got his big break.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cc/Yankee_Stadium_1923_World_Series.jpg">Library of Congress</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>So in 1923, Rice’s colleague at the New York Tribune, W.O. McGeehan, took the mic on WEAF. But after two games he’d had enough. Like Rice, McGeehan found radio’s demand for a steady stream of words very challenging; the medium provided little time for composition and none for editing. So the newspaperman left his post in the fourth inning of Game 3, leaving the mic to his assistant, Graham McNamee.</p>
<p>A radio star was born. </p>
<h2>The naysayers emerge</h2>
<p>For the next eight years, McNamee became RCA’s voice of the World Series. As the Series’ broadcast reach expanded from the Eastern Seaboard to the Midwest and, finally, to the entire nation, McNamee’s fame grew exponentially. After the 1925 World Series, McNamee received 50,000 letters from fans of his broadcasts. Listeners loved his strong, pleasant voice and detailed, enthusiastic descriptions of the action, which allowed them to better visualize a game they could only see in their minds. </p>
<p>But not every baseball fan was a McNamee fan. From time to time, his attention would stray from the game and to the celebrities in the stands or a letter he had received. He’d be prone to forget the count and even the batter’s name. <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Voices-Summer-Baseballs-All-Time-Announcers-ebook/dp/B001NEIODM/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1468879732&sr=8-2&keywords=voices+of+summer#nav-subnav">According to baseball broadcast historian Curt Smith</a>, McNamee freely admitted to being “an entertainer first and broadcaster second.” </p>
<p>So as the novelty of World Series broadcasts faded, some baseball writers became less impressed with broadcasting’s first superstar. </p>
<p>After one game of the 1927 Series, columnist Ring Lardner famously observed, “I attended a double-header, the game [McNamee] was describing and the game I was watching”; a New York Sun headline read “M'Namee’s Eye not on the Ball: Radio Announcer Mixes Up World Series Fans”; and in a scathing criticism, the Boston Globe identified eight problems with McNamee’s call of the opening game, including forgetting to report balls and strikes and leaving the mic for several minutes to get a soft drink. </p>
<p>But most fans still loved McNamee’s style; plus they had few baseball broadcasts to compare with it. In the 1920s, not many teams – and none in New York, Philadelphia or Washington – regularly broadcast games. For most Americans, McNamee’s World Series calls were all they knew. </p>
<p>McNamee also added a number of other high-profile broadcasts to his resume: the inauguration of Calvin Coolidge, the 1927 Jack Dempsey-Gene Tunney <a href="http://articles.latimes.com/1987-09-22/sports/sp-9617_1_long-count">“long count” heavyweight fight</a>, the 1927 Rose Bowl game and Charles Lindbergh’s return to New York after his solo transatlantic flight. </p>
<p>But by the end of the Roaring Twenties, many announcers began to specialize in covering the national pastime. They included Hal Totten, Quin Ryan and Pat Flanagan in Chicago; Ty Tyson in Detroit; Fred Hoey in Boston; France Laux in St. Louis; Tom Manning in Cleveland; and Harry Hartman in Cincinnati. Each developed his own unique style and vast, local followings. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, though he covered the World Series from 1923 to 1931, McNamee was only working a handful of baseball contests per year because New York teams rarely broadcast regular-season games. </p>
<h2>Famous for being the first</h2>
<p>Baseball broadcasting was passing him by. Major League Baseball Commissioner Kennesaw Mountain Landis valued seasoned professional announcers and pushed NBC (RCA’s network) to move McNamee to pregame coverage for the 1932 World Series. Though McNamee continued to be involved in coverage of the Fall Classic – <a href="http://www.criticalpast.com/video/65675046236_baseball-match_Detroit-Tigers_Chicago-Cubs_Detroit-Tigers-win">including narrating a newsreel of Game 3 of the 1935 World Series</a> – he’d been marginalized.</p>
<p>Given his initial fame and role in pioneering the coverage of baseball on radio, why has McNamee been overlooked for so long by the Baseball Hall of Fame?</p>
<p>All previous Frick winners have had long careers, usually with one team. Although some eventually had national profiles, most cut their teeth on the day broadcasts, slowly winning the adulation of a team’s fans. But McNamee was baseball’s broadcast primal star, famous for being the first but not necessarily the best. Longtime Braves and Astros announcer <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milo_Hamilton">Milo Hamilton</a>, himself a Frick winner, gave <a href="http://www.americansportscastersonline.com/mcnameearticle.html">a succinct explanation</a> for why McNamee wasn’t in the Hall of Fame: “He didn’t broadcast baseball long enough.” </p>
<p>But in 2013 the Hall of Fame launched a new system for selecting winners that alternates consideration of announcers from three eras. The era for this batch of inductees – the one ending in the mid-1950s – gave McNamee a second chance.</p>
<p>It’s taken the Hall of Fame some time, and many would call it long overdue. In his 1970 book <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=bpFZAAAAMAAJ&q=the+broadcasters+red+barber&dq=the+broadcasters+red+barber&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi-rcnv2P3NAhUCcz4KHbA5AMAQ6AEIODAF">“The Broadcasters,”</a> famous broadcaster <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Barber">Red Barber</a> celebrated the medium’s pioneers, including Graham McNamee. </p>
<p>As Barber explained, what made them so great was “that nobody had ever been called upon before to do such work. They had to go out and do it from scratch. If ever a man did pure, original work, it was Graham McNamee.”</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/59293/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>James Walker does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Radio legend Graham McNamee was baseball’s first broadcast star. So why did it take 74 years for the National Baseball Hall of Fame to honor him?James Walker, Executive Director, International Association for Communication and Sport, Emeritus Professor of Communication, Saint Xavier UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/605632016-06-09T06:26:08Z2016-06-09T06:26:08ZSeven’s Olympic coverage could change the way we watch sport on our screens<p>The Seven Network has <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/media/rio-olympics-seven-to-launch-paid-subscription-service/news-story/5f93d949500601d70dee4c95c765a9fc">announced</a> it will offer a paid subscription service via an app as part of its <a href="https://www.rio2016.com/en">Rio Olympics</a> coverage this year.</p>
<p>This will make Seven the first free-to-air broadcaster in Australia to charge for broadcasting sport.</p>
<p>This is a new approach to the station’s coverage of the Rio Olympics. Last year, it <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/media/2016-rio-oympics-seven-to-launch-app-with-900-hours-of-coverage/news-story/5854bc5f459d6791c421df2334ef8d54">said</a> the coverage would include all three digital channels (7, 7two and 7mate), in association with a 24-hour digital news channel, online catch-up, and a free app with 36 live streams.</p>
<p>At the same time, Seven <a href="http://www.sevenwestmedia.com.au/docs/default-source/business-unit-news/seven-now-next-future.pdf?sfvrsn=2">said</a> their approach to the games would be “the most technologically advanced coverage of any event to all Australians with its all-encompassing coverage”.</p>
<p>This week’s announcement that it will add a subscription service will have massive implications, not just for the future of sports broadcasting in Australia, but also free-to-air television more broadly.</p>
<h2>Free-to-air v subscription</h2>
<p>Seven is expected to broadcast about a 1,000 hours of free content over the course of the Olympics. Coverage available through the subscription service should triple that figure. </p>
<p>The subscription service will allow those interested in sports not commonly seen on Australian television, such as <a href="https://www.rio2016.com/en/handball">handball</a>, to watch every game during the Olympics from start to finish.</p>
<p>Seven’s subscription service is expected to <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/media/rio-olympics-seven-to-launch-paid-subscription-service/news-story/5f93d949500601d70dee4c95c765a9fc">supplement</a> the expected A$100 million in advertising revenue from the event.</p>
<p>Part of the broadcaster’s strategy could be to prevent any losses as occurred to Nine, which reportedly <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/seven-grabs-cutprice-olympics/news-story/9ee3514d4168777c0cfcf5a852e7ff7f">lost up to A$25 million</a> on the 2012 London Olympic Games. This was a deal that had Nine <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/media/olympic-broadcast-rights-in-crisis/story-fna045gd-1226614389333">split</a> the A$120 million cost with Foxtel.</p>
<p>Seven is <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/seven-network-nets-olympic-games-hattrick-with-broadcast-rights-to-2020-20140805-100fyo.html">reported</a> to have paid between A$150 million and A$170 million for the Olympic rights, far less than the recent <a href="https://theconversation.com/when-the-afl-gets-richer-who-gets-richer-with-it-46321">AFL rights</a> (A$2.508 billion over six years). And only a small sum when compared with <a href="http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/other-sports/10022290/NBC-signs-whopping-Olympics-TV-rights-deal">NBC’s US$7.75 billion</a> Olympic media rights contract for the games through to 2032.</p>
<p>Seven <a href="https://www.inside7.com.au/advertise/rio-2016-olympics">says it has the rights</a> for a number of Olympic events including the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic Games and Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.</p>
<h2>Going it alone</h2>
<p>The other interesting element of Seven’s Olympic coverage is to go it alone. This differs from the approach of past major sporting event broadcasts which generally incorporated various stakeholders (free-to-air, pay TV and digital). </p>
<p>It could be that Seven had planned to undertake this coverage unaccompanied from when it first was awarded the rights. Seven CEO Tim Worner’s <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/seven-network-nets-olympic-games-hattrick-with-broadcast-rights-to-2020-20140805-100fyo.html">comments</a> to Fairfax Media in 2014 could have given a hint of this thinking: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>[…] “screen real estate” during the lifetime of the Olympic deal meant they may not need a co-broadcasting partner, but that “around 150 hours of content on any given day [means] there will be many more opportunities than ever before”.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Seven has also been engaged in the streaming major Australian sport events, since being awarded the Olympic media rights. These streams may have been part of a long trial, building up to the Olympics with numerous channel streams and thousands of hours of content.</p>
<h2>Was tennis a testing ground?</h2>
<p>Seven has been successful in new approaches to sport media coverage in recent years. For the 2015 Australian Open, the broadcaster <a href="http://www.sevenwestmedia.com.au/docs/default-source/business-unit-news/seven-launches-expanded-coverage-of-the-australian-open-series.pdf?sfvrsn=2">said</a> more than 1.2 million Australians chose to stream content during the Australian Open Series. </p>
<p>Seven then increased its streaming of sporting events in the <a href="https://mumbrella.com.au/melbourne-cup-viewing-down-on-last-year-but-seven-claims-300000-people-watched-on-live-stream-328612">same year</a>, including for the Melbourne Cup.</p>
<p>In 2016, Seven expanded its streaming capabilities of the Australian Open, launching a dedicated <a href="http://www.sevenwestmedia.com.au/docs/default-source/business-unit-news/seven-launches-expanded-coverage-of-the-australian-open-series.pdf?sfvrsn=2">7tennis app</a>. </p>
<p>The app allowed for more than 2,000 hours of live, exclusive and free tennis, catch-up and on-demand highlights and available via <a href="http://decidertv.com/page/2016/1/17/7-tennis-app-now-available-on-the-big-screen-with-appletv-7tennis-appletv">multiple devices</a>, including Apple TV and Telstra TV.</p>
<p>Seven’s chief revenue officer, Kurt Burnette has <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/media/2016-rio-oympics-seven-to-launch-app-with-900-hours-of-coverage/news-story/5854bc5f459d6791c421df2334ef8d54">said</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>We had some great learnings from that in terms of how people were willing to watch on mobile […] It pointed to the fact that convenience was a huge factor in how people consume media.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>How does the change in approach by Seven – following the change in the way Australians “consume media” – impact the future of Australian television?</p>
<h2>Impact upon other broadcasters</h2>
<p>The fact that Seven, a free-to-air broadcaster, has created a subscription service as part of its portfolio raises many questions.</p>
<p>Andrew Maiden, chief executive of the subscription television industry body ASTRA, <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/media/digital/sevens-olympics-app-proves-absurdity-of-antisiphoning-rule/news-story/a23c4a79a69383b2e08da14d16e38ad3">said</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>This development proves the absurdity of a rule that bans subscription TV from buying the Olympics but allows so-called free-to-air networks to charge Australians to watch.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Adding that:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Seven has proven for the world to see that the <a href="http://www.acma.gov.au/Industry/Broadcast/Television/TV-content-regulation/sport-anti-siphoning-tv-content-regulation-acma">anti-siphoning scheme</a> cannot continue to exist in an online world. The exploitation of this loophole is only possible because the mechanism was drafted 20 years ago, before the internet was a twinkle in the regulator’s eye.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Channel Nine could potentially have undertaken a similar approach to sport broadcasting, when it first received the NRL rights as the <a href="https://theconversation.com/foxtel-boxed-into-a-corner-as-sport-streaming-takes-hold-46074">sole stakeholder</a>. Although this later changed to include the same multifaceted approach that had occurred previously both for the NRL and <a href="https://theconversation.com/when-the-afl-gets-richer-who-gets-richer-with-it-46321">AFL</a>.</p>
<p>Optus’ <a href="https://theconversation.com/optus-the-new-player-in-australias-sports-media-rights-battle-50069">recent</a> acquisition of the European Premier League media rights further adds to the change in sports media rights and its broadcasting in Australia. </p>
<h2>The future of Australian FTA</h2>
<p>For live sport broadcast to have major success it needs to be at a time when people can watch it live. Therefore the Rio Olympics may not be the case study to determine whether this approach has been successful, due to the timezone differences.</p>
<p>But this is a development far greater than just sports broadcasting in Australia and online streaming. This creates tensions between free-to-air and pay TV, and it brings the debate about media policy and regulation to the foreground. </p>
<p>Further, it raises questions about the definition of broadcast and streaming: are they the same? The <a href="https://theconversation.com/regional-tv-fights-back-as-more-programmes-are-broadcast-online-54540">battle over live streaming</a> between Nine and WIN, showed that this is still clearly a grey area.</p>
<p>It also raises questions about the current <a href="http://www.acma.gov.au/Industry/Broadcast/Television/TV-content-regulation/sport-anti-siphoning-tv-content-regulation-acma">sport anti-siphoning laws</a>, which prevent pay TV from being the major rights holder of <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/F2010L03383">particular sports</a> allowing it to “be <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/F2010L03383">available free</a> to the general public”. </p>
<p>Seven’s approach to the Olympics questions the future of sports broadcasting and whether sport will continue to be free on Australian television.</p>
<p>The channel’s approach could become a precedent for commercial broadcasters in Australia to offer their current free service in parallel with a subscription service. </p>
<p>It could include the current “free” service, along with a premium fee-based service. The premium service could have additional content, original content, no ads or allow subscribers earlier access to programs. This is an approach that YouTube is currently exploring in Australia with its service <a href="https://theconversation.com/youtube-red-is-here-and-it-breaks-the-video-on-demand-mould-59656">YouTube Red</a>. </p>
<p>In a time when free-to-air broadcasters are losing audiences and reporting financial losses, their current business model needs a serious review. But is adding subscription the right approach for free-to-air television, which has been free to Australians since 1956?</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/60563/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Marc C-Scott is a board member of C31 Melbourne (Community Television Station).</span></em></p>The Seven Network’s decision to offer an additional subscription service for its coverage of the Rio Olympics makes it the first free-to-air broadcaster in Australia to charge for broadcasting sport.Marc C-Scott, Lecturer in Screen Media, Victoria UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/606422016-06-08T13:51:07Z2016-06-08T13:51:07ZEasy England victories are not always good for cricket – here’s why<p>As the touring Sri Lankan cricket team arrives in London for the final test of their three-match series, there won’t be too many people willing to part with their money for a ticket for the fifth and final day – in fact, given the dominance of the England XI, it’s a brave fan who is going to shell out up to £100 in advance for a ticket to a fourth day that may well not happen.</p>
<p>The first test at Headingley in Leeds <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/36350422">lasted less than three days</a> while the second test in Durham stretched to four days thanks to a <a href="http://www.skysports.com/cricket/news/12341/10300368/england-v-sri-lanka-statistical-review-of-the-second-test-at-durham">second-innings fightback</a> by the Sri Lankan batsmen. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/125569/original/image-20160607-15045-1kiseei.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/125569/original/image-20160607-15045-1kiseei.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/125569/original/image-20160607-15045-1kiseei.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=237&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/125569/original/image-20160607-15045-1kiseei.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=237&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/125569/original/image-20160607-15045-1kiseei.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=237&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/125569/original/image-20160607-15045-1kiseei.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=297&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/125569/original/image-20160607-15045-1kiseei.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=297&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/125569/original/image-20160607-15045-1kiseei.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=297&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">England home test matches 2015-2016.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Cricinfo</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This seems to be a recent trend: the last seven tests played in England have all finished inside five days. There could be a number of reasons for this – among them the proliferation of limited overs cricket which encourages players to be more aggressive and leaves less time for them to adjust to the longer form of the game. But what isn’t in doubt is the financial impact on those concerned with organising the matches.</p>
<p>According to the English Cricket Board (ECB), <a href="http://www.ecb.co.uk/news/articles/23m-attend-cricket-2015">more than 560,000</a> spectators watched England play in home tests in 2015. Multiplying the capacity of the grounds which hosted test matches in 2015 by the number of days play in each of those matches gives a total possible number of seats of 566,479, which translates to 98.9% of test match tickets being sold. So demand for these marquee events remains strong.</p>
<p>Counties with big enough stadiums bid for the rights to host England internationals – and the fees paid to the ECB represent the main costs of hosting the match. It’s hard to get hold of detailed financial information, but Yorkshire County Cricket Club included costs of £1,300,521 in <a href="https://yorkshireccc.com/the-club/annual-reports">its annual accounts</a> relating to the six days of international cricket it hosted in 2015 (one five-day test and one limited overs game). This was associated with revenues of £2,440,612 – this included tickets and hospitality. </p>
<p>If we take a rough approximation from Yorkshire’s figures and say that five-sixths of the revenue and costs related to the New Zealand test the county hosted, then – over five days – this netted a profit of around £950,000. But cut that back by a day or two and the revenue decreases by 20% per day (costs stay constant as the staging fee is not based on length of the match) then the loss of two days play would have reduced profit to around £136,500 – or a return on investment of around 13%. </p>
<p>It may well have been reasonable then to see some of the higher-ups at Yorkshire looking glum as England romped to victory on day three of the first test of the summer. This is especially true as test match venues might now weigh the opportunity cost of being able to host other potential money spinners such as rock concerts – for which ticket prices often exceed those paid by cricket fans.</p>
<p>When test matches end early it is likely to have a significant financial impact on the hosting counties and, in the future, more risk-averse clubs may choose to focus on limited-over games – not as prestigious in cricketing terms, but the revenue stream and costs are more easily matched. There are few other sports which match the conundrum that up to 40% of revenue for a marquee event is lost due to the dominance of one of the competitors.</p>
<h2>Big-money broadcasting</h2>
<p>Much of the ECB’s <a href="http://www.ecb.co.uk/ecb/about-ecb/ecb-annual-report">£174m annual revenue</a> comes from its lucrative partnership with Sky TV, for whom the rights to England test matches are highly valuable in a summer of sport in which it is effectively shut out of Wimbledon, Euro 2016 and the Olympics. Sky’s four-year deal with the ECB is <a href="http://www.espncricinfo.com/england/content/story/551654.html">reported to be worth US$280m</a> over four years and the broadcaster is unlikely to be happy to lose seven days of premium advertising revenue – as it did last year because of test matches finishing early. </p>
<p>Sky would not be the first broadcaster to baulk at the phenomenon of shorter test matches – the <a href="http://www.hindustantimes.com/cricket/short-india-south-africa-tests-hit-broadcaster-s-revenue/story-Ps7T3BAYUjNrfKQDBiqClM.html">Hindustan Times reported last year</a> that premature finishes in last year’s India-South Africa series had lost the Murdoch-owned Star TV money “left, right and centre”.</p>
<p>If this trend continues it will be interesting to see if this makes cricket broadcasters think again about the value of test matches. Maybe they’ll begin to demand penalty payments in the case of shortened matches – certainly it would be an issue which would be expected to impact future negotiations</p>
<p>Event studies abound from economic consultancies keen to talk up the value of events, the MCC commissioned one such study in 2007 <a href="http://londoneconomics.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Final-Report-Economic-Impact-Major-Matches-at-Lords-240820071.pdf">regarding cricket matches at Lord’s</a> which included the impact of money spent in and around the grounds – and it is clear that the impact of a big sporting event extends beyond the purchase of tickets by spectators. Pubs, restaurants, hotels and other businesses also stand to lose from shortened matches.</p>
<h2>The end of five-day tests?</h2>
<p>Several suggestions have been put forward for improving test match cricket: the ICC’s Dave Richardson recently raised the possibility of <a href="http://www.skysports.com/cricket/news/12123/10301541/test-cricket-league-possible-from-2019-says-icc-chief-executive">introducing test leagues</a>, a proposition also made by former England captain <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/cricket/2016/05/26/why-englands-series-with-sri-lanka-proves-there-should-be-two-di/">Michael Vaughan</a>, while ECB chairman Colin Graves has suggested making <a href="https://www.lords.org/news/2015/march/graves-keen-on-four-day-tests">test matches four days</a> long. </p>
<p>These suggestions are interesting, but might not solve the problem of how to make a test last five days and maximise the economic impact of these events. The 2015 Ashes series between England and Australia was competitive, but failed to produce a five-day match. And reducing matches to four days will inevitably mean that clubs and broadcasters rethink the amount they are willing to pay. </p>
<p>Cricket fans could no doubt suggest a wide variety of ways to improve things but in terms of maximising the economic value of a test match currently the question remains of how to make a test match last five days without ensuring dull cricket.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/60642/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Robert O'Neill does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A string of quick victories for the home side have left cricket’s backers massively out of pocket.Robert O'Neill, Senior Lecturer in Economics, Strategy, Marketing and Economics, University of HuddersfieldLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/543292016-02-25T19:03:25Z2016-02-25T19:03:25ZWhy sports broadcasting could change the rules on sponsored content<p><em>The global media sector continues to adapt slowly to digital disruption. Paywalls are yet to make up for the loss of print advertising revenue, and experiments continue with sponsored content and micropayments. In this <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/media-business-models">media business models</a> series we explore the green shoots in media models – what’s working, and what’s yet to be proven.</em></p>
<hr>
<p>As media businesses the world over struggle to identify successful new business models, sponsored content has been pounced on as one potential solution. The model – where brands pay media organisations to produce content related to their product – is increasingly being applied to sports broadcasting.</p>
<p>Sport is an expensive media product. A recent estimate of the market found media organisations were <a href="http://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/au/Documents/technology-media-telecommunications/deloitte-au-tmt-televisions-business-model-031014.pdf">paying $US28billion</a>, per year, for sports rights. Except that figure was based solely on professional sports, and therefore does not factor in deals like the <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/bw/articles/2014-05-08/nbc-is-betting-7-dot-65-billion-that-it-knows-what-tv-will-look-like-in-2032">US$7.65 billion that American network NBC paid</a> the International Olympic Committee for Olympic rights until 2032. </p>
<p>Add in the costs of dozens of expert staff, high-priced commentators, expensive broadcast equipment and new technology, the production of sport is a pricey endeavour.</p>
<p>But it had seemed sports value to broadcasters – <a href="https://theconversation.com/are-sport-broadcast-rights-worth-the-money-37460">that it is a product best watched live and delivering a large, diverse audience</a> – would protect it from the problems that have plagued other media content in the 21st century.</p>
<h2>The declining value of sport</h2>
<p>However, the once infallible attraction of sport may be faltering. In the United States live sport hasn’t prevented falling pay television subscriber numbers, and <a href="http://www.afr.com/business/media-and-marketing/tv/tv-sports-rights-cost-a-fortune-but-audiences-have-peaked--thats-a-problem-20150901-gjcmrq">some have suggested the ballooning cost of sports broadcast rights is to blame. </a></p>
<p>While the advertising rates for the NFL’s annual Superbowl continue to climb, there is anecdotal evidence that sport is not the advertising bonanza it once was for free-to-air television. </p>
<p>In Australia last year, Nine Melbourne chief Ian Paterson told a conference it was unlikely the advertising sold for sports timeslots would cover the price spent on the rights. Instead, sport was recast as a promotional vehicle. Paterson <a href="http://www.crikey.com.au/2015/09/09/no-end-in-sight-for-ballooning-cost-of-sports-deals-says-nine-boss/">told Crikey</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“Through sport broadcasts, we attract advertisers and people, and are able to present to them the rest of what we do.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The sports broadcasting media business model is not shattered, but there may be cracks. Which is why sports organisations are increasingly working with sports broadcasters, and sometimes instead of them, to deliver their product to the people.</p>
<h2>Sports organisations as media providers</h2>
<p>It’s a requirement of most major sports events that there is a <a href="https://www.obs.tv/our_role.php">host broadcast feed</a>, with unbiased commentary, pushed out to television stations globally. While existing broadcasters used to produce these feeds, more sports organisations are taking control. </p>
<p>Tennis Australia started producing the Australian Open’s world feed in 2014 and its chief executive Craig Tiley <a href="http://www.afr.com/news/australian-open-broadcast-production-fillip-for-tennis-australia-20150128-1304dn#ixzz3yrcodSTy">told The Australian Financial Review:</a></p>
<blockquote>
<p>“Having control over the production of the broadcast is atypical in terms of Australian sports. But it has allowed us to package the broadcast for particular markets and move quickly to provide different feeds to markets overseas.” </p>
</blockquote>
<p>However, this isn’t usual practice for regular, professional sports leagues.</p>
<p>In 2015, the Australian and New Zealand netball competition changed that. Unable to secure a broadcast deal, <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/sport/netball/netball-pays-channel-ten-to-televise-games-in-groundbreaking-deal-20150226-13q5aj.html">the ANZ Championship instead paid for its league to be shown on free-to-air television in Australia</a>. By controlling the broadcast, netball also gained greater power to direct the narrative. Which is where questions of ethics enter.</p>
<h2>Ethics in sports broadcasting</h2>
<p>The defining ethical issue with sponsored content in news is that it butts up against one of the defining values of journalism, that journalists act as the fourth estate. In this role they keep institutions honest and tell the public what it needs to know. </p>
<p>Sponsored content is in conflict with these fundamental elements of journalism, as it means the journalist is no longer unbiased and independent. When considering sports organisations as content providers the key question then becomes, do sports consumers actually expect sports broadcasts to be acts of journalism? Do they mind that the telecast is produced by a sports organisation with a vested interest in the wellbeing of that code?</p>
<p>It’s a tricky question to answer because consumers of sports broadcasts may be unaware that these subtle changes have been made, that they are watching a feed paid for by a sports organisation. </p>
<p>However, <a href="http://com.sagepub.com/content/1/1-2/164.refs">academic research</a> concludes there are multiple reasons fans watch sport, but mostly they are based on the emotional reward, the entertainment value, the sense of companionship and an ability to escape.</p>
<p>Generally, consumers do not watch sports broadcasts to be informed. They watch to be entertained. If this is the case, the sponsored content model may attract less backlash in sports broadcasting than it has in other media products.</p>
<h2>The future: sports organisations as rights-holders</h2>
<p>But perhaps the most important point to consider is not whether sports broadcasters will continue to publish content created by sports organisations, but whether sports organisations will continue to sell their rights.</p>
<p>Many professional sports organisations globally have realised the economic potential in creating and broadcasting their own content. Examples include Major League Baseball’s MLB TV, Manchester United’s pay television channel MUTV, and the Australian Football League’s AFL Media. All these organisations deliver premium content directly to consumers, often for a price. </p>
<p>Broadcasting rights continue to be the major revenue stream for professional sports organisations and the audience mainstream media provide is still useful, so it is unlikely sports organisations will become the sole broadcasters of their own product. But if it makes business sense for sports organisations to become their own producers, get ready for a whole new ball game.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/54329/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Merryn Sherwood consults to the International Triathlon Union.</span></em></p>As more and more sporting bodies seek to speak directly to consumers, independence could disappear. Will consumers care?Merryn Sherwood, Sports Journalism Lecturer, La Trobe UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/500692015-11-02T06:15:26Z2015-11-02T06:15:26ZOptus, the new player in Australia’s sports media rights battle<p>In surprising news, Optus has <a href="http://mumbrella.com.au/optus-snatches-broadcast-and-digital-rights-for-english-premier-league-from-fox-sports-328118">secured the media rights</a> to the English Premier League (EPL) for three seasons commencing from the 2016-17 season.</p>
<p>Optus already has the rights for the EPL in its hometown in Singapore. The new deal includes the broadcast and digital rights (broadband and mobile) for all 380 matches broadcast in Australia.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.afr.com/business/sport/optus-snatches-australian-english-premier-league-from-fox-sports-20151101-gkocnf">Optus bid</a> is rumoured to be more than double the A$20-25 million paid by Fox Sports currently. This is a significant investment by Optus and gives a clear indication it wishes to be part of media distribution in Australia, particularly sports.</p>
<p>Optus CEO Allen Lew <a href="http://www.adnews.com.au/news/optus-wins-exclusive-broadcast-and-digital-rights-to-the-barclays-premier-league">said</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“We are dedicated to delivering the best domestic and international entertainment for our customers. With 930 million followers worldwide, the Premier League is one of the most sought after sports properties for content providers.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This is a significant defeat for Fox Sports, which has seen the EPL as a <a href="https://www.foxtel.com.au/watch/epl.html">flagship</a> for its programming lineup.
This will see an end to Foxtel’s almost 20 year association with the league, which began in 1997. Foxtel is yet to release a statement, although it quickly removed the story discussing the deal from its website after it was posted at <a href="http://www.foxsports.com.au/football/optus-to-broadcast-epl-in-australia/story-e6frf423-1227590580615">foxsports.com.au</a>.</p>
<h2>Where will Optus broadcast in Australia?</h2>
<p>Much of the discussion about the Optus EPL deal has been on who will broadcast the games, given Optus is not a traditional broadcaster. </p>
<p>There are a few options Optus could take to utilise the EPL media rights. A deal to on-sell them to Foxtel is extremely unlikely. There are other options that Optus could establish, which would see them in a position to compete with Foxtel, in particular FoxSports. These developments could see a shake up for future sports media rights in Australia and also the way in which sports is distributed. </p>
<p>Optus also has the digital rights, an increasingly important part of all sports media rights deals. It could be that the EPL is offered by Optus as an additional subscription channel on FetchTV, its streaming service that competes with Telstra TV and Foxtel streaming services. FetchTV can now be bought outright at many electronics stores, and could see an increase in uptake if Optus were to open the subscription access to all FecthTV customers. </p>
<p>In addition to the streaming of EPL games, Optus could utilise its strength as a telecommunications company and supply a “Live Pass” version of the games. This is comparable to the AFL and NRL Live pass streaming services, where the rights are currently held by Telstra.</p>
<p>Optus may also enable SBS to broadcast some of the games on the free-to-air station, similar to the arrangement between Foxtel and SBS.</p>
<h2>Future of sports rights in Australia</h2>
<p>“Optus has never been in sports rights and we’re now in the game,” said CEO Allen Lew, not after this latest EPL deal, but one that appears to have passed many without notice. </p>
<p>Last month Cricket Australia <a href="http://www.cricket.com.au/news/cricket-australia-optus-deal-live-streaming-test-series-classic-matches-highlights/2015-10-22">announced</a> a three-year deal with Optus as its “<a href="http://www.cricketaustralia.com.au/about/partners/commercial">Official Mobile Media Partner</a>”. This will not only see Optus customers get free access to <a href="http://www.optus.com.au/shop/entertainment/cricket?CID=part:con:ca:careg:perks:enter:sport:claim&utm_source=ca&utm_medium=part&utm_campaign=partcaregperks&utm_content=sport">Cricket Australia’s Live Pass</a>, but also exclusive content for Optus customers, which includes historic matches.</p>
<p>The next move made by Optus could be associated with the NRL media rights. Both Foxtel and Telstra are yet to agree to a new NRL deal. Optus may secure a deal with the NRL that would see it acquire the rights that both Foxtel and Telstra currently have. This would further entice new subscribers to its Internet Service Provider (ISP) services.</p>
<h2>The battle of the ISP and sport</h2>
<p>It’s clear that Optus’ intention from these new media deals is to entice new customers to come across to its mobile and broadband services. Part of this may be to counter the recent move by Foxtel to become an ISP with packages that <a href="https://www.foxtel.com.au/get/broadband-bundles.html?SEMFOXTEL&gclid=CjwKEAjw8NaxBRDhiafR-uvkpywSJAAxcl6f-N2wKgcCuDb4sZKPuz8lCFodncfpXukQTvR5S8heJxoClhjw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds">bundle in</a> its pay television services.</p>
<p>With the sports deals Optus has secured it is not only taking on Foxtel, but also Telstra. These deals, particularly the EPL deal, add competition to a market dominated by the latter two interlinked media giants. It could potentially add choice for Australian consumers, or alternatively fragment the sports media landscape in Australia, frustrating consumers further than they already are.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/50069/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Marc C-Scott is a board member of C31 Melbourne (Community Television Station)</span></em></p>As Optus takes the fight for sports viewers to Foxtel and Telstra, it’s unclear if consumers will benefit.Marc C-Scott, Lecturer in Screen Media, Victoria UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/456562015-08-05T20:17:32Z2015-08-05T20:17:32ZTen and Foxtel in box seat for next wave of sport broadcasting<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/90856/original/image-20150805-22474-15j9haa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Image sourced from Shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>One of the most interesting elements of the upcoming sporting <a href="http://mumbrella.com.au/reports-nrl-rights-to-spiral-to-1-7bn-with-ten-tipped-to-pick-up-a-match-from-fox-sports-309768">broadcast rights deals</a> is that they won’t kick off for two years and look likely to last for five.</p>
<p>Can we really look so far into the future to understand what both free-to-air and pay television will look like in two years in a media environment so filled with uncertainty?</p>
<p>Foxtel is no doubt hoping it can as it positions itself for a range of different scenarios.</p>
<p>It’s <a href="http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/nrl/nrl-tv-rights-the-17-billion-broadcast-deal-that-will-transform-rugby-league/story-fnp0lyn3-1227468567930">rumoured</a> that the new NRL rights deal could be worth as much as A$1.7 billion, a large increase on the A$1 billion for the previous deal. </p>
<p>The AFL and NRL are both set to strike five year rights deals, with the AFL’s to run from 2017 to 2021 and the NRL from 2018 to 2022.</p>
<p>While some argue that the Nine Network will retain the free-to-air rights for the NRL, the recent <a href="https://theconversation.com/sport-the-crunch-point-for-regulator-in-foxtel-ten-deal-45238">Foxtel share purchase into Ten</a> could see the two establish a combined deal. This would see Foxtel and Ten make <a href="http://mumbrella.com.au/reports-nrl-rights-to-spiral-to-1-7bn-with-ten-tipped-to-pick-up-a-match-from-fox-sports-309768">one sole bid</a> for the rights for each of the codes, controlling the way sport is distributed.</p>
<h2>Live sport is king</h2>
<p>Analyst firm UBS <a href="https://theconversation.com/tv-shifts-from-hero-to-zero-but-even-netflix-cant-kill-pirating-45087">recently</a> placed a halt on any growth by the free-to-air Australian television networks in the coming year. It cited Netflix and its rapid growth in uptake locally as a key indicator. </p>
<p>Despite being a threat to the current television entertainment broadcast model, Netflix appears disinterested in sport. Netflix has continually made it clear that it doesn’t see its future in live streaming and in particular sports, without ruling it out. In the company’s <a href="http://files.shareholder.com/downloads/NFLX/0x0x821953/CA9EDA04-D2BD-493F-A6E2-D83AA962C426/NFLX-Transcript-2015-04-15T22_00.pdf">earnings call</a> earlier this year the message was the same.</p>
<p>Ted Sarandos, Netflix chief content officer, stated:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“I think part of our core <a href="http://files.shareholder.com/downloads/NFLX/0x0x821953/CA9EDA04-D2BD-493F-A6E2-D83AA962C426/NFLX-Transcript-2015-04-15T22_00.pdf">consumer proposition</a> is on demand. We make viewing certain kinds of content better, because they’re on demand.
And I don’t know that on demand sports is markedly better than live sports.
So that’s why we haven’t been that excited about it. Why we haven’t chased it. There’s economic reasons as well. I think in general, that sports is great for live television.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Reed Hastings, Netflix CEO, has also weighed into the discussion:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“If we can anchor the entertainment side for movies and TV shows for every consumer and somebody else, or other set of leagues, anchor the sports part, which is still over the Internet, then the Internet TV proposition is even more powerful for consumers.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Telstra too, during its <a href="https://theconversation.com/up-next-video-on-demand-shakes-up-the-television-industry-45434">announcement</a> for <a href="https://theconversation.com/telstra-on-the-tv-casting-couch-to-trump-its-telco-peers-45362">Telstra TV</a>, said live sports would be a key reason for customers to stay with free-to-air and pay TV (Foxtel) in Australia.</p>
<p>This raises a few questions in regards to Australian sport broadcasting rights.
Who could or in fact will be, that “somebody else” that Netflix suggests, and how will it change the way sports are broadcast to Australians in the future?</p>
<h2>Digital rights</h2>
<p>Telstra currently holds digital rights for both the NRL and AFL. In addition, both leagues also provide live streaming of games via smartphone and tablet apps, in conjunction with Telstra. Arguably it will be the digital rights that will be closely looked at as part of the new rights agreements. </p>
<p>This is due to the change of focus by the Australian television industry in relation to distribution via digital platforms. All free-to-air networks have catch-up services available and two of the three commercial free-to-air networks are involved with video-on-demand (VoD) services. This shows some of the older players have begun to adapt to the <a href="https://theconversation.com/up-next-video-on-demand-shakes-up-the-television-industry-45434">changing media landscape </a>.</p>
<h2>Foxtel + Ten = sport</h2>
<p>Foxtel’s share purchase of Ten raises some very interesting questions as to the future for both Ten and Foxtel, particularly for sport broadcasting in Australia.</p>
<p>Netflix is clearly leading the VoD space in Australia. Both Seven and Nine have stated their intention to be in the space, with respective joint ventures in Stan and Presto. Foxtel is partnered with Seven West Media on Presto, and has also <a href="http://www.tvtonight.com.au/2015/06/ten-looks-to-join-presto.html">offered Ten</a> a 10% stake in Presto. Nine has partnered with Fairfax on Stan. But both services are well behind Netlix and it’s unclear if both will survive in the future.</p>
<p>Ten is yet to move into the VoD environment. The market is arguably already flooded, and still <a href="https://theconversation.com/tv-shifts-from-hero-to-zero-but-even-netflix-cant-kill-pirating-45087">harmed by piracy</a>. Ten could use its now strong association with Foxtel to establish a live streaming and VoD service that is focused on sport. This is a market not established in Australia, and due to the “live” element, not harmed by piracy. </p>
<p>This could also become part of the broadcast rights that Foxtel and Ten present to the AFL and NRL; to incorporate the digital rights. A move like this would potentially remove Telstra, a 50% stakeholder in Foxtel, as the digital rights holder for the two codes. </p>
<p>Ten has already attempted a sports only channel, OneHD, but it failed. There are now more advantages and options for it to realign its focus with sport once again.</p>
<p>Not only would the new services work for the large sporting leagues, like the AFL and NRL, there’s also potential for minor sports codes, some of which were axed by the ABC recently due to <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-11-24/abc-to-axe-coverage-of-local-sports-as-part-of-budget-cuts/5914336">budget cuts</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/45656/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Marc C-Scott is a board member of C31 Melbourne (Community Television Station).</span></em></p>Media players are jostling for a piece of the lucrative sports broadcast market, but a lot can happen in two years.Marc C-Scott, Lecturer in Screen Media, Victoria UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/374602015-02-20T03:32:43Z2015-02-20T03:32:43ZAre sport broadcast rights worth the money?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/72445/original/image-20150219-20789-15lbakz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Sports rights are seen as critical to the survival of free-to-air broadcasters.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/borkazoid/13904755286/in/photolist-nbHvj7-npNEbz-58u9W-oxFfDs-oxEQv8-oxEWib-oxFftC-oxEVWj-oxFx26-oN8LA3-oPTKba-oN8Lns-oPTJMp-oPTJEk-oPTJua-oxEUSA-oxFdZL-oQ8MAy-oN8Kd3-oxENri-oxEUcY-oQ8M1W-oPTHxF-oxETT1-oQaAtx-oxETAY-oPTH3T-oxFcF3-oxEMpt-oxFcqo-oxFcns-oQazQD-oxFc8j-oN8Htm-oxFtHc-oxESkb-oPTFLp-oxELuT-8tKKEh-nF3ATr-iHZPTc-8yAWKS-4MCJqa-oN8H3m-oN8GXb-oN8GJW-oQaywB-oxERJw-oN8Gus-oQayjx">Flickr/Beau Lebens</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Negotiations are due to get underway for the right to broadcast AFL games from 2017-2021 and the reasoning goes, stakes for free-to-air networks have never been higher. Thus, the price tag will surely follow.</p>
<p>In 2012, the Seven Network bought the rights for AFL games for $1.25 billion, up from the $780 million paid five years earlier. The AFL have reportedly valued the upcoming rights at <a href="http://www.afr.com/p/lifestyle/sport/tv_networks_will_vie_for_afl_rights_Q5Xp5BOMjLjQmCZZl6txmI">at $1.75 billion</a>, with <a href="http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/channel-9-tipped-to-stay-out-of-bidding-war-for-next-afl-tv-rights-deal/story-fni5f22o-1227222311194">media reports focusing</a> on whether free-to-air networks, Nine, Seven and Ten, will engage in a three-way battle to push the price tag past this.</p>
<p>It’s understood that free-to-air broadcasters, struggling to retain their audiences against illegal downloading and the movement of advertisers away from traditional media to a myriad of new options, must fight hard to retain elite sports rights.</p>
<p>But there are ways the rights can be leveraged far more effectively than at present, to improve the return-on-investment. This will involve sports broadcasters taking advantage of the three main ways in which sport has a natural advantage over competing broadcast content.</p>
<h2>The cost of alternatives</h2>
<p>It is estimated that an hour of US drama costs $200,000-$300,000 and Australian-made drama up to $1 million an hour. By contrast, the AFL broadcast rights sit in between. Assuming there are 207 matches played (as in 2014), the average match broadcast goes 3.5 hours, and the yearly cost of rights is $250 million ($1.25 billion divided by five years), then the hourly rate of match content is around $345,000. </p>
<p>Add in production costs and the figure may be closer to locally made drama, but replays (as the Fox Footy channel does all summer) and panel shows featuring ex-players and journalists endlessly dissecting replays add further value. </p>
<p>That said, direct revenues to Seven from AFL broadcasts are thought to have been insufficient to cover costs, suggesting advertising rates must rise.</p>
<h2>Piracy protected</h2>
<p>The scourge of all broadcasters these days is the ready availability of shows online as legal and illegal downloads. Pirating of TV shows continues to grow, with the number of downloads often <a href="http://torrentfreak.com/most-pirated-tv-show-of-2014-141225/">exceeding television ratings</a>. Consumers download in order to fit entertainment in better with their lifestyles, they get to “binge” watch their favourite show in one hit and be free of 12 minutes or more of commercials and station promos each hour. </p>
<p>Sport avoids this trap in two ways. First, sport broadcasts needs to be consumed “live” as once the result is known, much of the theatre of sport disappears. Consumers therefore do not benefit from “time-shifting” viewing, except those hard-core fans whose nerves cannot stand to watch their team live. </p>
<p>Second, advertising and promotions are embedded into the modern sports product, so while consumers might “zap” adverts in breaks in play, they cannot avoid in-stadium advertising, overlaid promotions in live play and sponsors logo on team uniforms, balls etc. </p>
<p>A savvy broadcaster would never leave the broadcast for any advertising breaks, but would overlay all ads on the background of the live coverage.</p>
<h2>A large, broad audience</h2>
<p>Big sporting events do something almost no other content can do these days – attract a large audience comprised of many different types of people. Consider the Superbowl, just played. Averaging 114 million viewers in the US, with a peak of just below 121 million, this dwarfs any drama show audience by a factor of four or five times. </p>
<p>And that doesn’t include those watching in venues outside the home, which many do for socially viewed products like sports. For example, the drama program that followed the US Superbowl on NBC, rated 26.5 million viewers, making it the most watched drama on that network for more than 10 years. This is great follow-on viewing, but only a fraction of the sport audience.</p>
<p>How do these characteristics justify paying billions? Advertising. Despite the excitement of new media, traditional advertising is needed more than ever, and television is still our best medium for it. </p>
<p>Most products gain market share by building what University of South Australia Professor of Marketing Science, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3Or0FkiIa0">Byron Sharp calls</a> “mental availability and physical availability”. </p>
<p>Big brands become big by having large numbers of customers, many of whom purchase infrequently, rather than by “owning” a group of 100% loyal customers. To grow in this fashion a brand needs high levels of awareness and recall among all potential buyers of the product and excellent availability in the retailers frequented by those buyers. </p>
<p>Customers don’t care that much about most of the products in supermarkets and department stores (despite what many brand managers believe) and so if you lose top-of-mind awareness, you quickly lose market share.</p>
<p>Advertising in sport broadcasts makes sense, because it’s an almost unrivalled way to efficiently reach a broad audience and the length of broadcast allows repetition and memory building. Television, in particular, allows the building of distinctive brands by combining sound and vision, which allows <a href="https://theconversation.com/female-power-and-caring-dads-gender-and-the-2015-super-bowl-ads-37200">creative attention-grabbing</a> ads.</p>
<h2>Lack of appreciation from broadcasters</h2>
<p>What’s remarkable is that broadcasters still don’t seem to appreciate these factors. Already this year, we have the ABC paying a rumoured $1.5 million for the Asian Cup but then delaying broadcast of pool games, and Nine and Seven have been sluggish to introduce HD broadcasts of their prized sports properties. </p>
<p>Current <a href="http://www.acma.gov.au/Industry/Broadcast/Television/TV-content-regulation/sport-anti-siphoning-tv-content-regulation-acma">anti-siphoning laws</a> give free-to-air broadcasters a distinct advantage in negotiations, but they have to work smarter in future given the political pressure to remove those regulations. </p>
<p>Sports marketers have their role to play too, in recognising that free-to-air also works to keep the sport top-of-mind amongst a large audience, bringing new fans and encouraging consumption. </p>
<p>Being flexible on match times and schedules, open to innovations in <a href="https://theconversation.com/new-gadgets-and-gimmicks-to-keep-us-watching-sport-live-on-tv-36138">broadcast technology</a> and game format (Twenty20 cricket, Fast 4 tennis) and building marquee game events all build broadcast rights value. </p>
<p>The major challenge however, is to continue driving live attendance through an engaging fan experience, because without a live crowd, the broadcast value drops significantly.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/37460/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Heath McDonald consults to the AFL and all 18 AFL clubs, Netball Australia, Cricket Australia as well as teams in the A-league, Big Bash League, NRL and Super 15 Rugby. He receives funding from Australian Research Council.</span></em></p>Free-to-air broadcasters will pay big price for right to broadcast AFL games from 2017-2021. But there are ways networks can leverage more value.Heath McDonald, Professor of Marketing, Swinburne University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/352532015-01-15T03:46:25Z2015-01-15T03:46:25ZThe future of sportscasting? Cricket Australia launches on Apple TV<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/69072/original/image-20150115-2993-1bw1gzl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The current five year broadcast rights for Cricket Australia are A$590 million.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/Dean Lewins</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Yesterday Cricket Australia <a href="http://www.cricket.com.au/news/cricket-australia-launches-apple-tv-channel/2015-01-14">launched</a> onto the Apple TV network, becoming the <a href="http://www.afr.com/p/technology/cricket_australia_lines_up_deal_ShdeYikg6SbsrGmNreEW6O">first Australian sports organisation</a> to join the platform. The new Cricket Australia channel will <a href="http://mumbrella.com.au/cricket-australia-nine-choose-apple-tv-new-internet-channel-launch-270903">feature</a> a mixture of interviews, skills tutorials and highlights, with some content being created by Nine Network (which currently airs Australia’s international matches), but no live content, yet.</p>
<p>This new development raises the question of sports broadcasting rights and how the traditional television model may be changing. Does traditional free-to-air TV sports broadcasting have a future in Australia? </p>
<p>Cricket Australia <a href="http://www.alrc.gov.au/sites/default/files/subs/228._org_cricketaustralia.pdf">reported</a> in 2012 that “media rights typically account for 60-80% of the total annual income for Cricket Australia”. More recently those rights have expanded beyond television and radio to digital rights. Both the Australian Football League (AFL) and Cricket Australia have commenced digital subscriptions, which allows access to video streaming of games. </p>
<h2>Media regulation</h2>
<p>The concept of sport broadcasts becoming subscription-based is not new. </p>
<p>In 1992, paid-subscription media attempted to take hold of Australian sports. But this was prevented by the government’s introduction of anti-siphoning laws to regulate the media companies’ access to significant sporting events. </p>
<p>The provisions of the Broadcasting Services Act (1992) governing sports broadcasts have been the subject of long-running debate between free-to-air, pay television providers and the Australian public. </p>
<p>In 2002 <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2002/04/17/1019020660840.html">Optus argued</a> that “anti-siphoning in terms of sporting properties are a major impediment of (subscriber) uptake”. Fox Sports <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/07/21/1026898946381.html">too argued</a> that the “existing scheme favoured free-to-air broadcasters”. </p>
<p>In 2009 Free TV Australia Limited launched <a href="http://KeepSportFree.com.au">Keep Sport Free</a>, a public petition campaigning for sport to stay <a href="http://www.freetv.com.au/media/News-Media_Release/MED_Keep_Sport_Free.pdf">free on Australian television</a>. </p>
<p>Do things change, however, when a sporting code itself is effectively taking the role of broadcaster, as appears to be the case in Cricket Australia’s collaboration with Apple TV?</p>
<h2>Big money is involved in sports broadcasting</h2>
<p>Foxtel has recently held part of the broadcast rights for both AFL and cricket – although the Broadcasting Act requires them to collaborate with free-to-air broadcasters. </p>
<p>The current five-year broadcast rights for AFL are valued at <a href="http://www.news.com.au/finance/afl-announces-1bn-tv-rights-deal/story-e6frfm1i-1226046325694">A$1.25 billion</a> and for Cricket Australia at <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-06-04/grassroots-cricket-to-benefit-from-financial-windfall/4732566">A$590 million</a>. (Compare this to the latest NBA US$24 billion broadcast deal for nine years, to begin in 2017.) </p>
<p>These figures give an indication of how lucrative sporting rights are globally. </p>
<p>The formal negations will commence in the coming weeks for the AFL broadcasting rights from 2017, with bidding expected to start at <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/seven-to-remain-sensible-in-afl-broadcast-rights-bid-20141104-11gmym.html">A$1.5 billion</a>. </p>
<p>While all free-to-air television networks have expressed interest in the new rights, the real battle to watch is over digital rights. It is <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/seven-to-remain-sensible-in-afl-broadcast-rights-bid-20141104-11gmym.html">rumoured</a> that the Apple TV network, Google and YouTube could also become part of the new AFL digital rights discussions. </p>
<p>In addition to new players for the digital rights, The Age <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/seven-to-remain-sensible-in-afl-broadcast-rights-bid-20141104-11gmym.html">reports</a> that the AFL could potentially “produce a game of its own per week via its website and available on hand-held devices”.</p>
<p>Cricket Australia is taking a different approach. It has overhauled its digital presence for the 2014-15 season to allow the fans to “<a href="http://www.campaignbrief.com/2014/11/cricket-australia-to-bring-fan.html">get closer to the action this summer</a>”. </p>
<p>The update includes further strengthening its partnership with Nine Entertainment. During the television broadcasts of the cricket there are many discussions between commentators promoting the video streaming service; something not seen within AFL broadcasts. The new Cricket Australia content on the Apple TV network promises to further enhance this stream.</p>
<h2>Digital streaming by AFL and Cricket Australia</h2>
<p>The AFL’s digital streaming service <a href="https://id.afl.com.au/livepass">Live Pass</a> is the result of a deal with Telstra, which <a href="http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/afl-could-face-real-challenges-to-secure-20172021-tv-rights-deal-with-clubs-on-leagues-back/story-fni5f22o-1227031143151">paid</a> A$153 million in 2011 for the digital rights. The service has packages for those living in Australia and <a href="http://watchafl.afl.com.au">abroad</a>. </p>
<p>By contrast, Cricket Australia’s <a href="http://https://secure.cricket.com.au/account/subscribe">Live Pass</a> is available on mobile and tablet devices, along with streaming on computers. The subscription is only available in Australia, for games played in Australia (except the 2015 World Cup) and the Ashes tour of the British Isles 2015. This includes the Test series, one-day internationals, T20 (International and Big Bash) and Southern Stars (Australian women’s team) matches.</p>
<h2>Dedicated streaming for fans</h2>
<p>The AFL and Cricket Australia “live” streaming services are in competition with free-to-air television broadcasters, but also other subscription services such as Foxtel’s <a href="http://www.foxtel.com.au/discover/foxtelgo/default.htm">Go</a> service. But at A$50 per month for a Foxtel sports subscription, the cost is considerably higher than the combined subscription price of the AFL and Cricket Australia.</p>
<p>In the US, the global cable and satellite television channel ESPN is planning to commence its first online video streaming service that which is not part of a pay-TV bundle. Late last year it was <a href="http://recode.net/2014/11/24/espn-gets-ready-to-launch-its-first-web-video-subscription-service-for-crickets-world-cup/">rumoured</a> that the launch event for the service would be the 2015 Cricket World Cup, due to start next month, but is yet to come to fruition. </p>
<p>The US cricket fan base is estimated by ESPN to be 30 million, but ESPN doesn’t see the streaming service as a replacement for its current cable television services. The President of ESPN, John Skipper, says he suspects his audience will “<a href="http://recode.net/2014/09/04/espn-thinks-millennials-will-graduate-from-cheap-web-tv-to-expensive-cable/">trade up</a>”. </p>
<p>ESPN’s model differs to that of both AFL and Cricket Australia as it still involves a subscription service provider, rather than the broadcast and subscription being direct from the sport’s corporation.</p>
<h2>Speed of uptake</h2>
<p>The impact from the AFL and Cricket Australia’s video streaming services could take some time and it’s early days for Cricket Australia’s partnership with Apple TV.</p>
<p>The first and most important barrier is the <a href="http://www.oztam.com.au/documents/Other/Australian%20Multi-ScreenReport%20Q2%202014%20FINAL.pdf">social uptake</a> of the technology. </p>
<p>Currently 80% of Australian home have access to the internet, but the percentage of Australian homes with tablets is 42% and smartphones 71%. Australians are on average watching only <a href="http://www.oztam.com.au/documents/Other/Australian%20Multi-ScreenReport%20Q2%202014%20FINAL.pdf">12 minutes of video content per month</a> across these two platforms, along with PC and laptops. </p>
<p>If the AFL wants to become the prime broadcasters of its sport this could be done as a free (ad-driven) service with an alternative for subscription, ad-free.</p>
<p>Currently <a href="http://www.oztam.com.au/documents/Other/Australian%20Multi-ScreenReport%20Q2%202014%20FINAL.pdf">27% of Australian homes</a> have televisions with internet connectivity. As this number increases, sporting organisations will have greater direct access to their audience. </p>
<p>For now, sports television will remain but the future looks exciting, particularly for the audience.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/35253/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Marc C-Scott does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Yesterday Cricket Australia launched onto the Apple TV network, becoming the first Australian sports organisation to join the platform. The new Cricket Australia channel will feature a mixture of interviews…Marc C-Scott, Lecturer in Digital Media, Victoria UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/187532013-10-04T04:48:15Z2013-10-04T04:48:15ZThe winners and losers in Twitter’s NFL deal<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/32463/original/wzvj3365-1380857675.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Twitter's deal with the NFL will open a new stream of revenue in the lead up to their IPO</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Twitter’s IPO <a href="http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1418091/000119312513390321/d564001ds1.htm">filing</a> has today revealed a loss of $US69 million on $US254 million in revenue in the first half of the year - which is up on the US$49 million loss in the same period last year. </p>
<p>With results like these, it is vital that they explore new ways to generate revenue if they hope to meet expectations of US$1 billion in earnings next year.</p>
<p>Twitter is currently building partnerships with commercial content providers, in order to develop into new ways to increase revenues. It has gained a lot of attention for a deal with the US National Football League (NFL), alongside alliances with the <a href="http://www.adweek.com/news/technology/cbs-sees-potential-mid-market-advertisers-twitter-amplify-152652">CBS</a> broadcast network. </p>
<p>The expectation is that the NFL will provide real-time video highlights, video clips from major games broadcast on networks such as CBS and Fox, commentary, news and ‘<a href="https://twitter.com/NFLfantasy">fantasy</a> football’. Much of that content will feature advertisements, with Twitter and the NFL sharing the associated revenue. </p>
<p>The latest <a href="http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap2000000250954/article/nfl-twitter-partner-to-bring-exclusive-content-to-fans-worldwide">announcements</a> from Twitter are bad news for Australia’s commercial television networks. But it serves as a reminder that the principle of the ‘Attention Economy’ is alive and well in the multi-channel, micro-audience age.</p>
<p>Commercial broadcasting – on a free to air or subscription basis – is based on the principle that if you own the pipeline (aka the distribution channel) you can make money by delivering content to a mass audience. The content needs to be what the audience wants to hear or see, ideally what it cannot access elsewhere. </p>
<p>In essence the audience <a href="http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/5.12/es_attention.html">pays with its attention</a>, and advertisers pay the pipeline operator for a chance to grab some of that attention. </p>
<p>Twitter, as the owner of its own pipeline, can be held to the same principle. Much like a commercial broadcaster, it makes money delivering content to the masses and attaching targeted advertising to that content.</p>
<h2>Who comes out on top?</h2>
<p>So, what does the NFL deal mean for Twitter, for traditional broadcasting, and for other social networking services such as Facebook?</p>
<p>The partnership is good news for Twitter, particularly as it heads for an <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-10-02/twitter-s-revenue-per-user-is-key-for-investors-seeking-clarity.html">IPO</a> that is meant to validate its US$10 billion notional valuation and estimated earnings of US$1 billion next year. Twitter is currently in the same position as Amazon.com was a decade ago, hoping that revenue growth will quickly outpace losses. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/32462/original/zrbb5dv8-1380857449.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/32462/original/zrbb5dv8-1380857449.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/32462/original/zrbb5dv8-1380857449.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/32462/original/zrbb5dv8-1380857449.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/32462/original/zrbb5dv8-1380857449.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/32462/original/zrbb5dv8-1380857449.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/32462/original/zrbb5dv8-1380857449.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The partnership is good news for Twitter.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">PiXXart / Shutterstock.com</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The NFL deal opens up new revenue channels to help Twitter move towards their US$1 billion earnings target. For example telecommunications giant Verizon will pay huge dollars to be the exclusive Twitter advertiser for the Super Bowl. Getting the attention of millions of sports-mad Americans is expensive: recently Verizon agreed to pay US$1 billion over four years to significantly expand its rights to air NFL games on mobiles through an NFL Mobile app.</p>
<p>For broadcasters the partnership is a reminder that they aren’t the only channels through which consumers access content. Commercial success is about compelling content – what’s wanted by consumers in the attention economy – and not about owning one of a handful of pipelines that are restricted by spectrum scarcity and government licensing. The broadcasters will be under pressure to pay the NFL more money for privileged or exclusive access. Controlling access was one of the subtexts in last month’s election: as much about <a href="https://theconversation.com/news-corp-australia-vs-the-nbn-is-it-really-all-about-foxtel-16768">Foxtel</a> and football as about Kevin, Julia, Tony and drowning refugees.</p>
<p>For Facebook and privacy the partnerships are bad news. Facebook is reported to be losing its hold on the attention of particular demographics, particularly US consumers aged 17 to 25 (ie prime targets of the NFL and other advertisers). One response is likely to be more aggressive data mining by Facebook and its partners, potentially with a backlash from consumers over more ‘in your face’ advertisements and profiling. As a result, consumers may move their attention over to a competitor.</p>
<h2>The future for Australian pay-TV</h2>
<p>Broadcasting in Australia has been predicated on the notion of one audience addressed through a handful of pipelines. That notion is also apparent in much of the thinking surrounding newspaper publishing, with broadsheets, for example, allowing advertisers to purportedly reach an audience that extended from corporate directors and consumers of haberdashery to job seekers and used-car buyers. </p>
<p>The Twitter-NFL deal is a reminder that we are moving towards the ‘audience of one’ – targeted communication to a micro-audience that is reached through a proliferation of pipelines, some of which overlap and few of which engender much consumer loyalty. </p>
<p>If you are the sort of person who absolutely needs to see the footy highlights on your phone, tablet, desktop machine or big-screen TV in the kitchen and bedroom your choice of pipeline is likely to be determined by convenience, timeliness and cost rather than whose corporate logo appears on the pipe. Twitter is about attention, not technology.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/18753/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Bruce Baer Arnold does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Twitter’s IPO filing has today revealed a loss of $US69 million on $US254 million in revenue in the first half of the year - which is up on the US$49 million loss in the same period last year. With results…Bruce Baer Arnold, Assistant Professor, School of Law, University of CanberraLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.