Just over two years to go until the 22nd Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England.
Currently only SKY Sports in New Zealand have won rights to host the games (and 2026)
Labour in the UK are trying to get the games classed as Category A meaning the games will be shown on FTA.
In terms of an Australian rights holder, it should be announced soon:
Channel Seven won the 2018 games rights four years in advance
Channel 10 won the 2014 rights six years in advance
The rights probably arenât worth very much, with the price for all sports going down. I canât guess who might be interested.
There will need to be a broadcaster somewhere as it is required to be on FTA in Australia.
I donât think it has to be. The government canât force broadcasters to buy the rights.
The ABC might have to do it if the commercial channels donât. If an Australian network doesnât pay, it might leave the event with a shaky future.
Foxtel can still pick it up if none of the FTA are interested (which wouldnt surprise me)
I can see Ten going for it.
Given itâs scheduled for late July / early August, Iâd be leaning towards 10, given 7 and 9 with their various football commitments.
(yes, they can multichannel, but really itâs only diluting the audience)
With Ten possibly going for an âentertainment networkâ strategy under ViacomCBS and Seven/Nine unlikely to be interested, personally it wouldnât overly surprise me if either the ABC or SBS pick up the rights to the next Commonwealth Games.
I canât. It was a disaster last time they got the rights. Ten need to focus on what they are âThe Entertainment Networkâ and not worry about events like this where your budget goes bust.
Surely the organizers would sell it to a fta network at digital channel filler rates before selling it to foxtel. After tens Glasgow disaster, the days of having it on the main channel are over and the networks would not see any value in it as a loss leader.
Can people explain why Tenâs Glasgow games were a disaster? I quite enjoyed the 2014 games on Ten and in my opinion they did a far better job than Seven.
Maybe it might be like 2010 and Channel Ten shares the rights with Foxtel?
Before it started ten had a successful MasterChef season they had good momentum for the first time in years, then the comm games started, 7&9 went competitive against it with the X factor and the block glasshouse. Viewers chose the reality shows and it set them up for the rest of the year. Didnât help that ten did a simulcast on ONE so they lost a few % points every night. Ten had a lot of expensive new content to launch after the games which all flopped because the games were not the launch pad ten had hoped and viewers were already into the competition. Could argue the commonwealth games derailed ten until they went into administration.
Not caring about how it set up the network and ratings, they actually did a great presentation/work of covering the games!
They also did the Winter Olympics that year and from what I remember, they did a good job at that too.
Whenever Ten does sport, they do it well and it is a shame that sports donât look to Ten more often. Their Melbourne Cup coverage last year was superb not the stale Channel Seven coverage.
What shows did 10 have? I know itâs a bit off topic but I donât recall.
9 hasnât showed the CG since Melbourne 2006 and KL 1998. Channel 10 and Channel One did a simulcast of the same events in Glasgow 2014
TV is a business, you cant have a conversation about bidding for rights without discussing its value and what it does for a network. If anything, them doing a good job with the coverage but still being punished in the ratings would mean it is even less valuable.
ten had some weekly wins at the end of the 2014 masterchef season, something they havenât achieved since. They started regularly coming 4th after the Glasgow games. Any network is going to see that and think very carefully about inflicting that on themselves ever again.
ONE didnât simulcast Glasgow Commonwealth Games at all. ONE would show the early evening and evening time slot before the coverage switches to 10. ONE showed simulcast of Dehli Commonwealth Games, you might be thinking of Sochi Winter Olympics.
Might be reading too much into it but was intrigued by this line in the press release Seven issued last week about their upcoming Sydney Olympics specials:
This could merely be a case of Andyâs title remaining unchanged since the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games. Alternatively, it could suggest Seven will have the rights to the 2022 CG but an announcement hasnât been made yet.
It would not surprise me if we donât hear about a rights announcement for a while, the Comm Games are nowhere where near what they are used to be in terms of quality and viewer numbers, itâs not the greatest time zone and every media network is tightening their belts after Covid.
Then you throw in uncertainty around border restrictions and travel, as well as the move of the Olympics to next year likely to mean a lot of athletes retire afterwards or donât want to peak again less than 12 months later, plus the athletics programme could be decimated with the AThletics World Champs in Oregon around the same time and many athletics likely to go to that instead.