I thought Seven really “phoned it in” for much of the season, but Fox didn’t really live up to the expectation either (for a broadcaster desperate to get the cricket, they didnt really show how they can cover it too differently).
I’m less concerned about the ODIs then the T20 (honestly, are the ODIs going to exist in 5 years time?) - T20 cricket is almost made for FTA TV, for Seven not to have the international rights is a bit of a travesty.
There is definitely blame to be had across all three
I found with the tests that Seven just couldn’t find their groove - mind you its a lot of hours to fill particularly when the on-field action is not always there. The Big Bash coverage started from a low base and went downhill almost instantly - the backend of the tournament was pretty poor, but a lot of that I think is fatigue with the season going much too long.
Oh and they really need to get Trent Copeland a better fitting suit
Something that I noticed with the cricket (and its creeping into other coverage) is that Fox is taking a lot more from the American sports broadcasting playbook and not all of its great - the need to have micro-sections of the broadcast sponsored (the alinta energy ball can fuck right off) is a worrying sign for things to come.
Don’t know whether it was just me but I found myself gravitating more to Seven’s coverage when it came to the BBL due to not liking the commentators Fox relied upon for their coverage + them deciding to call a lot of games off-tube
While I understand your argument, the problem with that is it not having any major Summer sport to air would have left a significant programming hole for them to fill. Sure, they could have partially filled it by launching MKR a few weeks earlier when the Australian Open begins. However, that’s only a short-term solution due to MKR’s declining ratings.
Think that was because they had their ‘big guns’ do the Indian test (eg; Gilchrist, Guha, etc) whereas there was a lot of rotation (in terms of personal used) when it came to the Sri Lankan series
You’re comparing apples and oranges - 10 were only paying $20 million a year for the BBL rights & since that competition was its sole focus (from a cricket standpoint), it allowed them to ensure that their coverage could be as good as it was
Whilst we probably will never know, if Seven invested a Q4 format that runs all the way to Christmas with MKR starting in the first week of the new year then they might have a chance. 10 already proved with Celebrity that there is still an audience for reality in non-ratings, and Seven having a higher ratings base in MKR would arguably do better. Plus it would be a LOT cheaper than whatever the cricket costed them and they would at least be competitive.
Also they wouldn’t be copping so much heat if they didn’t sign this atrocious deal. All the media coverage and abuse is directed at them due to the lack of exclusivity and ODIs and T20Is/16 BBL matches going behind the paywall thanks to their ‘safe’ approach in agreeing with everything Fox said. I think Seven would’ve been better to have no Summer sports and produce better programming and focussing fully on AFL and Olympics rather than doing everything half-arsed.
In general I don’t disagree with you but I think Seven would’ve benefitted if they took a risk and walked away from this deal. I’m sure that as long as Seven offered a good alternative for viewing then their gap would be filled.
I guess from Seven’s perspective, this was an option, but one fraught with risks. What if you end up with a Changing Rooms-style flop?
My feeling is Seven took what was on offer because, although it cost a lot, it was a sure bet that it would rate okay, at the very least. At the very best, you’d have a close series and lots of interest.
Plus losing the tennis and not having the cricket would sting, and bring back painful memories of the years the network was without the AFL.
I’ll put this here because it mainly refers to the cricket deal.
But yes they need to review it and he’s foxtel doesn’t need a $30m handout from the government. Hopefully a labor government gets moving on this rather than the right wing libs giving a free ride to news corp and fox…
Foxtel and Seven are expected to attempt to renegotiate their rights deals with Cricket Australia that could see the broadcasters paying $25 to $35 million less per year from this coming season.
On what grounds? It seems very likely that not a single match Seven have the rights to will fail to air - and quite likely that crowds will attend them. Foxtel missed out on a small number of matches - but nothing that warrants an ongoing reduction, especially not that significant.
Such a reduction would put them well below what Ten had offered, so if they want out, they should take the rights to market again.
Sensible decision, though it’s still too expensive and the nature of the deal means that they’re still not going to get much out of it. It’s a dud whichever way you look at it.
yep. putting ODI’s behind a paywall is a bad decision for fans and the sport. In the UK where cricket was put exclusively on Sky participation rates plummeted and even the national team suffered. it got so bad the ECB offered daily highlight packages to the BBC at no charge
Are you talking about the digital clip rights package or the 1 hour highlights program? If its the latter, the BBC has definitely paid a rights fee for that
It’s like Nine owning the AFL Rights between 2002-06 all over again, I Hope Ten can learn from Seven’s Mistakes and Steal the Free-to-air rights from 2023 Ownards?
The deal worked out quite conveniently for them. They could focus mainly on the NRL and air all matches whilst also taking some AFL matches to appeal to the AFL audience in the Southern states, whilst 10 gets a major sports code with exclusive access to the finals which boosted their profile. It was a win-win for them, not so much for Seven.
