Maybe as a fall back FTA partner? Would have been interesting.
I noticed one small inaccuracy in the article.
While The Australian understands Paramount’s cash offer to CA is unlikely to be bettered by a rival bid, there are some within the sporting body who are anxious about entering a long-term deal with a broadcaster who has no history of covering Test matches, or international one-day cricket.
The 0-10 Network covered test cricket in the 70’s.
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I get it’s inaccurate (to an extent), but how many people working on that in the 70s are still alive, let alone working at 10.
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It wouldn’t be hard to say that rather than the wrong information.
It’s all pretty much irrelevant anyway as mentioned elsewhere 10 did broadcast the BBL so surely is able to broadcast test matches and ODIs.
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Still not buying the line being peddled by News Corp that cricket will struggle for exposure on 10.
They turned the BBL into a major summer sport with their coverage a few years ago (compared to when it was on Fox initially), and their ratings position then was pretty much as bad as it is now (if not worse as they had been gutted by Lachlan Murdoch and co). Ironically it has been since it went to 7/Fox that the competition has gone downhill (partly TV rights and broadcast quality, partly oversaturation and killing the golden goose on the part of CA). I don’t see why they can’t do it again. Test cricket is always a drawcard (especially when playing India/England) so I doubt they will lose a single viewer by virtue of being on 10.
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People running scared of 10 after their failures in the Melbourne Cup and Football coverage. They did a great job broadcating AFL and BBL in the past and do have experience
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I thought that point sounded unfair and strange too RE: scared about 10 doing tests.
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So it sounds like Paramount/10 are sitting pretty so to speak, with reports indicating Seven + Foxtel hasn’t matched their bid (and we know how desperate CA were last time for that magic figure and they’ll surely be again even with format deteriorations and various other issues currently want a similiar if not boldly ask for more - considering AFL and TA’s new record deals very recently).
But the incumbents of 4 years and their experience with sport, as well as the pay providers sub base including Kayo, does make me wonder if, even if considerably lower combined bid, that they or some on the committee, would want to stick with them. Seven being the obvious concern.
Sounds like Nine are out. And ABC LOL.
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I bet they are looking at how well rugby has done since the move from Fox to Stan (ie not that well). Couple that with the demise of the english side since the move from FTA to Sky - so much so that the ECB has offered daily highlights to the BBC for free
Not according to Nine (though naturally they’d say that)
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Yes… but a different team, different ownership and a different management structure. Not the same Ten as 5 or 10 years ago.
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The BBC pays a rights fee for the ECB rights it has (including highlights of home international matches).
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The men’s World Champion T20 and ODI side? That one?
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It’s took them 15yrs. The whole game moved to sky in 2005, right after the last ball in that amazing ashes series.
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True - but they hadn’t won a lot in the 15 years prior to it going to Sky either apart from that Ashes
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I have no issue with Fox keeping the rights (and as a result, Seven would be their partner).
More and more these days I’m watching Fox for cricket coverage. I really like the technology Foxtel have introduced for analysts to use to describe what is happening in the game in greater detail.
Foxtel are being innovative and they are clearly putting in the effort having got Ian Smith and Brian Lara as commentators. Kayo works well as a one-stop sport shop to catch up on highlights, full-matches etc.
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The flurry of articles over the weekend indicate that Paramount are in a very good position to win the rights despite all the noise about the misgivings within CA about partnering with them. Nothing has suggested that Fox or 7 are committed to the BBL long-term and nor has CA given any reference to a restructure of the competition. At this stage it does seem that unless Fox/7 budge on their default position or price over the next week, a deal with Paramount is inevitable.
I for one would be delighted to see cricket being broadcast on a single network, rather than the simulcast mishmash that we have been subjected to in the current deal. I like 7’s Test coverage, but their off-field shenanigans have dragged the sport through the mud, whereas Fox’s coverage has been woeful to the point that it became unwatchable. The talent has been spread too thin due to there being two broadcasters.
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Yeah agreed. Getting it all under one roof would remove a lot of the dead weight, commentary wise
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I wonder, with CA’s permission, if Seven could on-sell to Paramount/10 a year early? Similar to what Seven did with Nine with TA for 2019. Unless there’s something legel watertight in the current contract preventing this or that would cause more unneeded dramas.
There’s still a chance Seven and CA might terminate with this court battle too. Which would leave things awkward considering Foxtel.
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Agree to disagree, but Fox’s coverage has been far better than 7’s this year in regards to what they actually bring to the broadcast. I have been watching both broadcasters from the first two tests and there’s several places where both broadcasters can improve in my opinion. The Fox coverage does get a bit repetitive each day sometimes, but they are making some effort to do things a little differently during the breaks in play for example, where as on 7 Ponting and JL are the only two there who are actually worth listening to, everyone else seems disinterested.
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I expect that to be likely given that the teams touring next season aren’t that attractive from a ratings perspective, 7 would want to cut their losses and Ten would see it as a very good opportunity to build their team and get experience of broadcasting Test cricket without the glare of being lead broadcaster. They’ll probably look to hire some of the 7 staff as well if that’s the case.
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