Also says something about the state of Test cricket when there are only 2 other countries that can draw an audience
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Not sure if it’s been mentioned or is even that noteworthy, also understand he might be on a family holiday, however Seven CEO James Warburton not being present for that press conference is rather strange IMO.
His like-for-like Delany was there (as opposed to Steve Crawley - his opposite number at Seven was instead present for them). I note recently Warburton and Delany both went to Melbourne for the AFL one and Nine CEO Mike Sneesby (who is often not present but instead TV boss Michael Healy considering how much bigger they are) made to trip down to TA HQ for their renewal and back in 2018 then controversial Seven CEO Tim Worner was at that CA announcement. But anyway, just optics I guess.
Wonder if Nine will have a conference with the IOC when they officially confirm/announceme Olympics?
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Nick Hockley mentioned that Warburton was on holiday in the US and couldn’t make it back in time for the conference. He stated that both Warburton and Kerry Stokes had been closely involved finalizing the arrangements with CA over the last few weeks.
It was a very awkward press conference due to the aggressive line of questioning from the reporters. Hockley was visibly under pressure trying to defend the partnership with 7 given the attacks over the last few years. He only seemed to relax after Lewis Martin promised that 7 won’t ‘trash’ CA in the future.
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Well here’s hoping seven sue them again. CA are a disgrace and 7/fox are a travesty of an unholy union.
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What option did CA have if Paramount did not actually do a formal bid & the conversations broke down? I think CA took the only option they had.
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Thank you for providing that, fair enough then.
But yeah I just wondered and stay with me for a sec while I try to elaborate, as it’d really been Warburton where all the negativity / push for legal action and contract termination / media leaks had been stemming from. I realise there was also those leaks with conversations between Lewis Martin and Stephanie Baltrame (CA broadcast head) which were very tense.
But Warburton comes from a pure point of ‘bean counters’ and corporate office, having previously been sales chief at Seven in their ‘golden era’ and knew quite well what having the tennis provided.
Whereas Martin (whilst also a sales background at Seven and now a head honcho), comes more from the production and crew side of things, also having a more personal relationship with much of the staff and I think is a cricket fan himself (if photos from celebratory drinks nights with colleagues and general vibe of comments from him are anything to go by). When Seven had tennis, it was Saul Shtein who oversaw its production and he flew down each time and was rather passionate, as evident by articles with MW over the years.
So, I guess, forgive my scepticism and cynicism, but I still just wonder. Certainly optically with recent events, it’d have been a far better look if the Warburton was present, for mine just screams passive and ‘meh’. I mean would he have cut his holiday short if they’d got NRL or won Brisbane Olympics or tennis back if in the same situation - I just wonder. Happy for MS members to scoff at this though, like I get it.
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Don’t deal with Fox in the first place. They should’ve been shut out of negotiations in the first instance. It seems they were preferred from the outset and then CA was forcing marriages with a free to air when at least two free to airs don’t want to deal with fox.
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I definitely understand where you are coming from, Warburton not being present doesn’t provide great optics after all the threats and criticism over the last 18 months. It would have been much better for CA and 7 to bury the hatchet publicly with Warburton being front and centre of the new deal. A few apologies from both sides won’t have been remiss either, it struck me that both 7 and CA maintained their view of the respective obligations during the pandemic years. 7 trumpeting the reduction in the rights fee is also not a great look for the state of the game of cricket in Australia.
The deal very much has the air of a shotgun marriage, with both parties having no choice but to continue with the partnership as the alternative would be worse. The foundation of the deal remains shaky, and it certainly won’t be a surprise if it blows up in CA’s face in the future.
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7 making a point of them paying less (but getting more) while Foxtel paid more, on the 6pm
News tonight.
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And the whole Sky cutting away from Seven too during the conference live-cross, which Cynic stated, seemed odd.
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So the relationship between both networks is going well then… 
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It certainly sounds like CA gave Paramount a requirement to achieve a ‘reach’ for the paywalled content that only Foxtel’s linear services could achieve.
Maybe Paramount could have talked to ESPN or Bein about onselling non-streaming Pay TV rights, and use that to get on Foxtel’s platform - but at the end of the day similar to what killed C7 Sports, Foxtel control the access to the platform and can use that control to be the only means of reaching the largest base of subscription households.
IKR! LOL. Weird, considering how close they’ve had to work together for a long time, such as AFL providing live simulcasts to Fox Footy in some timeslots since 2012 and cricket since 2018, among others.
Why? Isn’t every broadcaster able to present their best offers etc?
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They started that off by cutting the commentators mics off as soon as they went to an ad break and providing an SD feed.
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That piece certainly paints it as CA trying to rush the deal through the back door while Paramount execs were away on winter holidays. There was no real reason to close the deal this season, except to hasten a long-term partnership with Fox. The use of flimsy excuses to continue to work with Fox is undoubtedly down to CA handing over the keys to Richard Freudenstein. It was a crooked process, but unfortunately there will be no accountability or backlash.
The most one can do as a fan is not to subscribe to Fox, but there will be plenty of others who won’t mind at all.
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That latest story by Zoe and Dan is top notch stuff. A must read everyone. I’d imagine top brass at Seven, Nine, 10, Foxtel and CA (and other networks and sports and big wigs) would’ve all read it or had it shared by someone by tomorrow, wonder what some will think too.
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