Thanks @Moe, you’re always in the know.
1 Like
And of course in this day and age, general sports-based shows on racing radio always have the ability to heavily plug the available sports betting from the relevant TAB (which RSN still have as a sponsor).
That would’ve still been important under the previous joint industry ownership, as would’ve been the multi-code, wall-to-wall coverage (as it would’ve been closer to the tote joint venture licence with Tabcorp), and it would be madness not to tinker with an all-sports breakfast in Melbourne during footy season - but now it’s in Racing VIC’s stable alone, it’s obviously part of their whole-station direction.
That week is also the start of the lead-up to the Caulfield Guineas which is sort of the “traditional” start to the Melbourne part of the carnival (the Caulfield Cup is the following week).
Daniel Harford (who came over from SEN, he used to do afternoons before Hutchy cleaned the place out) I think was slated to do the footy season breakfast, mostly by himself after being part of their three-strong Breakfast Club the last couple of years.
I guess they will still have a modicum of sport there… they likely won’t want to pre-empt Racing Pulse as their flagship at 8.30. Just, the focus will be on racing rather than footy - and again the same applies for the TAB sports betting tie-in.
3 Likes
I mentioned that more as a case of… [and sorry this is stupid-long!]
Before RSN went up for sale last year, it was obviously owned by the three codes of Victorian racing. From what I understand it, because that takeover happened in 1994, before the existence of Racing Victoria as the principal authority, each of the three metro clubs (VRC, MRC, Moonee Valley) had separate shareholdings, plus GRV, HRV and Country Racing VIC.
Separately, Tabcorp and the three codes (gallops represented by Racing VIC this time) have the current exclusive joint venture tote licence in Victoria, which ran for 12 years and will expire in about August 2024. The industry ran a jointly-held company (VicRacing Pty Ltd) to hold their 50% stake. I’m actually not sure why the industry needed to be involved in a joint venture but that’s what happened.
Although the two structures were slightly different - I wouldn’t be surprised if the greyhounds had a slightly larger stake in the latter, given how much that has exploded in VIC between 1994, 2012, and now - it meant there were… at least, a few synergies between the two, and it probably kept the TAB onside in terms of being their main sponsor. That they have offered the TAB agency feed of Sky Racing on DAB+ for the longest time is probably also testament to that.
Fast forward to 2022-23… and besides the advent of Racing.com TV in 2015 (the site predated it slightly), you sort of have two things coming up:
-
Obviously, RSN got put up for sale, and now Racing VIC own it by themselves (lest it fall into SEN’s hands), put into the same “integrated media business” segment that Racing.com TV is. Obviously they were not likely to stay stagnant, given it effectively means they’ve paid off their member clubs and the other codes and would want it to not stay the same way.
-
Unlike some of the other TAB sale processes that saw Tabcorp (or those they have acquired since, including TAB Qld/Unitab/Tatts) get exclusivity for lengthy periods, Victoria has a competitive licensing system for gaming licences including the tote, and there has been talk that it might go non-exclusive next time, possibly to as many as three competitors. Certainly a few international bookies have been reported to put in a tender alongside Tabcorp (and I’m not sure the latter is still the current JV bidding).
There is precedent with splitting the licence, with Tatts and Tabcorp famously splitting the master licences for pokies outside the casino (which only changed a few years back), and Tatts losing a fair chunk of their lotteries business to Intralot in the early 2000s - although what the latter got was a bit of a dud deal outside of getting scratchies, and it didn’t last.
It would be interesting to see what happens from an RSN perspective, especially if the TAB are not the only game in town (I don’t believe they won’t get at least a slice of it.) It’s not like the tote is all that talked about anymore anyway (beside things like the Quaddie) but it may change what Racing VIC do with it come 2024.
It certainly feels like they are slowly moving to a point where they don’t have to depend on Tabcorp, and moving to a multiple bookie partner setup, and synergise that with Racing.com TV, might let them drag more money in.
(Although then you wonder if Tabcorp might try and find a narrowcast licence to put Sky Sports Radio into Melbourne/Victoria if that happens. That would not be easy, given SEN got in first with the easy option of buying the Rete Italia frequencies years ago. But who knows.)
A bit too much there and I’m writing this three-quarter-tired so I may be being over-wordy, but that’s probably my ponderings on what Racing VIC may do in the future, especially if the wagering environment changes significantly when the new licences come into effect on 16 August next year.
6 Likes
Appears that RSN is starting to use the Sky Sports Radio feed at times to sustain their Xtra service, especially when the TAB agency feed is not on (eg. after 11pm VIC time), rather than reverting to simulcasting the main RSN feed. (or as a backup to the latter at times, I did hear that in the evening once)
This does seem to include the Big Sports Breakfast from Sydney. I don’t know what they do between 9-10* when 2KY and RadioTAB do their respective state based racing shows - Xtra only “officially” starts at 10am with the Kiwi racing.
I guess this answers the question about Tabcorp making sure they have their own feed for the time being: they just keep borrowing one of RSN’s 
* separate question: does not having a separate RadioTAB show mean the BSB is going in live at 4.30am now, or is it being delayed into QLD over the summer? 
3 Likes
Apropos of little (except RSN Xtra seemingly dropping Sky for now… it’s back to simulcasting the main station):
One reason why I end up poking things like RSN Xtra is due to how daft Tabcorp is in how they do their radio streaming.
In order to fit it in with the CDN encoding setup for streaming Sky, the audio streams (for 2KY but I presume the RadioTAB stream is the same now since Tabcorp took it over) actually aren’t just audio streaming but in fact video streams with a static image. Is what you see when you have the app open in the streaming section but it’s not provided by the app itself, it’s provided by the stream.
That has an effect on the bitrate of it all. Afaik the lowest bitrate they use is about 256 kbit/s or so which… I know I know, get with the times, it’s not 2003 anymore and things are mostly unlimited now, but if you’re using something like RadioApp, a speech radio stream doing about 120 MB per hour just seems ridiculous. 
(you could probably poke and say “bet less and you can afford more GBs on your internet”, but I’m a strange case of one who listens at times but wagers close to zero, lol 
)
4 Likes
Sadly, Father Dowling has died. He reached his milestone of 50 years of broadcasting in September.
5 Likes
So ARN regional (ex-Grants) in effect owns Power FM, 3BA FM and 3BT (1314 AM)? How are they allowed to have 3 commercial licences, albeit the AM one being a relay of RSN from Melbourne. Is the RSN relay under some sort of lease arrangement?
I always presumed 3BT was a narrowcast licence, but you’re right, it’s tecnhically considered a commercial licence. That’s odd then.
2 Likes
I guess, do we know for sure who actually owns 3BT (1314 AM)? ACMA has the licencee as Ballarat Sports Radio Pty Ltd, but who owns that? Maybe RSN owns it?
1 Like
According to the ACMA Media Control Database, one of the controllers of 3BT include the Camplins (former owner of 2BS & B-Rock Bathurst), and Kevin Blyton (Capital Radio Network). Unlike with RSN (3UZ) Melbourne & 3SR Shepparton, Racing Victoria does not control the licence.
2 Likes
In other words, people who are happy to do what ARN wants them to do with the AM in Ballarat. Since it’s not owned by RSN who might then sell it, no risk of an actual competitor getting a commercial AM licence in the Ballarat market. See also Geelong and Grant keeping 1341 out of the hands of genuine competition.
2 Likes
But 1341 Geelong is a narrowcast licence with restrictions on its programming type, so unlike Ballarat it couldn’t be turned into a commercial competitor (not without a whole process).
Ballarat and Shepparton AMs however are both still commercial licences, so yes theoretically could be sold/divested and turned into an additional commercial station for each city.
3 Likes
Interesting background on the Ballarat station.
2 Likes
Yeah, it’s pretty rotten behaviour of them.
1 Like
I wonder if ACMA has a view on this cozy relationship?
But, regardless, even cozy relationships can turn sour after a while 
1 Like
Whats the difference between this and say Nine effectively outsourcing the operation of their music stations to ACE?
1 Like
Not sure that it’s quite the same situation. Nine still has ultimate ownership and control of its music stations even though it’s leased out to ACE. And Nine is legitimately allowed to own/control both stations.
In the case of 3BT it seems, only from what I read here, it’s just speculation AFAIK, to be a very comfortable though informal relationship between its owners and the owners of the 2 FM stations to have 3BT keep off its competitors’ grass by carrying a racing relay and just take the money from RSN to do so. Potentially a nice little earner for 3BT’s owner while protecting the FMs from a local competitor? I don’t know.
1 Like
Interestingly, there’s also a clause in the Broadcasting Act that gives the racing-formatted commercial stations (being 3BT and 3SR, and 4FC in Maryborough QLD) an exemption from the local content requirements. Goes to show how much the commercial broadcasters and the racing industry have the governments and ACMA in their pockets.
1 Like
What are the odds that 1341AM in Geelong is leased in the very near future to SEN for relaying SEN Track?
1 Like