7’s had success with the tennis for many years. The men’s game was always among the highest rating programs of the year. The 2005 men’s final is probably still the number 1 rating program since oztam began?
The women’s not so much, so the only point of difference for Nine’s success is that they’ve had a high rating women’s final.
Nine’s coverage is built on 7’s success. It looks and sounds the same as it did on 7. There was basically no negotiation for rights prior to the last deal also, it just went to 7.
So the only thing 7 did wrong was become complacent with the amount they were willing to pay. They were undoubtedly underpaying for quite some time.
Great call, Nine management have previously said (although subtly and hidden in articles and interviews) that they definitely want the AFL. However the recent extensions of AFL with Seven and also NRL with Nine might make things a bit more difficult in the immediate term. But agreed that if Seven were absolutely desperate for the tennis and got it back off Nine, it would surely give Nine options like future AFL, Paris/Los AngelesBrisbane Olympics and Winter Games too and Melbourne (presumably) Commonwealth Games rights. Would have to be impossible for Seven to pay for all of that. And then there’s cricket.
Reckon that Warburton’s statement is less a commitment to Tennis Australia and more a politely veiled message for Cricket Australia. It’s all part of the same strategy that involved public threats and independent arbitration between 7 and CA twelve months ago.
It’s clear that 7 want to bring down the rights value of the cricket, which is why Warburton pointedly referred to 7 not being willing to broadcast both cricket and tennis in his statement. Suspect it’s also 7’s objective to make 9 overpay for the tennis rights to reduce competition for other rights. Tennis Australia won’t mind obviously.
That assumes though that Nine doesn’t merely re-direct/use the money they would have otherwise spent on the Australian Open to regain the rights to test/limited-overs matches played in Australia.
Unlike 10, I doubt Nine would want to have no marquee sport to show during Summer.
If Seven significantly overpay to regain the Australian Open rights then you might be right. If they’re merely spending the same amount (or slightly more/less than) they currently do for the cricket rights, Seven would still be in a position to maintain their existing rights.
Cricket rights are nowhere near as valuable as they once were. Certainly not in the same league as the Australian Open. I could see them stumping up for test matches and driving a hard bargain to get access to some one day matches featuring Australia but I think the days of wall to wall cricket on free to air across summer are over.
Nine showed the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games with great ratings success, so I think Seven will be keen to get the rights to the 2026 edition should Victoria’s bid be successful.
I’d also think Seven or whatever network would look to Gold Coast 2018’s ratings rather than this year’s Birmingham 2022.
I realise this isn’t an overnight revelation, but negative impacting factors such as rain delays, washouts & the lost advertising revenue and make goods that result, as well as tests mostly being in day time would all have to be considerations too.
Nick Tabakoff wrote in The Australian today that the winning bidder could have to pay up $100 million a year for the next five-year broadcast deal with Tennis Australia, ending in 2029. The early talk after the recent Australian Open was that Nine would need to fork up around $80 million per year to renew its deal with TA.
Fox Sports’ (Fox Footy’s) Anthony ‘Huddo’ Hudson, previously Ten Sport (2002-20011), can be heard at the end of this video from a late 90s or early 2000s Aus Open match with Jennifer Capriati - highlight reel recently posted to AO’s official social media:
To my knowledge - no. Though I think since at least the late-90s they had their own set of graphics, as you can see in this video from 2014 (by which point, they started to show the players’ surnames in full, as they did between 2011-18)…
From 2010 (when players’ surnames were shortened to three letters):
AFAIK Seven Sport didn’t start producing a World Feed for the AO until the mid or early 2000s, global broadcasters (who didn’t opt out for own commentators etc) I believe just took Seven’s domestic feed, so I think the above video link was the original and only master, as Nine would probably source/access if showing replays/highlights.
–
edit
Some other things I noticed from their social media channels recently, from a MS perspective (more relevant perhaps for someone like our own @TelevisionAU), some vintage network logos:
with Monica Seles
Would be amazing if anyone could name the cameraman, I’m sure there’d be someone at Docklands or a station who could!
During 7’s Aus Open coverage they always used the 7mics for player interviews and I think even with the finals too. But when 9 took over it was always Aus Open mics
And they also used the world feed graphics, though with some variations while for most matches on 9Gem they would use the world feed commentary.
Once Nine picked up the other three Slams, they also adopted the world feed graphics, though used their own commentary team for select matches and had studio coverage from Melbourne.
Probably because Nine don’t have the ego of Seven and have a far better collaborative relationship with TA than Seven did, not to mention that whole ASIC court case a couple of years ago over the previous Seven-TA dealings including McWilliam and Stokes and Nine went hard after rights and offered up far more cash seeing a proposition and new future which TA clearly believed, liked and accepted immediately as they could and for the most part the rest is history and turned out true, twice over with a new deal a year ago setting up much of the next decade.
