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Broadcast options for Australian Rugby

wamberal

Phil Kearns (64)
We watched the Australian Club Championship game between Eastwood and Souths. It was on the Reds website, and viewable via Youtube. We put it onto our smart screen, it was surprisingly good.
 
T

TOCC

Guest
We watched the Australian Club Championship game between Eastwood and Souths. It was on the Reds website, and viewable via Youtube. We put it onto our smart screen, it was surprisingly good.
I watched the Reds trial matches through Apple TV in my 55" TV, quality was quite good, comparable to FTA SD.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

wamberal

Phil Kearns (64)
I watched the Reds trial matches through Apple TV in my 55" TV, quality was quite good, comparable to FTA SD.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


This is the way of the future, pay-for-view eventually. I certainly would have paid say, $5, for a commercial quality telecast. More in fact.
 

liquor box

Greg Davis (50)
This is the way of the future, pay-for-view eventually. I certainly would have paid say, $5, for a commercial quality telecast. More in fact.
If that $5 went to the franchise I wonder how this compares to a ticket at the ground?

I would gladly pay per game to watch a high quality broadcast.
 

dru

Tim Horan (67)
If that $5 went to the franchise I wonder how this compares to a ticket at the ground?

I would gladly pay per game to watch a high quality broadcast.

Yeah I'm completely with this and the Reds lead the way. Like a US GridIron "game pass". I'd much prefer to spend my money directly with the Reds or the ARU than with Foxtel.
 

wamberal

Phil Kearns (64)
If that $5 went to the franchise I wonder how this compares to a ticket at the ground?

I would gladly pay per game to watch a high quality broadcast.


Couldn't say about this particular game. But I think entry to Shute Shield is $22, although members get in free to home games.


Everybody will have his or her own cost-benefit calculation. Sadly a lot of people will look only at the cash cost, and forget about, for example, the true cost of driving to a match.
 

WorkingClassRugger

David Codey (61)
Yeah I'm completely with this and the Reds lead the way. Like a US GridIron "game pass". I'd much prefer to spend my money directly with the Reds or the ARU than with Foxtel.


It's something I've thought SANZAAR or the ARU should have been/should be looking at for quite some time now. The ability to control their own offerings and finances. I actually think it would be an interesting exercise to investigate the size of the marketplace. Even if it's only the ARU. You could bundle Super Rugby, NRC, potentially a Sevens offering plus supplemental programming likes 'The Code' and 'Brumbies TV' (each franchise does their own), a panel show and highlights show etc.
 

Strewthcobber

Mark Ella (57)
Who got the digital rights under the new broadcast deal?

Telstra seem to have at least some of the AFL and NRL rights.

As a comparisson the NRL digital pass lets you watch the games at the same time as they are broadcast (so some are delayed) for $3 a week or $90 for the season. Matches are then in the archive
 

WorkingClassRugger

David Codey (61)
Who got the digital rights under the new broadcast deal?

Telstra seem to have at least some of the AFL and NRL rights.

As a comparisson the NRL digital pass lets you watch the games at the same time as they are broadcast (so some are delayed) for $3 a week or $90 for the season. Matches are then in the archive


I imagine they were packaged in the deal with Fox. Still, would be worth doing the research into the potential marketplace.
 

mst

Peter Johnson (47)
Yeah I'm completely with this and the Reds lead the way. Like a US GridIron "game pass". I'd much prefer to spend my money directly with the Reds or the ARU than with Foxtel.

Be careful what you wish for. I posted a while back that they did this with the NHRA drag racing overseas and its blown up!

The streaming service has been price really high (USD$100 a year) so its almost unaffordable by most. The backlash of limited uptake has made them even geo-blocked replays in news stories etc to drive subscriptions.

The in-house coverage is apparently really low quality and they haven't been able to sell a lot of the the international broadcast rights even though the season has stated. Rumours are swirling that broadcasters (digital and international) are waiting out a bargain as the pressure mounts from sponsors and teams.

The punter might end up with a good deal but it may now cost the sport significantly.

What is the quality of the NFL game pass like? (considering our third world internet!)
 

WorkingClassRugger

David Codey (61)
Be careful what you wish for. I posted a while back that they did this with the NHRA drag racing overseas and its blown up!

The streaming service has been price really high (USD$100 a year) so its almost unaffordable by most. The backlash of limited uptake has made them even geo-blocked replays in news stories etc to drive subscriptions.

The in-house coverage is apparently really low quality and they haven't been able to sell a lot of the the international broadcast rights even though the season has stated. Rumours are swirling that broadcasters (digital and international) are waiting out a bargain as the pressure mounts from sponsors and teams.

The punter might end up with a good deal but it may now cost the sport significantly.

What is the quality of the NFL game pass like? (considering our third world internet!)


It's something you need to really plan for. You have to do the research. Identify the real world market and its size. How much they'd be willing to pay and for what exactly? The most importantly, you have to ensure the production quality is of a high standard.

Perhaps the market doesn't exist in large enough quantities for subscription based service to be viable. Doesn't mean it isn't still an option. Maybe that same research proves that there is demand for games as a free service based around advertising. It could still be worth the risk.

What producing your own content allows for is the decisions on where you offer the content to be entirely in your own hands. Advertisers pay for reach. By producing the content internally and then approaching broadcasters international with large reach within their respective markets you could add value to advertisers.
 

mst

Peter Johnson (47)
It's something you need to really plan for. You have to do the research. Identify the real world market and its size. How much they'd be willing to pay and for what exactly? The most importantly, you have to ensure the production quality is of a high standard.

Perhaps the market doesn't exist in large enough quantities for subscription based service to be viable. Doesn't mean it isn't still an option. Maybe that same research proves that there is demand for games as a free service based around advertising. It could still be worth the risk.

What producing your own content allows for is the decisions on where you offer the content to be entirely in your own hands. Advertisers pay for reach. By producing the content internally and then approaching broadcasters international with large reach within their respective markets you could add value to advertisers.

Apparently they did all the research and preparation but did not account for the risk / cost that broadcasters can absorb as well as the challenge of established deals / alliances / contacts etc etc.

Also you need to carefully consider cross advertising that will clash with ARU deals / SANZAR / franchise etc, and network / broadcaster deals.

So for example Fox Sports has all the equipment and infrastructure in place. The cost of this is shared across multiple broadcasts across the year. The ratings risk / advertising revenue is spread across content thus diversifying the market and mitigating the risk to income.

Like any business with limited trading, wage cost are higher and hiring professional as a reasonable cost is difficult. So its contractor at an exorbitant cost with limited care or quality.

Selling to broadcasters can be tricky. depending on the sport you need them more then they need you.

So if you don't invest to be independent you are at the mercy of a contractor that limits your business capability model.

If you do invest you have $$ tied up doing nothing for significant periods of time. A closed business does not pay its way.

If you get it wrong in this (Aussie) market it would be a hard to recover being so competitive. Especially with a sport that is desperately needing to be mainstream on FTA to increase revenue and be competitive in the market.

So taking it back in any form to a niche market via a web subscription is a major risk and could be a backwards step and shrink advertising revenue.

When you are a heavy hitter like the NFL, EPL or in our market AFL and NRL you then dictate terms, until then we are reliant on others like Foxtel to keep us afloat, relevant and mainstream.

The NRC is a perfect example of this. If Foxtel didn't bear some of the cost to broadcast, it would not receive any real air time except to a small niche market.
 

Brumby Runner

David Wilson (68)
$5 to stream each of at least 5 (involving 5 Aus and 5 NZ teams) games per week means a minimum outlay each week of $25, more in most weeks when the Aus/NZ sides are playing those in the SA conferences.

I get all of these games available live and recorded as I want in IQ from Foxtel for about $25 per month. Why would I want to subscribe to a streaming service at about 4 times the cost for usually poorer quality? And just what effect would wholesale migration to streaming have on the SANZAAR/ARU/Fox contract?

Seems like a losing proposition for all but those supporters who only want to watch one game per week.
 
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