EOYT 2016 - Possibles, probables and general banter

[GaffaCHinO]

I thought that all Internationals involving Australia must be broadcast on FTA under the Anti-Siphoning laws?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-siphoning_laws_in_Australia

 

[Dalai Ninja]

I thought that all Internationals involving Australia must be broadcast on FTA under the Anti-Siphoning laws?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-siphoning_laws_in_Australia

BeIN's not an Australian broadcaster so the law doesn't appply to them.

 

[amirite]

I thought that all Internationals involving Australia must be broadcast on FTA under the Anti-Siphoning laws?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-siphoning_laws_in_Australia

I could be wrong, but I thought these laws were more about giving FTA first rite of refusal of the content.

 

[Twoilms]

Rugby Championship is the only thing that's a little bit blurry IMO.

The "assumption" I've been making is that the Rugby Championship rights were done the same way as Super Rugby, that is to say, each Union negotiates with its domestic Broadcaster, subject to SANZAAR approval and international rights sold as a group, with all funds split.

In that case, unless the ARU could come close to matching Pay TV funds, that wouldn't be looked upon very nicely.

Whereas if it's selling the three home games they get the money for, it's feasible, but that's a massive financial hit. For starters, you're looking at missing out on the actual money. Then the advertising and marketing deals. And then there's the production costs being shifted to the ARU. Can you guarantee the streaming money covering that?

And is the platform worth it if it doesn't have all the Tests? I'm not paying a lot for 6 or 7 tests, even if it came with NRC streaming. You'd be looking at being the highest bidder for at least 8 away games, 9 if NZ host the 3rd Bledisloe. While you could justify not broadcasting other games in the June or November, but you probably need the Rugby Championship to round it out, and that's another 6 games where you're paying top dollar.

I don't see that as realistic right now.

I'd say maybe 2020 with NZ trying to hold out for more away tour cash.

But the English and French seem just as happy to threaten Six Nations Part 2, Electric Boogaloo, and everybody else seems happy to wait for what works best for them financially. So maybe not.

Good post, thanks.

 

[Strewthcobber]

From the Department of Communications and the Arts

Pay TV operators

Pay TV can televise an event if:

• the event is automatically removed from the anti-siphoning list
• the minister removes the event from the list
• a national broadcaster (ABC or SBS) or commercial broadcaster with a combined audience of more than half of the Australian population has purchased the rights
• 7 days have passed since the end of the event.

An event is automatically removed from the anti-siphoning list if no one has bought the rights 12 weeks before the event is due to start.

Looking at that it doesn't seem to matter that beIN has the rights - it's the operator (Foxtel) that is bound by the laws.

So it would appear that Ten and beIN couldn't come to terms in time - and I wonder when the rights were decided?

 

[Braveheart81]

I agree FTA is looking pretty vulnerable and Foxtel has positioned itself well.


If you go with the current trend in the US telco's are merging with Pay TV providers. It puts Foxtel / Telstra in the box seat. One driver according to the reports is sport is lucrative but expensive. Different realm to things like Netflix etc. The US regulators are very concerned with such moves.

Yes. A lot of the premium telcos are trying to become diversified media companies because there is huge amounts of downward pressure on pricing through competition on telco access (internet/phone etc.). For that reason having content to sell gives them a product rather than just a basic connection service.

One of the big issues this is causing in the US is the idea of net neutrality. If a major internet provider is also trying to sell their own TV content, they can improve their business of selling content if they deliver that service at a better speed etc. compared to those offered by competitors who aren't linked with an internet provider.

I.e. if you're the dominant player in a particular area (which is readily the case in the US where companies control areas of the country with little competition) you could hobble the speed of the competing streaming service such as Netflix and deliver your streaming service at a premium speed.

I thought that all Internationals involving Australia must be broadcast on FTA under the Anti-Siphoning laws?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-siphoning_laws_in_Australia

That's not how anti-siphoning laws work. They give the FTA networks the first opportunity to buy the exclusive rights and they can't be outbid by PayTV operators.

If they don't take up the exclusive rights then they become available on the open market.

The situation here is that no FTA networks took up the rights then beIN Sports outbid Foxsports for 3 of the 5 tests. Negotiations are still ongoing for the France and England games.

BeIN's not an Australian broadcaster so the law doesn't appply to them.

That's not correct. They are operating in Australia so Australian laws do apply to them.

 

[Strewthcobber]

Pretty clear article from Iain Payten in the tele this morning.

All FTA networks passed on buying the rights because the home nations and France were asking too much for them.

Low ratings because of kickoff time given as a reason.

beIN outbid foxsports for the Celtic games and nobody currently has the rights to England and French games. There's a fair chance they won't be broadcast in Australia at all (though that may be a bit of a beat up)

 

[Brumby Runner]

I'd like to think that even a modest bid by Fox for France and England games would be more acceptable to those organisations than none at all.

 

[Braveheart81]

You'd think that the closer it gets to the matches, the more likely a deal is to be struck.

The France game is only two and a half weeks away so they'd want to get their act together soon though.

It would be interesting to know exactly how the bidding arrangements work.

Does beIN hold an advantage in that they are potentially bidding to show the game in a vast number of jurisdictions and can get a package deal whereas Foxsports is only bidding to show the games in one country.

 

[Brumby Runner]

Maybe the anti-siphoning period for this game doesn't expire until 12 days prior to the game? If so, that might explain why the broadcast deals for neither this game nor the England game have yet been decided. especially if the three Celtic games were dealt with as a package.

 

[Braveheart81]

Maybe the anti-siphoning period for this game doesn't expire until 12 days prior to the game? If so, that might explain why the broadcast deals for neither this game nor the England game have yet been decided. especially if the three Celtic games were dealt with as a package.

The anti-siphoning rules are 12 weeks before, not 12 days before.

The FTA broadcasters are no longer relevant to the picture in terms of the France and England games being shown in Australia.

 

[Brumby Runner]

Thanks BH. My big mistake. I was just hoping there was some simple explanation for these games apparently not being in the Bein or Fox schedules yet.

 

[Scoey]

The Wales match is in the Bein guide. Just checked then.

 

[amirite]

The Kiwis had a similar problem recently with Skysports and some overseas tests their national cricket team were playing. It was sorted a day or two out.

I think it's basically a pissing contest with the content owner saying 'this is the price' and the network saying 'well, I don't see any other buyers so I'll pay what I want'.

Basically, unless the content owner feels like it will devalue their content long term and be a net negative, it's idiotic to leave money on the table.

 

[Braveheart81]

The Wales match is in the Bein guide. Just checked then.

They have confirmed they are showing Wales, Scotland and Ireland tests.

No Australian provider has purchased the rights for the France and England games yet.

 

[Scoey]

Correct. I was just confirming for BR that the first test was in fact in the guide.

 

[Tomikin]

Annoyed Bein offer a 1 month free trial, but when you go to subscribe to it, they say it runs out on the 14th of November.

 

[Brumby Runner]

Correct. I was just confirming for BR that the first test was in fact in the guide.

Thank you Scoey, but if you re-read my posts on the matter, you'll notice that early on I acknowledged the three games against Wales, Scotland and Ireland were on BEiN. My latest post was about France and England. Sorry if that wasn't clear from my words.

 

[Scoey]

D'OH! Got it. Haha! Well that was a waste of a half a dozen posts then!

 

[Tomikin]

I won't say anything nasty about beIN sports.. I will just leave this here..
...........................................
Thanks for the information.

The free trial for beIN SPORTS CONNECT is until 14th of November 2016.

We forwarded the screenshot to our IT Department to correct the error.

Thanks for pointing it out.
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