Television's sports squabble reignites

Television's sports squabble reignites
B&T Magazine
By B&T Magazine



The pay TV industry is launching a fresh assault on the anti-siphoning list for sport and the free-to-air industry is less than impressed, accusing Pay TV of “stealth” and trickery.

The Australian Subscription Television and Radio Association (ASTRA) is taking a new proposed to the federal government it says is the “most reasonable” seen in many years.

But Free TV chairman Harold Mitchell pointed to the UK experience and said a dual-rights scheme would only see major sports migrate to Pay TV “depriving millions of viewers from watching the game live and free”.

 “Pay TV’s call last year for the antisiphoning list to be dismantled fell on deaf ears. So now they are having another go, but this time they are trying to do it by stealth,” Mitchell said.

In November last year the Pay and free-to-air industries bickered over the anti-siphoning list with Foxtel's chief executive accusing the FTA industry of a "medical addiction" to media regulation. 

 “Pay TV is trying to trick the public and policy makers with a call for the current system to be replaced with a ‘dual rights’ scheme where free-to-air and pay TV rights for listed sports are sold separately.

“It’s nonsense to suggest that a dual rights scheme would deliver the same amount and quality of sport on free-to-air television. This is a ploy to force Australians to pay to watch their favourite sport on television.”

Mitchell said that now digital television is mainstream the “only change that the Parliament should consider is to enable free-to-air broadcasters to show listed sports on all their channels”.

Andrew Maiden, chief executive of ASTRA, told Fairfax the fresh proposal could enable “competing broadcasts” if a sports body sold its rights to both industries in parallel.  For more see the Fairfax report here.




Please login with linkedin to comment

Latest News

Boomtown’s Final Masterclass Of 2023 Attended By Almost 100 Media Reps
  • Media

Boomtown’s Final Masterclass Of 2023 Attended By Almost 100 Media Reps

Don’t treat regional media as a charity, but a real growth opportunity: That’s the message from Boomtown’s final masterclass of 2023, attended by almost 100 media industry representatives from across the nation. The masterclass was part of a series of educational sessions, delivered by Boomtown, the media collective championing advertising in regional Australia. The sessions […]

a data analyst using technology AI for working tool for data analysis Chatbot Chat with AI, using technology smart robot AI, artificial intelligence to generate something or Help solve work problems.
  • Advertising

Introducing Yahoo Blueprint: A New AI-powered Suite For Better Ad Performance & Optimisation

Yahoo Advertising has launched Yahoo Blueprint, a central AI suite that powers performance-based solutions within the Yahoo DSP. Fuelled by over 335 million logged in Yahoo users globally, Yahoo Blueprint enhances decisioning, makes AI more accessible, and serves as a results-driven guide throughout the campaign lifecycle to deliver better outcomes for advertisers. This new AI […]

Publicis Sapient Announces Launch Of PS Hummingbird, Expanding Its Generative AI And Cloud Capabilities With Microsoft
  • Technology

Publicis Sapient Announces Launch Of PS Hummingbird, Expanding Its Generative AI And Cloud Capabilities With Microsoft

Publicis Sapient, a digital business transformation company, today announced the launch of a new joint venture with Tquila called PS Hummingbird. Lead image: Nigel Vaz CEO of Publicis Sapient The partnership with Tquila, with whom Publicis Sapient has collaborated on several other ventures, will extend Publicis Sapient’s generative AI offerings powered by Microsoft Azure, Microsoft […]