Nine has hit back after the Herald Sun reported that the broadcaster was at loggerheads with Sports Entertainment Network (SEN) boss Craig Hutchison (pictured) after 3AW commentary was taken off the AFL app.
Users of the AFL app have previously been able to listen to commentary from Triple M, ABC, SEN and 3AW but this year that has changed.
However, Hutchison negotiated a deal which meant SEN is the only AM commercial option in the app.
The Herald Sun (owned by Newscorp) reported that Nine was furious about the decision and also quoted a source that described as being asleep at the wheel.
Nine refuted the claim in an email sent form Stephen Beers, 3AW Station Manager, to all 3AW staff.
In the email, Breen said that the claim “could not be further from the truth”.
“As you know, our strategy has been to recover control of our content creation, distribution and commercialisation. This was finalised last year when we were able to end our agreement with SEN on AFL, after ending separate agreements on Cricket, Syndication and NRL”, he said.
“This has led to significant audience and commercial upside for us, and downside for our competitors”.
“As part of our negotiations with the AFL, we requested that our broadcasts only be available through our App. The future of our business relies on our ability to have a direct relationship with our listener – not through the AFL, or SEN. We also secured streaming rights for all of Australia, not just Melbourne and Perth”.
“It makes no commercial sense to have our listeners access our content via third-party platforms. I wonder if the Herald Sun would want their content distributed for free through the AFL app without knowledge of audience, data or an ability to commercialise? “
Our strategy – to keep our listeners on our platforms – has already paid huge dividends. In 2023, our streaming numbers are up 100 per cent on Saturdays and 284 per cent on Sundays.
