AFTER
months of frustration for the AFL and NRL, the country's main sporting
codes can rekindle broadcast rights negotiations after a secret meeting
between communication minister Stephen Conroy and executives from the nation's free-to-air television networks.
Last
week, Conroy met senior television executives to provide a ''background
briefing'' on the government's planned changes to anti-siphoning laws.
The
ability for the free-to-air networks to use their secondary digital
channels to broadcast sports is on the cards, say those who attended
the meeting - a move that will infuriate the pay-TV industry.
Those anti-siphoning regulations govern which
key sporting events must appear on free-to-air TV first, and are due to
expire on December 31 this year.
The AFL has been
desperate to finalise its broadcast rights for the 2012-2016 seasons by
the end of the year, while the NRL is eager to broker a deal for
2013-2017.
Negotiations have been stymied by the
federal government's refusal to release details of planned changes to
anti-siphoning regulations until after the election.
To
help clear the air, a meeting between Conroy and the TV networks was
held in Melbourne on Monday of last week. It was organised by the
Freeview lobby group, which represents the interests of commercial
networks Seven, Nine and Ten, as well as the ABC and SBS.
The
minister is said to have given the ''the best indication yet'' that
rights-holders will be able to broadcast some first-run sport on
free-to-air digital stations under changes to the anti-siphoning
regulations, but no details were revealed.
Almost
immediately, the Nine Network moved. On Tuesday last week - the day
after Conroy's briefing - three senior Nine executives visited AFL
house to re-open talks with AFL boss Andrew Demetriou and his chief negotiator, Gillon McLachlan.
Nine stopped broadcasting AFL matches in 2006, but will bid for the rights to Friday night football from 2012.
Nine's Melbourne boss Jeff Browne
has also indicated the station is interested in broadcasting Monday
night football. ''There was a meeting between three Nine executives and
three AFL executives in Melbourne last week,'' Browne confirmed. ''As I
have said all along, we will only pay what we believe the rights are
worth and not over the odds.''
Asked about details
of the meeting with Conroy, Browne said: ''I think he has done a good
job in getting across the issues. We still won't know what the rules
will be until after the election, but we have some clarity and are
hopeful that common sense will prevail, especially when it comes to the
ability of rights-holders to broadcast on the digital stations.''
Earlier this month Nine dropped the rights to Wimbledon after 35 years, which will free-up funds for its AFL and NRL bids.
If
the federal government does allow rights-holders to show matches on the
free-to-air digital stations, without having to simulcast on the
primary station, the quality of AFL and NRL matches available to Foxtel
would be limited.
Under the terms of its NRL deal,
Nine has rights to three live matches a week and Foxtel five, but
Foxtel cannot show any match in competition with Nine.
Under
the terms of the AFL deal, Seven and Ten own the rights to all eight
matches a week, and sell four of those to Foxtel and Austar.
All three commercial networks will be granted an extra digital station in the next 12 months.
The
Federal Government has delayed details of changes to the anti-siphoning
regulations until after the election to avoid a backlash from Foxtel,
and other parts of Rupert Murdoch's media empire.
Sports
fans would be the big winners. If Test cricket ran late on Nine, the
network would be able to show its scheduled news program and direct
viewers to another digital station for the final overs.
Seven has been reluctant to show live Friday night football in Melbourne due to the higher ratings achieved by Better Homes and Gardens. If the changes are introduced, the station could broadcast live matches on one of its alternative digital stations.
Last Modified on 30/07/2010 13:03
