From the Age
A MAJOR overhaul of sports broadcasting rules will allow more premium sport to be shown on free-to-air television - including on the digital multi-channels - but also allows pay TV to bid directly for four AFL games a week.
Communications Minister Stephen Conroy yesterday unveiled a two-tiered system, in which major events such as the Melbourne Cup, the AFL grand final and the Australian Open tennis finals will be required to be broadcast live and in full on the main free-to-air channels.
Other events such as the Olympics, AFL home-and-away games and preliminary Australian Open tennis rounds will be able to be shown on the digital multi-channels operated by Nine, Seven and Ten.
The anti-siphoning list has been expanded to reflect the growth of Twenty20 cricket and to include Australia's World Cup soccer qualifiers.
Some events have been removed from the list, including the early rounds of Wimbledon, the British Open golf and England-Australia one-day cricket matches in Britain.
Under the five-year deal, to start from January 1 next year, pay television gains direct access to four AFL matches per round. This is the same number shown on pay TV now, although under the current agreement Foxtel has to source the games from free-to-air networks.
Despite the announcement, Senator Conroy failed to fully resolve the package. Cabinet has required him to come up with a legally binding mechanism to ensure that blockbuster AFL matches stay on free-to-air.
The AFL had offered a letter of comfort guaranteeing the best matches would stay on free-to-air, with penalties for breaches of that agreement. But as cabinet met, there was dispute among the free-to-air and pay broadcasters.
Cabinet baulked at the AFL deal and wanted certainty that the carve-up would protect viewers. The Age understands the cabinet talks resolved that negotiations would continue on how to secure the most popular games for free-to-air.
Senator Conroy insisted that the best AFL matches would remain on free-to-air, including the Anzac Day and Queen's birthday matches.
''We've got commitments from the AFL that the Friday night game is the best game, the Saturday night game is the second best game,'' Senator Conroy said.
The AFL praised the package as ''sensible and pragmatic'', and said it would decide the classification of matches each October when it releases the fixture.
''There will be inevitable questions about the quality of games on free-to-air,'' said AFL chief operating officer Gillon McLachlan. ''I will reiterate the undertaking that we have given to the federal government … there will be high-quality AFL games of free-to-air football on Friday night, Saturday night.''
Foxtel was unhappy, arguing more events should have come off the anti-siphoning list. The pay TV camp thought it would get access to events such as the Australian Open under the revised package.
Foxtel said it was ''disappointed'' that more events had not been made available to all broadcasters and the agreement offered by the AFL on the blockbuster matches had not been sufficient for the government.
Free-to-air television cautiously welcomed the framework, but Free TV chairman Wayne Goss warned that the best football matches must be made available free to viewers.
There were signs that the opposition will endorse the package, which shadow communications minister Malcolm Turnbull said included ''some worthwhile reform'', including allowing free-to-air channels to show events on their digital multi-channels.
But Mr Turnbull criticised Senator Conroy for failing to resolve the package yesterday.
''As has been so often the case with Senator Conroy the result is continuing confusion and uncertainty - all of which could have been avoided if he had just completed the exercise before the press conference and worked out a satisfactory mechanism for picking the best games to remain on the anti-siphoning list,'' he said.
From the Herald Sun
Federal reforms unveiled yesterday give pay-TV giant Foxtel the right to bid directly for AFL games for the first time.
But the Federal Government has guaranteed that key Friday and Saturday night matches and blockbuster games such as Anzac Day and the AFL finals series will be preserved for coverage by free-to-air stations.
Networks Seven, Nine and Ten will also be permitted to show AFL games on their secondary digital channels - but will not be required to air them live.
That decision will be up to the AFL, which yesterday fired another broadside at Channel 7 for refusing to ditch Better Homes & Gardens on Friday nights.
Demetriou declared for the first time that he wanted every game to be telecast live against the gate.
The Grand Final is the only game listed on the top-rung of a new two-tier anti-siphoning system, meaning it must be shown live and in full on a primary free-to-air station.
But under a second-rung rule still to be finalised by the AFL and Government, four "high-quality" home-and-away matches will be shown each week on a free-to-air channel, either primary or secondary.
That leaves five home-and-away matches for Foxtel, which until now has had to broadcast the weekend games the free-to-air stations did not want.
The overhaul clears the way for the AFL to begin full-blown negotiations for its next round of broadcast rights running from 2012-16.
It has set its sights on a bumper $1 billion contract, up from the $780 million deal with Seven, Ten and Foxtel.
"The Government was firm in seeking from the AFL significant undertakings to ensure that high quality games will be played on Friday and Saturday nights and we gave those publicly and privately and we stand by those commitments," AFL Chief Operating Officer Gillon McLachlan said yesterday.
The AFL also emerged a winner under new regulations allowing matches to be aired on secondary digital channels, giving free-to-air networks the power to broadcast games in the northern markets that have previously suffered delays of up to four hours.
"What that does is help enhance national coverage. I think that's a great outcome for football supporters everywhere ... fans are much more likely to receive blanket coverage in the next deal," McLachlan said.
Last Modified on 27/11/2010 11:53