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So after a big summer of cricket on Channel Nine and Channel Ten, we have the 2015 Cricket World Cup beginning.
Since October we have had cricket a plenty on free-to-air TV. First there was the domestic one day series, with a healthy collection of games shown on GEM.
CURRENT SPORTS EVENTS ON THE FULL AUSTRALIAN ANTI-SIPHONING LIST: BROADCASTING LAWS EXPLAINED
In November the international matches started, with T20s against South Africa on Channel Nine and the women’s T20’s versus the West Indies on GEM. This was followed by the five game ODI series on Nine.
There was the four-match Test series against India live on Channel Nine, the six weeks of nightly Big bash games on Channel Ten and the ODI tri-series on Channel Nine and GEM.
And now it’s time for the World Cup. How many of the 49 games will be shown on Channel Nine, the free-to-air rights holder?
All 49? No.
Given there are some double headers, I’ll say 35? No.
Ok then, all the quarter finals, semi-finals and final plus a collection of 15 or so of the best group matches, so 25? No.
Try 10.
Yes Australia’s six group stage games plus their possible quarter final, the two semi-finals and the final.
That is it. The rest are exclusively on Foxtel.
To think that I can watch every game of the FIFA World Cup live on SBS, I could watch every game of the Rugby League World Cup in 2013 on 7mate, but for the cricket World Cup in Australia I can only watch 10 of the 49 matches on free-to-air TV.
Cricket Australia have done a lot right of recent times but on this one they have dropped the ball.
Having international cricket played on Australia soil and exclusively broadcast on pay TV will infuriate and frustrate cricket fans around Australia.
This will be massive, yet no-one seems to be aware of it. I guess it will only hit home when, on the second day of the World Cup, India and Pakistan are playing at a sold out Adelaide Oval and only those with pay TV are able to watch it.
How did this happen?
Foxtel and Channel Nine signed a deal with the ICC in 2010 that packaged up the rights to two World Cups, two World T20s and the Champions Trophy.
Based on the coverage of the 2011 World Cup and 2012 and 2014 World T20, Channel Nine’s part in the deal seems to be to broadcast on free-to-air TV only the matches required by the Federal government’s anti siphoning laws.
That is, each Australian game in a World T20 plus the final plus each Australian game in the World Cup plus the semi-finals and final.
Cricket Australia really should have stepped in and brokered a deal with Foxtel to get more games on free-to-air TV. For a sport that wants to be at the forefront of the national psyche, having the premier event – the World Cup held on home soil – off our screens is a bad look.
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