Fox Sports have become a powerhouse in Australian sports broadcasting following the demise of C7 Sports in the early 2000s.
However, with the increasing number of sports behind the pay wall, it appears it is time for the three major free-to-air networks to work together to gain back control of sports broadcasting in Australia.
We are beginning to see food and lifestyle multichannel appear on the FTA box and soon I would propose that the big three networks add a sports channel too.
Seven are trying to make themselves the FTA home of sport in Australia so why not have a 7Sport channel?
Nine could use their Wide World of Sports platform to create their own channel too, 9WWOS.
Network 10 tried it in 2010 with the launch of One which was supposed to be Australia’s first FTA 24/7 sports network but as soon as Fox began to see it was a threat to the subscription network, it got shut down. It is now 10 Bold following 10’s rebrand late last year.
James Tedesco (C) of the Roosters during the NRL grand final. (Photo by Matt King/Getty Images)
The three networks should share the sports. It is alarming that since 2010, 10 has lost the AFL, cricket, swimming, Winter Olympics, Commonwealth Games, and basketball among others.
The networks need to realise that to gain an audience, live sport is the way to go.
10 All Access was launched at the end of last year and that could be a way for the channel to re-enter sports broadcasting for the major sports of AFL, cricket and NRL.
If there is anyway to beat the pay wall and limit the sports accessible to Fox, then Seven, Nine and Ten must work together to build a force that is unbreakable. Even if it means that the three networks are required to share the sports then that might be the way to go.
Obviously everything cannot be on free to air television but the majority should. Having the Asian Cup and limit overs matches in Australia only on Fox Sports is very alarming. Kayo Sports has come into the sports broadcasting market in the past month but lets be honest- it is the same as Fox Sports and still does not fix the present issue being that more sports are being sold to Fox Sports today than ever before.
Optus tried to break into the sports broadcasting market recently with Optus Sports but failed dismally with a disastrous telecast of the FIFA World Cup last year, following on broadcasting the cricket on their platforms. It seems to me that Fox is getting away from bullying the FTA networks.
The reason that SBS got the Ashes in 2009 was that the anti-siphoning list states that the Ashes MUST be shown on FTA in Australia. The same is with the One Day Internationals and Twenty20 Internationals.
Channel Seven have the rights for them but are not willing to use them. By law, that means that either Nine, the SBS, ABC or 10 should be given these matches if they wish. 10 placed a bid for the cricket but were screwed over by Cricket Australia so therefore they should have been given the limited overs cricket.
Fox Sports subscribers definitely get bang for their buck however the average Australian is being told they cannot watch our nation’s greatest hobbies- sport.
The last time that a broadcast rights deal was shared between FTA networks was for the AFL between 2007-2011 when Network 10 and the Seven Network held the rights for FTA Football coverage in Australia.
Network 10 did great things for the AFL including broadcasting more games into Queensland and New South Wales than any broadcaster did before. 10 had the chance to get back AFL coverage but were denied from Fox Sports which means that less games are broadcasted today than what was the case in past broadcast deals.
Australians love their sport and it is a sad sight to see many being unable to watch the sporting superstars because the majority of sports are now behind the pay wall.
Cigar Field Sobers
Roar Rookie
Lynton, FTA sports broadcasting has always been reluctantly doled out and ja,packed with irritating ads at every opportunity. Others have mentioned the delayed broadcasts, for example in Perth the Friday night AFL broadcast was delayed by two hours "so families could get home from work, have dinner and settle down to watch the footy". Thankfully that is no longer the case, but it need never have been except the network needed maximum time to bombard viewers with ads, so much so that the latter stages of the match would grow longer and longer as extra ads were dropped into the post-goal breaks, with the games finishing around 11:30 - 11:45pm. I'm not kidding ! You also have to factor in the massive payments made by pay broadcasters for the rights. How would all the ridiculously-overpaid athletes be paid so handsomely without the billion-dollar tv rights package ? Can't see any of them requesting a salary cut so folk can watch them play the same matches on FTA. As has been pointed out elsewhere, you can get Kayo from $25 a month, my current Foxtel deal is $40 a month with no dish, no box and no contract, for live, ad-free coverage with quality journalism, and decent intros and analysis. I have waited all of my life for international sport to be so accessible, so forking out $1.30 a day seems a small price to pay for the privilege. No matter what happens, FTA broadcasters ALWAYS treat their sports viewers with contempt, and don't deserve their patronage.
Bilbo
Guest
The launch of One HD was pretty exciting at the time. I've been a Foxtel subscriber for most of the past 20 years, however went without it from 2009-2011. It was nice to have NBA on FTA, College Basketball, NFL (still is, yes I know), there was MLB I think, Seria A as well. That was all KO'd by Murdoch Jnr of course. We probably have as much sport as we did during the 90s on FTA, however our appetites have increased as we have been exposes to more sports over the years. Fox have been cleverly wetting the appetite then excluding fans, for instance here are a few BBL games, but on Friday and Sat you'll have to subscribe Here is an F1 race, but you'll have to pay to watch the next three There are also blackout weekend daytimes now that were rare between Nov & Feb in the 1990s when there would either be tests, ODIs or FAI cup games. There is no daytime cricket on FTA during the day on weekends for 2-3 weeks.
Kaks
Roar Guru
If you are unable to afford $25 a month for Kayo Sports to watch almost all the sports you want to watch when they are live (instead of watching what is selected for you at that time-slot on FTA) or watch games on demand, then you have bigger issues to worry about other than whether or not sports should be on FTA.
Queenslander
Roar Guru
Yes there is a changing society and that worries me but live sport on FTA brings audiences. Lets invest in those to bring back the viewers.
Queenslander
Roar Guru
How about the people that dont have the internet like the elderly? What about them? I much prefer things on the TV. When I try to watch the WBBL on Cricket live stream, the coverage is pathetic plus it buffers all the time. It is far easier watch sport through a TV and FTA is accessible to ALL Australians. What is worse than having LIVE sport buffer?
Queenslander
Roar Guru
I am young and started watching sport about 10 years ago as I am now 16. I do remember that we now have live footy as opposed to delayed Friday Night footy but we need more on FTA.
Red Block
Roar Rookie
This is karma and payback for when the two or three twenty-something tv programmers controlled what and when we watched sport. It is tough bikkies if they are crying poor. Those of us with long memories remember the 1989 Ashes series when Channel 9 refused to show the first session live. The execs insisted that too many people were interested in other shows. In Qld it was worse. The one hour time delay meant that during an any ODI we missed about 2 hours of live cricket. One day Gilchrist got 143 from 113 balls. In Qld it switched back to the cricket on the ball he got out. Thank God for ABC radio. And 7 would show the Aus Open tennis on one hour delay. Want to go to bed, just switch on ABC radio and hear the live score. What about the 43 minutes of a Sunday night rugby league game? We couldn't exist without Ray and his 60 minutes? While I'm on a rant, what about the FTAs refusing to show the first two round of any US major golf tournament or the any EPL coverage at all which was late Saturday night anyway. My point is, be careful what you wish for. Many of us haven't forgotten what it used to be like.
Ozzie
Guest
Yeah that's what we need, more sports rights crammed on to one channel where the networks can't cover them properly. What is needed is for all sports to have their own league pass style apps/websites so we can see every game in its entirety on our own terms, not dictated by networks. Free to air do a poor job covering sport unless its a blockbuster game like Friday night football or a big final, otherwise they don't even have pre- or post-game coverage, they cut celebrations short by going to the news. They don't deserve any more rights than they have.
Mister Football
Roar Guru
From the headline, I thought the crisis the article was going to address was changing behaviour in society and the reducing numbers of people watching traditional TV. Having said that, I would agree that if there is one thing which can reduce the inevitable slide, it's live sport. Won't stop the slide, but it can lengthen the tail.