Free To Air (FTA) TV deal discussion

[ngunity]

So the Fox 'State of the Game' forum (SoGF) and a lot of threads on the board have me thinking a lot about the importance of the next Free To Air (FTA) deal

First and foremost anyone know when 9's existing contract ends? I get the impression it must be soon otherwise why would Gallop and others be talking about it?

Personally I can't stand the way Ch 7 covers Winter/ summer olympics so I'd be concerned they'd butcher league so I'd very much like to see 9 cling to the FTA deal, and retain their existing staff but I want to see League pumped full of cash as a result of the next FTA deal

I think expansion of the game will rely on the financial strength of the NRL, the NRL draws a lot of cash from TV money, and without expansion the NRL could stagnate in time

In the Fox SoGF Gallop spoke at reasonable length and with confidence about the NRL's negotiating strength come the next deal, lets hope that's the case

In short a well negotiated FTA can lead to expansion, expansion can lead to a greater fan base and a truly national competition.

The NRL also needs to keep pushing money to promote the game in lean areas e.g. Melbourne, and ensure Junior bases grow and thrive

There's a lot to discuss about an FTA deal:
1. is it the primary income source for the NRL?
2. when will the new FTA be done and will it be bigger and better?
3. Which channels and why?
4. What about pay TV deals?

 

[Mark Rudd]

I love assuming




1. Yes
2. In a few years and yes and yes
3. 9 only. 7 want the AFL so wont bother with the NRL. 10 already have the AFL so wont bother with the NRL
4. FOX will pay slightly more for the rights.

 

[pcpp]

3. 7 are interested. 9 will most likely get them though.

 

[Razor]

1. Yes
2. End of 2007. It will be bigger. This deal originated in mid-1993 when the rights-holder 10 couldn't afford to pay, so had the rights taken off them. 7 couldn't bid due to AFL commitments, so 9 was the only channel that could. Contract went through until the end of 2000. But when the ARL & SL merged, they had to sign with Nine because they both had current contracts with 9, so again no bargaining power. They wanted a 10 year deal.
3. 7 & 9 will both bid.
4. Fox will get them for a lot less (assuming they win the case), now they have no competing pay TV station. Less than half the current offer. If the NRL say no who else can they go to? And News Ltd own 50% of Fox Sports and 50% of the NRL

 

[Anonymous]

I wonder if 7 and 9 would be willing to enter a co-hosting situation like 9 and 10 have with the AFL?

That could potentially lead to as many as 5 or even 6 FTA games per week.

 

[TiTTieS_[CNTDN]]

What I would like to know is: if 7 did get the rights, would the game times be different from the current times?

 

[ngunity]

End of 2007? Son of a bitch, I was hoping it was within a year or so from now

My hopes for expansion were going to pinned on a cash-heavy NRL post the new FTA deal

Every day that the NRL isn't in GC, CC, and Perth for example is another day for Union and AFL to consolidate their hold (ok AFL is only looking at GC and is getting stronger and stronger in Perth)

I don't think the NRL can push expansion without new FTA cash, but expansion will get harder and harder the longer it takes

The NRL need some venture capital and or a big loan to push expansion , knowing their income will be much stronger with the new FTA deal

 

[pcpp]

What I would like to know is: if 7 did get the rights, would the game times be different from the current times?

In some cases.

The current game schedules are purely there to suit Channel 9.

The new tv deal should make sure the Nrl would be allowed to schedule their games at whatever times they want.

 

[iggy plop]

As long as we get more than two bloody FTA games per weekend I'll be happy. It's a must to have League on everyday of the sporting weekend. Friday night, Sat night, Sunday arvo. Also a league discussion/review program on a Monday or Tuesday night is a must. A serious, issue-driven show for a change

 

[bartman]

What about the ABC in all of this, anyone?

We've gotta be able to do better than negotiating with two organisations that may have no competition against them (9 for FTA rights and Fox for Pay rights)? That just spells disaster....

 

[pcpp]

ABC can't afford it.

 

[BuffaloRules]

IS the Fox deal up for renewal at the same time as FTA??

 

[mightybears]

1.foxtel will pay a lot less as they are the only pay tv game in town, no optus anymore

2.and do you thing packer will get channel 9 to push it up, as he owns 25% of foxtel?

3.and of course the game is half owned and run by the mob who own another 25% of foxtel

afl doesn't have these problems
f#$K murdoch/ribot/morgan/'the vision thing'! ahhhhh!

league needs to ween itself off tv as the cash cow, expansion or not

 

[taxidriver]

league needs to ween itself off tv as the cash cow, expansion or not

and replace it with what ?

 

[olympic park]

theoretically how many teams would be able to be shown on FTA anyway (assuming the 16th team comes into the competition??)

5? or more??

 

[Mighty Tiger]

There's a lot to discuss about an FTA deal:
1. is it the primary income source for the NRL?
2. when will the new FTA be done and will it be bigger and better?
3. Which channels and why?
4. What about pay TV deals?

1. Yes

2. 2007

3. 7 will bid again especially since they have lost the AFL rights, but we all know nine will keep the rights no matter how high 7 go

4. Fox will never let go of League I just wish they would give us a bloody channel!!!

 

[DIEHARD]

Damn we need a TV network to fully back us. Nine just juggles us with AFL to maximise ratings...

 

[Kurt Angle]

The new rules regarding PayTV means we can push up the cash in regards to the new PayTV deal.

Foxtel is a distributor of PayTV content. I.e cable and satellite.
This is owned 50% by Telstra, 25% by News Corp. and 25% PBL.

It goes out and buys content off other vendors (I.e CNN, FoxSports, National Geographic)

This works out good for NewsCorp, and bad for Telstra shareholders.

The Foxtel consortium running at a loss, due to not enough pentration walks up to the FoxSports consortium and says "Give me 24 hours a day, 7 days a week of sport". This is owned outright by by NewCorp.

So for NewsCorp, the money they lose on the Cabling, is replenished by the income paid for FoxSports, Fox8 etc.

They run even, Telstra swallows all the losses.

But while Telstra are number one decision maker of Foxtel, it's not lost for RL. They can get in bed with ESPN, maybe even get Singleton/Branson to start up a PayTV channel, and sell all the rights to them.

They then sell a VirginSports PayTV channel, to be shown over foxtel, obviously RL being its number one attraction.

The biggest problem then would be the Sydney print media. This would undoubtedly get Murdoch offside.

With Fairfax press holding one paper, and Murdoch the other, RL would then have no friends in the Sydney print media.

 

[Mark Rudd]

If you think 7 will bid again, your kidding yourselves. No chance.

 

[Man_of_Steel_1982]

Seven have already expressed their interest in the NRL months ago. Nine say the current contract allows them to make the final offer.

Seven could be a chance. In 2007, 9 wont have the money earning show Friends, they are tied up with AFL, Cricket, and if seven's news is still the top of the ratings (pulling plenty of revenue) and they make a huge enough bid, nine may be too stretched to keep the NRL.