Gyngell's pot shot breaks Nine-Seven truce
GREG PRICHARD
March 8, 2010
TELEVISION industry insiders view Channel Nine boss David Gyngell's bitter reaction to NRL chief executive David Gallop's offer to help Matthew Johns on Channel Seven as proof that the war over league's TV rights has really begun.
Until now, any mention in the media of the next rights battle, and how it will be affected by negotiations over the television rights for AFL, had been largely restricted to references to TV executives dining with league or AFL bosses in cordial atmospheres.
But that has now changed, with Gyngell and fellow Nine executive Gary Burns, the producer of The Footy Show, speaking angrily to the Sunday newspapers in reaction to Gallop telling the Herald on Friday that he would support the league-based show to be fronted by Johns, who used to work for Nine.
''We're going to do what we can to help Matthew make that show successful and be successful for him personally,'' Gallop said. ''For us, the chance to have another great bit of rugby league programming on free-to-air television is not something we take lightly. It's in our interests for that to be a high-rating show.''
Gyngell asked why the head of the NRL would endorse a program on a rival network to the one that held the league rights, and branded Gallop as ''extremely disloyal''. Gyngell added that Gallop ''said to me he thought I should sack Matty'' after the Four Corners expose on the 2002 Cronulla sex scandal involving Johns, and that Johns ''doesn't like him [Gallop]''.
Burns said the reaction at Nine to Gallop's comments was one of ''bitter disappointment'', adding: ''We're all hurt and a bit bewildered by it.''
Industry insiders believe Nine has overreacted. And though they feel Gallop perhaps should not have been so pointed in his support of Johns, they accept that he has a job to do: drive up the price of the NRL product in anticipation of the next free-to-air and pay television deals. The current deals don't run out until the end of the 2012 season, but negotiations will begin well in advance.
Insiders say that with Seven a genuine player in the battle for the next rights, it was in Gallop's interest to create some ''competitive tension'' between Nine and Seven. Regardless of whether that was his intention when he spoke about Johns, it has clearly been the result. Gyngell would not be happy that Seven boss David Leckie is wooing the NRL.
What makes the situation so sensitive for Nine is that Johns is at the centre of this eruption. Johns left Nine of his own accord, and his show, if successful once it goes to air in a couple of weeks, could have the potential to steal viewers from The Footy Show, even though the two shows will not go head to head in the same timeslot.
None of this will affect Nine's desire to keep the TV rights, and Gyngell accepted part of Gallop's job was ''to get the value up for TV rights, even though we've got them for another three years''. Gallop has said in interviews that he wants negotiations to be transparent. He's certainly got his wish. The possibility that league could be broken up between networks already looks increasingly likely.
The Herald sought Leckie's reaction yesterday, but he offered a dead bat. A Seven spokesperson said: ''David Leckie is genuinely excited about Matthew Johns' new program on Seven and that our network is back in the game on rugby league''.
Gallop declined to make any further comment yesterday.
The NRL clubs, who will benefit from improved TV deals, are naturally delighted to see increased interest from the networks. ''It's great to see that other television stations are excited about promoting rugby league,'' South Sydney chief executive Shane Richardson said yesterday. ''It's been a long time since Channel Seven has shown any interest in rugby league, so that's fantastic for the game.''
Gold Coast chief executive Michael Searle added: ''I think it just shows the amount of passion Channel Nine has for rugby league. It indicates that they don't intend to lie down, and that they want to protect their rights. Clearly, Channel Seven has realised AFL doesn't rate in NSW and Queensland, and that is why they are pushing Matthew's show so strongly. Of the three biggest markets in Australia - NSW, Victoria and Queensland - we dominate two of them.''
