WeakLemonCordial
Juniors
- Messages
- 31
What a f**king sh*tfight this is.
Whilst FoxSports pays almost double for the AFL rights and screws NRL clubs, players and fans over.
When is this farkhead going to be called to account ?
http://www.leaguehq.com.au/news/new...ustody-in-court/2007/04/03/1175366244070.html
Moguls wrestle for custody in court
Roy Masters | April 4, 2007
AGAIN rugby league is the plaything of the moguls. Telstra's action in taking News Ltd and Fox Sports to court is a further example of the way the big corporations have used the code's appeal on TV for profit.
The Packer and Murdoch families fought a billion-dollar Super League war for control of the pay TV coverage of the game and now, as joint owners of Fox Sports, are united in a battle with Telstra.
Both companies extract $60 million a year each in profit from Fox Sports, and much of this is generated by the NRL's great TV appeal, filling three-quarters of the top 100 spots on pay TV.
Now, it seems, they have their sights on NRL internet revenue.
Both Fox Sports and News Digital Media websites began showing vision of the first round of the NRL, only days after Telstra signed a six-year naming rights deal to the NRL, a $90 million agreement which embraced online and mobile phone rights.
It's an old-fashioned ambush, and Telstra, which has been cuckolded by Packer and Murdoch, has finally had enough.
First there was the evidence in the C7 Federal Court case, which revealed News Ltd's chief accountant, Ian Philip, admitted to extracting an extra $10 million from Telstra while securing NRL rights for Fox Sports.
Philip is a director of both Fox Sports and the NRL, which is half-owned by News Ltd.
Foxtel, half-owned by Telstra, funded almost half the rich AFL contract, while Fox Sports is the company which rakes in the profits from televising NRL.
So rugby league, which once controlled its own destiny, now finds itself in the centre of a bitter squabble where two rights holders are fighting each other, and one of those rights holders (the Murdoch run Fox Sports) half owns the NRL.
No wonder Gallop is happy for the courts to decide.
Should he take legal action on behalf of the NRL, he would be fighting his owner.
He will probably tell NRL club chief executives at their meeting today: "This is the sh*t fight we had to have."
He has been protesting for months that the futuristic world of convergence is throwing up questions no one can answer.
"Who owns the vision on hand-held mobile phones?" he asked both the broadcasters and telcos during the protracted negotiations
which ended in the NRL having to compensate Fox Sports.
Fox Sports argued Telstra couldn't show the NRL vision on mobile phones because it was the property of the broadcaster, and then, when Telstra purchased the online rights, Fox Sports hijacked them anyway.
Telstra's statement of claim calls this a breach of "fair dealing", while Gallop delicately refers to it as a test of "our rights".
Whether the court ultimately decides in favour of Telstra or Fox Sports/News Ltd, the bottom line is the NRL might own rights but it has no power.
http://www.leaguehq.com.au/news/news/telstra-tackles-footballs-big-men/2007/04/03/1175366244058.html
Telstra tackles the big men
Lisa Murray | April 4, 2007
TELSTRA is suing its business partners, the Murdoch and Packer camps, in a messy battle over rugby league broadcasting rights.
Telstra claims Fox Sports, which is jointly owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp and James Packer's Publishing & Broadcasting Limited, has refused to stop making lengthy highlights available on its website and via mobile phone, breaching Telstra's $90 million six-year rights agreement with the NRL.
Telstra is seeking an urgent ruling from the Federal Court to restrict Fox Sports to using only limited footage for news reports, pending a full trial on the matter, according to its statement of claim lodged with the court yesterday.
Telstra said no more than 45 seconds of footage from each match should be shown as part of a news report and it should only be available for 24 hours from the end of a match. It is seeking unspecified damages for profits lost.
The Fox Sports website last night included a link to a video news report of the Monday night match between Canberra and Newcastle, which included almost two minutes of game highlights. Fox Sports also provides highlights to Hutchison's 3 mobile phones.
"The extent and manner of use of NRL match footage by Fox Sports and News Digital Media [News Corp's online arm] cannot be considered "fair dealing" and as such infringes Telstra's exclusive rights," a spokesman for the company said in a statement sent to the Herald.
"This conduct clearly devalues Telstra's major investment in the game and leaves us with no alternative but to take legal action to protect our rights."
The legal action has further exposed the uneasy alliance that sits behind the country's biggest pay TV operator Foxtel. Telstra owns 50 per cent of Foxtel, News owns 25 per cent and has the power to appoint the CEO and PBL owns 25 per cent.
There is already tension among the business partners as Foxtel only became profitable last year after 10 years of losses, while Fox Sports - which sells its sports channels to Foxtel - has been a money-spinner for PBL and News for years.
Telstra's case has echoes of the Seven Network's lawsuit against Telstra, News and PBL over football rights for pay TV. A judgement is expected in July.
In the Seven case, evidence was heard of a fierce battle in the late 1990s between Telstra and Fox Sports over the price Fox Sports charged Foxtel for its programming.
A spokesman for Fox Sports was unavailable to comment.
Whilst FoxSports pays almost double for the AFL rights and screws NRL clubs, players and fans over.
When is this farkhead going to be called to account ?
http://www.leaguehq.com.au/news/new...ustody-in-court/2007/04/03/1175366244070.html
Moguls wrestle for custody in court
Roy Masters | April 4, 2007
AGAIN rugby league is the plaything of the moguls. Telstra's action in taking News Ltd and Fox Sports to court is a further example of the way the big corporations have used the code's appeal on TV for profit.
The Packer and Murdoch families fought a billion-dollar Super League war for control of the pay TV coverage of the game and now, as joint owners of Fox Sports, are united in a battle with Telstra.
Both companies extract $60 million a year each in profit from Fox Sports, and much of this is generated by the NRL's great TV appeal, filling three-quarters of the top 100 spots on pay TV.
Now, it seems, they have their sights on NRL internet revenue.
Both Fox Sports and News Digital Media websites began showing vision of the first round of the NRL, only days after Telstra signed a six-year naming rights deal to the NRL, a $90 million agreement which embraced online and mobile phone rights.
It's an old-fashioned ambush, and Telstra, which has been cuckolded by Packer and Murdoch, has finally had enough.
First there was the evidence in the C7 Federal Court case, which revealed News Ltd's chief accountant, Ian Philip, admitted to extracting an extra $10 million from Telstra while securing NRL rights for Fox Sports.
Philip is a director of both Fox Sports and the NRL, which is half-owned by News Ltd.
Foxtel, half-owned by Telstra, funded almost half the rich AFL contract, while Fox Sports is the company which rakes in the profits from televising NRL.
So rugby league, which once controlled its own destiny, now finds itself in the centre of a bitter squabble where two rights holders are fighting each other, and one of those rights holders (the Murdoch run Fox Sports) half owns the NRL.
No wonder Gallop is happy for the courts to decide.
Should he take legal action on behalf of the NRL, he would be fighting his owner.
He will probably tell NRL club chief executives at their meeting today: "This is the sh*t fight we had to have."
He has been protesting for months that the futuristic world of convergence is throwing up questions no one can answer.
"Who owns the vision on hand-held mobile phones?" he asked both the broadcasters and telcos during the protracted negotiations
which ended in the NRL having to compensate Fox Sports.
Fox Sports argued Telstra couldn't show the NRL vision on mobile phones because it was the property of the broadcaster, and then, when Telstra purchased the online rights, Fox Sports hijacked them anyway.
Telstra's statement of claim calls this a breach of "fair dealing", while Gallop delicately refers to it as a test of "our rights".
Whether the court ultimately decides in favour of Telstra or Fox Sports/News Ltd, the bottom line is the NRL might own rights but it has no power.
http://www.leaguehq.com.au/news/news/telstra-tackles-footballs-big-men/2007/04/03/1175366244058.html
Telstra tackles the big men
Lisa Murray | April 4, 2007
TELSTRA is suing its business partners, the Murdoch and Packer camps, in a messy battle over rugby league broadcasting rights.
Telstra claims Fox Sports, which is jointly owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp and James Packer's Publishing & Broadcasting Limited, has refused to stop making lengthy highlights available on its website and via mobile phone, breaching Telstra's $90 million six-year rights agreement with the NRL.
Telstra is seeking an urgent ruling from the Federal Court to restrict Fox Sports to using only limited footage for news reports, pending a full trial on the matter, according to its statement of claim lodged with the court yesterday.
Telstra said no more than 45 seconds of footage from each match should be shown as part of a news report and it should only be available for 24 hours from the end of a match. It is seeking unspecified damages for profits lost.
The Fox Sports website last night included a link to a video news report of the Monday night match between Canberra and Newcastle, which included almost two minutes of game highlights. Fox Sports also provides highlights to Hutchison's 3 mobile phones.
"The extent and manner of use of NRL match footage by Fox Sports and News Digital Media [News Corp's online arm] cannot be considered "fair dealing" and as such infringes Telstra's exclusive rights," a spokesman for the company said in a statement sent to the Herald.
"This conduct clearly devalues Telstra's major investment in the game and leaves us with no alternative but to take legal action to protect our rights."
The legal action has further exposed the uneasy alliance that sits behind the country's biggest pay TV operator Foxtel. Telstra owns 50 per cent of Foxtel, News owns 25 per cent and has the power to appoint the CEO and PBL owns 25 per cent.
There is already tension among the business partners as Foxtel only became profitable last year after 10 years of losses, while Fox Sports - which sells its sports channels to Foxtel - has been a money-spinner for PBL and News for years.
Telstra's case has echoes of the Seven Network's lawsuit against Telstra, News and PBL over football rights for pay TV. A judgement is expected in July.
In the Seven case, evidence was heard of a fierce battle in the late 1990s between Telstra and Fox Sports over the price Fox Sports charged Foxtel for its programming.
A spokesman for Fox Sports was unavailable to comment.
