The T.V Rights Thread Part III

[PaddyBoy]

Yeah mate, you say how can you not have Foxtel but I bet you haven't had to pick which bill goes unpaid this month for a while. $100 a month is a shitload of money for a lot of people.

 

[I Bleed Maroon]

Yep for all News Ltd's critics they do present the game well and give great TV coverage. When they get every game live it is going to be even better. Don't know how you can be a fan of the game and not have Fox sports!

Let's look at the value a Rugby League supporter would get out of paying 100 bucks a month for Foxtel:

3 Fox Sports channels with only one that televises League.
1 dedicated Fumbleball channel because the popularity of AFL in Melbourne gives Murdoch a very rare stiff.
Around 200 other channels full of nothing but repeats and ads.

Yeah, there MAY be a reason why the majority of the Rugby League community want the ARLC to tell Foxtel to get f**ked, unless of course they get out of bed with channel 9. Good luck with that.

 

[Edwahu]

Rent a quote is back

NRL 'may as well be taking cocaine' if looking for higher bid

20 Aug 2012
By David Blight

Amid speculative reports of a $1.1 billion bid from Nine and Foxtel for rugby league broadcast rights, media analyst Steve Allen has said the ARL Commission “may as well be taking cocaine” if it wants more money.

A report in the Australian Financial Review this morning speculated Foxtel and Nine lodged a $1.1 billion bid for the NRL broadcast rights last Friday (17 August), for a six year period between 2013 and 2018. Meanwhile, the report said other media players Seven West Media and Ten Network also made bids for the business.

It has been widely reported that the National Rugby League has been hoping for a rights deals similar to that of the Australian Football League (AFL), which was given $1.25 billion for a five year period from Seven, Foxtel and Telstra.

However, Fusion Strategy principal Steve Allen said the two deals cannot be compared, because ARL games run for longer and have more opportunity to sell advertising, meaning broadcasters have more opportunities to bring in revenue. He said the NRL should be congratulated if it manages to pull the reported $1.1 billion for six years, and argued the sport will not be able to pull in any more money.

Allen went on to say of the NRL: “I think some people seem to think TV stations don't need to profit. They think that without their sport the TV station is sunk.

“Well, they may as well be taking cocaine. TV networks can no longer bid for something if there is just a slight glimmer of hope they will get a profit. CVC will be watching Nine's bid very closely, as will Ten's stakeoholders.”

Meanwhile, Cox Media principal Peter Cox told AdNews: “I think they are all overpaying anyway. The rights holders are going to struggle to make this money back.

“But sport is one of the only things that rates these days so of course it is going to be competitive.”

http://www.adnews.com.au/adnews/nrl-may-as-well-be-taking-cocaine-if-looking-for-higher-bid

 

[jonno_knights]

Don't know how you can be a fan of the game and not have Fox sports!

Thats an extremely arrogant thing to say, and a poor view to have.

I have been a massive fan of the game for the 22 years of my life, and have never had Foxtel in the house I've lived in. Many people can't justify the $50+ a month just to watch on a maximum 5 games a week. On average it may be 2 or 3 due to many people having commitments every weekend/every other weekend.

I've been able to support the game easily by listening to radio broadcasts, following internet updates, going to the pub and making do with the poor FTA coverage (I usually only will watch the live FNF game as delayed footy sucks in this day and age).

Its only been the last year or two that I've found consistent internet streams, but even that is dodgy and pretty poor quality.

I'll be moving out of home next year that I've finished uni, and will be on a fairly comfortable wicket, however I think I still might struggle to justify paying for Austar just for the sport it offers (NRL, NFL, NBA, EPL is about all that interests me).

 

[I Bleed Maroon]

Rent a quote is back

"But sport is one of the only things that rates these days so of course it is going to be competitive.?

http://www.adnews.com.au/adnews/nrl-may-as-well-be-taking-cocaine-if-looking-for-higher-bid

What a disgustingly condescending attitude from someone who clearly thinks too much of himself. That's the way I interpreted it anyway.

 

[Billythekid]

How fast did they rush that out? Writing ARL instead of AFL is kind of a big c**k up, who is proof reading these articles?

 

[Perth Red]

$21 a week for access to every NRL game, 2 SL games, Toyota cup games plus some NSW and Q'land cup. Some of us haven't been deemed worthy enough to get ANY NRL until this year at a decent time so Foxtel has been a godsend for RL fans outside NSW and Q'land and I consider it a bargain for the amount of entertainment I get out of it. Spend more on take away coffee a week than I do to watch hours and hours of footy, bargain!

re the article, this makes no sense: “may as well be taking cocaine” if it wants more money. How is taking cocaine linked to wanting more money?

 

[Perth Red]

Yeah mate, you say how can you not have Foxtel but I bet you haven't had to pick which bill goes unpaid this month for a while. $100 a month is a shitload of money for a lot of people.

Sure I have, I was a unemployed student once. Fortunately I can now choose how to spend my leisure $ and this is a bargain imo.

 

[Edwahu]

Seems like some will do their best to talk down the billion if they get it. Contra is nothing new.

NRL may get more ads and less cash
BY: DARREN DAVIDSON From: The Australian August 21, 2012 12:00AM
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TELEVISION networks bidding for the highly coveted NRL rights are pushing for the new Australian Rugby League Commission to accept advertising as a bigger part of the package, meaning the cash value of the deal is unlikely to be worth more than $1 billion.

Broadcasters made presentations at the NRL's head office on Friday. Incumbent broadcaster Nine, its free-to-air rivals Seven and Ten, and pay-TV operator Foxtel all lodged bids.

Seven executive chairman Kerry Stokes was a surprise appearance with the Seven delegation, but News Limited chief executive Kim Williams was not present as has been reported.

Ten was represented by chief executive James Warburton, chairman Lachlan Murdoch and chief operating officer Jon Marquard.

The ARL is understood to be keen for the free-to-air broadcaster to air four games, with a Friday game, Saturday twilight game, and two games on a Sunday including a twilight game.

It is understood Nine and Foxtel's joint offer was a combination of cash and "contra", which amounts to advertising slots and promotional value in place of cash.

The NRL may have to settle for free advertising slots in a bid to boost the value of its media rights above the magic billion-dollar mark coveted by the clubs.

Contra advertising has become a key part of the packages offered by free-to-air and subscription broadcasters. Both the AFL and V8 Supercars have accepted swags of airtime to promote events.

The contra component has also been necessitated by Nine and Ten coming under increasing financial pressure from high costs and weak advertising.

It is understood negotiators for the ARL, the NRL's governing body, are in favour of the NRL accepting advertising as a bigger part of the package.

It also reflects competition between the codes since the AFL was able to extract more than $1 billion in cash from Seven, Foxtel and Telstra with the advertising space topping up the offer in its deal last year.

Also, V8 Supercars Australia uses the space on Seven to promote ticket sales to its events.

V8 executives have always been coy about the amount of contra that makes up the $120 million deal.

Ten has cleared the financial decks in a bid to make a genuine run at the rights while Nine has the option to put in the final bid. The cash component of the deal could be as little as $850m, leaving $150m in contra.

In recent weeks, the clubs came together to form a separate council to address what some claimed to be the under-performance of the ARL commission in sports rights negotiations.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/bus...ds-and-less-cash/story-e6frg8zx-1226454476979

 

[some11]

Rent a quote is back

http://www.adnews.com.au/adnews/nrl-may-as-well-be-taking-cocaine-if-looking-for-higher-bid

"They think that without their sport the TV station is sunk." followed by “But sport is one of the only things that rates these days"

f**king dumbass.

 

[Edwahu]

Hopefully AFLs failure doesnt hurt the NRL too much

Doubts over pay TV sport
Date
August 21, 2012


Julian Lee
Media writer


Sporting chance?

AS NEGOTIATIONS for the broadcast rights for the NRL get under way in earnest, analysts and the media industry are questioning whether sport can deliver the numbers for pay TV.

Despite outlaying about $625 million for the AFL rights to 2016, Foxtel's subscriber numbers are lower than the market expected.

In the six months to the end of June, it signed up 20,000 new subscribers, despite offering sports lovers a dedicated AFL channel that could broadcast every game live and uninterrupted.

At the time Foxtel chief Kim Williams said the deal would be ''a very compelling proposition for our existing and potential subscribers'' and that it would ''lead to refreshed growth in the year ahead'' though he was careful not to quantify it. But at its annual results earlier this month there was no mention of the AFL.

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Now as it backs a reported $1.1 billion bid for the 2013-18 rugby league broadcast rights, some in the industry are asking whether that last remaining weapon in Foxtel's armoury - sport - can lift subscriber numbers.

Although the Olympics was a critical success for Foxtel, it has come at a cost, with $20 million understood to be the amount it lost on the Games. The company says it won't know for a few more weeks if the Olympics delivers new subscribers or stops existing ones from cancelling their subscription.

A media analyst said the figures and 13 per cent churn rate among subscribers ''debunked the myth'' the AFL was driving growth. ''And now they are going to blow their brains out by doubling their bid for league,'' he said. ''The only thing it's going to do is drive up its costs.''

If Foxtel is unable to drive its penetration rates beyond 26 per cent of households it needs to lower the churn rate, attract more lower-paying customers or extract more revenue from its existing users, analysts say. The last option is proving harder as households cut back on discretionary spending and cheaper options such as broadband internet player iiNet offering IPTV and Apple and Google TV's pay-per-view models challenge Foxtel's subscription model. Foxtel would not disclose how many people had signed up for its cut-down services such as those available through Microsoft's Xbox and Telstra's T-Box.

Foxtel chief Richard Freudenstein was unavailable for comment but a spokesman said its business was affected by the general economy and market-specific factors, which have occasionally resulted in ''below trend growth''.

He said that its slower growth was not from greater competition but consumer caution, pointing out that just 10,000 of iiNet's 824,000 subscribers had signed up to its internet TV service. ''The AFL deal requires far fewer incremental subscribers than you indicate and was always assumed to build over time rather than provide a one-off step change,'' he said.

http://www.smh.com.au/business/doubts-over-pay-tv-sport-20120820-24ij5.html#ixzz246QoSCyK

 

[some11]

 

[parraparraparra]

f**k all these consultant mother f**kers. Im sick of rugby league getting ripped off and AwFuL taking OUR money.

 

[I Bleed Maroon]

Seems like some will do their best to talk down the billion if they get it. Contra is nothing new.



http://www.theaustralian.com.au/bus...ds-and-less-cash/story-e6frg8zx-1226454476979

News Ltds feeble attempts at undermining the Commission in light of their puppet getting the axe is just humorous to witness. They're squirming like Rats caught in the cage. Let them whinge, let them rant, let them rave. Their papers are dying and when the day arrives, Australia will revel.

 

[miguel de cervantes]

In the six months to the end of June, it signed up 20,000 new subscribers, despite offering sports lovers a dedicated AFL channel that could broadcast every game live and uninterrupted.

20,000 out of all the AFL states that supposedly were an untapped pay TV bonanza? Is it just me or is that result absolutely pathetic?

 

[Cletus]

20,000 out of all the AFL states that supposedly were an untapped pay TV bonanza? Is it just me or is that result absolutely pathetic?

No your not the only one. After a massive advertising campaign, introductory offers and a slew of new shows I I thought they'd get a fair increase but they've somehow managed to have slower subscriber growth than last year.

 

[Card Shark]

No your not the only one. After a massive advertising campaign, introductory offers and a slew of new shows I I thought they'd get a fair increase but they've somehow managed to have slower subscriber growth than last year.

Despite the apparent better chance for advertising, this shows that AFL is not made for / popular for TV, whereas league is the opposite.

The NRL should be able to get similar contra / money to AFL, particularly if we introduce 2 new teams & tweak the game to allow more opportunities to chuck an ad or 2 in during each half.

 

[Everlovin' Antichrist]

I guess the lesson is that contra aint worth jack shit, to AFL anyway.

 

[Canucks]

I think it proves that AFL has peaked...

20,000 people is rediculous... I remember reading that they only needed 60,000 new subscriptions to break even... So I would say that is a massive hit...

I still honestly believe that a $650-$700m deal for 100% FTA coverage is way better than $1b with 5 games on fox....

You talk about contra advertising - having 8 games a week on FTA, wall to wall coverage, is contra on roids

Why everyone is so obsessed with the final dollar amount is beyond me....

 

[Rosetta]

We really need to walk away from Nine so they learn a harsh lesson, no more fixing your errors by milking the cash cow's that are the NRL and State of Origin.