Regime governing TV sports rights to go before cabinet
* Michael Bodey and Geoff Elliott
* From: The Australian
* October 04, 2010 12:00AM
THE new regime governing sports rights on TV could be settled this month.
The new Gillard cabinet is set to receive a submission on the new rules within three weeks.
Communications Minister Stephen Conroy, basking in the glow of his team Collingwood's Premiership victory, will hold meetings with key stakeholders, expected to include all TV networks and major sporting bodies, in coming weeks to clarify final positions, although one executive noted "it's all done and dusted."
The AFL and NRL in particular are keen to accelerate the process to further negotiations for new broadcast deals beyond 2012 that could net $1 billion each.
The so-called anti-siphoning regime governs which sports are seen on free-to-air and pay-TV. The list expires at the end of the year, making it a matter of urgency for the Gillard government.
The process is also critical commercially. Prime-time TV viewing has arrested declines and is showing better trends this year, helped by new multi-channels which have become a new variable in TV sports rights.
For consumers, key changes are likely to include more live AFL broadcasts, particularly on Friday night, Twenty20 cricket being added to the anti-siphoning list along with Socceroos World Cup qualifying matches, therefore ensuring free-to-air broadcast on Seven, Nine or Ten.
While Fox Sports has a lucrative agreement with the Football Federation of Australia, it is believed Fox Sports is prepared to deal with a free-to-air, or FTA, network to delay broadcasts or hold replay rights within the current deal.
As compensation for more flexible FTA arrangements, and in response to major sporting bodies requesting greater flexibility in selling broadcast rights, it is expected suites of AFL or NRL matches will be available to be bought by subscription TV providers, such as Foxtel (25 per cent owned by News Limited, publisher of The Australian) or Premier Media Group (co-owned by News Corp, Consolidated Press and the Seven Network).
Under the major changed provision, the "use it or lose it" policy is expected to be instituted, with broadcasters having to show key A-list events live or forfeit them.
Nevertheless, it is expected the free-to-air networks will be allowed to broadcast sport on multi-channels, which may go some way to explaining the establishment of Seven's male-skewed multi-channel 7Mate.
It is not known whether there will be an "all-sport" policy for multi-channels; rather it is expected a catalogue of A-list events that must be broadcast in full on main FTA channels with a B list of events able to be screened, perhaps only in part, on multi-channels in concert with some main FTA-channel coverage.
Networks Seven, Nine and Ten were silent on the imminent changes yesterday, with a Ten spokeswoman noting only that last week's Commonwealth Games amendment to the anti-siphoning regime was "a positive sign of what might happen".
The Ten Network was a beneficiary of existing regulatory provisions last week when the Gillard government granted the network permission to show some Commonwealth Games coverage first on its digital channel, One HD. The deal was allowed after consultation with co-broadcaster of the Commonwealth Games, Foxtel. The Ten Network had been proceeding and programming on that basis weeks before the announcement.
The government granted a similar exemption to SBS for its World Cup soccer coverage last year.
The anti-siphoning list of more than 1300 sporting events to which FTA networks have first rights is also likely to be significantly shortened based largely on what has or has not been broadcast on the FTA channels
