TV rights thread part 4

[reanimate]

Android has been an absolute failure though. Just like Maps, just like Google Earth, just like Google Plus, just like the acquisition of Youtube. They continue to earn around 95% of their revenue from adwords and are losing money off most of their other business units. Meanwhile, Apple has been an astute innovator and has a market value worth double Google's.

You'd hope after all of their mistakes they're smart enough not to burn bridges with some of their major distributors.

Absolute failure? If by absolute failure you mean the number one smartphone platform in the world, sure. Maps? Has businesses pay for ad spots. Google Earth? Free users help tune and perfect it by sending data back to Google, which they then use to develop Google Earth Pro for businesses, government and universities, which makes them money. Google Plus? Yeah, that could be described as a failure so far, but usage is on the rise and it's not as if Apple hasn't introduced a social feature that no one likes (Ping). Youtube? Makes money through ads.

All of the services or divisions which you say lose them money actually help them to make money. Maps? Keeps you tied into Google services. Youtube? Google services. Android? Google services. The more people that use their services, the more accurate Google can make their ad spots, and the more accurate an ad spot is, the more businesses will want to buy into it. If Google can determine from people using their services on Android, Youtube etc. that men in Australia aged 18-35 watch or look up a lot of NRL content, they can offer ad spots to the NRL, or businesses that want to promote to the same market, that target this group, resulting in increased attention to a business' products from that age group. Hence why Google doesn't care about making money directly from Android- they give it away for free to whoever wants to use, they know they're not going to make money directly from it. This is how Google makes money, and they make a ton of it.

It's a completely different business model from Apple, I have no idea why you'd call it a failure as they're one of the wealthiest companies on Earth. Apple is subject to the whim of fashion- as soon as iPhones, iPads etc. start to decline in popularity, their stock will tank heavily.

 

[El Diablo]

http://www.zdnet.com/high-court-rejects-optus-tv-now-appeal-7000003859/

High Court rejects Optus TV Now appeal

By Josh Taylor | September 7, 2012 -- 00:07 GMT (10:07 AEST)

The High Court has rejected a special leave application from Optus seeking to overturn a ruling of the full bench of the Federal Court that the company's TV Now broadcast recording product infringes on copyright.

In July 2011, Optus released a free-to-air TV broadcast recording product known as TV Now that would allow Optus customers to save recorded TV broadcasts from 15 channels to Optus' cloud to watch on PCs, iPhones, and Android products.

The iPhone app also allowed customers to stream the recorded broadcast with as little as two minutes delay from the original broadcast.

This morning Justices William Gummow, Kenneth Hayne and Virgina Bell denied Optus' application to have the case heard before the High Court, saying there was little chance for the case to succeed.

TV Now had called into question the value of the AU$153 million deal Telstra had just secured with the Australian Football League (AFL) to stream matches over Telstra phones, and the NRL was looking to sign a similar agreement at the time.

AFL boss Andrew Demetriou has called Optus "disgusting" for releasing the product, and has urged Optus customers to switch to rival Telstra.

Optus preemptively took the NRL to court seeking to prove that the app was valid under the Copyright Act exemption allowing individuals to record broadcasts to watch later at a time more convenient. The AFL and Telstra joined onto the case against Optus.

Justice Steven Rares originally ruled in Optus' favour, but this was overturned on appeal with the full bench of the Federal Court stating that because Optus' systems were recording programs for the customer for a commercial gain, and Optus had a direct hand in the recording, and as such the product was not fall under the exemption.

Optus appealed again, with legal experts speculating at the time that the ruling could have a major impact on the use of cloud services across the board. At least two similar services have been shut down since the appeal ruling and Optus suspended the TV Now service ahead of the special leave hearing.

 

[Canucks]

Thats awesome

Will Optus try to save face by aggressively bidding for online rights to the NRL?

TV now was the only reason ppl were talking down the NRL's online value

 

[El Diablo]

http://www.news.com.au/business/bre...peal-nrl-afl-ban/story-e6frfkur-1226467266569

Optus unable to appeal NRL, AFL ban

AAP
September 07, 2012 12:56PM

OPTUS' bid to appeal a court ruling preventing its customers from watching NRL and AFL matches on their mobile phones has failed.

The High Court in Sydney on Friday dismissed the telco's application for special leave to appeal.

A Federal Court ruling in May effectively ended Optus' TV Now service, which allowed its customers to watch recorded free-to-air TV programs on their mobile devices.

The AFL, NRL and Telstra took Optus to court, arguing the ability of Optus customers to stream matches on demand was a breach of copyright.

Telstra is the official internet rights holder for both football codes.

Optus on Friday said the High Court defeat would not be the end of the matter.

"We had hoped that the High Court of Australia would grant leave to appeal, but we are pleased that it will still be considered by the Australian Law Reform Commission," Optus' vice president of corporate and regulatory affairs David Epstein said in a statement.

"This is a debate that continues."

More than half of Australians watched content on their laptop or mobile device, and almost 40 per cent chose to download or stream TV, so the issue needed to be clarified and resolved, he said.

"Online storage is here and with us now, so we think it's time to confront the realities of that," Mr Epstein said.

"We can't shut ourselves off from the world."

 

[whall15]

Vlad with a massive overreaction. I fail to see how it is disgusting.

 

[El Diablo]

Optus on Friday said the High Court defeat would not be the end of the matter.

"We had hoped that the High Court of Australia would grant leave to appeal, but we are pleased that it will still be considered by the Australian Law Reform Commission," Optus' vice president of corporate and regulatory affairs David Epstein said in a statement.

"This is a debate that continues."

http://www.alrc.gov.au/about

About

The Australian Law Reform Commission is a federal agency operating under the Australian Law Reform Commission Act 1996 (Cth), and the Financial Management and Accountability Act 1997.

The ALRC conducts inquiries - also known as references - into areas of law at the request of the Attorney-General of Australia. Based on its research and consultations throughout an inquiry, the ALRC makes recommendations to government so that government can make informed decisions about law reform. The ALRC's recommendations do not automatically become law, however over 85 per cent of the ALRC's reports have been either substantially or partially implemented - making it one of the most effective and influential agents for legal reform in Australia.

The ALRC is part of the Attorney-General's portfolio, however it is independent of government and is able to undertake research, consultations and legal policy development, and to make recommendations to the Parliament, without fear or favour.

The ALRC's objective is to make recommendations for law reform that:

bring the law into line with current conditions and needs
remove defects in the law
simplify the law
adopt new or more effective methods for administering the law and dispensing justice, and
provide improved access to justice.

When conducting an inquiry, the ALRC also monitors overseas legal systems to ensure Australia compares favourably with international best practice.

The ALRC aims to ensure that the proposals and recommendations it makes do not trespass unduly on personal rights and liberties of citizens, or make those rights and liberties unduly dependent on administrative, rather than judicial, decisions and, as far as practicable, are consistent with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

The ALRC must also have regard to any effect that its recommendations may have on the costs of access to, and dispensing of, justice.

The ALRC does not offer legal advice or handle complaints. It cannot intervene in individual cases and does not act as a 'watch-dog' for the legal system or the legal profession.

 

[juro]

ALRC and ARLC. Too many acronyms!!

 

[El Diablo]

http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-new...l-cut-out-pay-tv-turnbull-20120907-25iig.html

AFL, NRL will cut out pay TV: Turnbull

Date
September 7, 2012 - 11:10AM

Doug Conway, AAP Senior Correspondent

Malcolm Turnbull's crystal ball tells him the AFL and NRL will one day cut out pay TV and go direct to football fans using digital media applications.

"I think the AFL will cut out the pay TV platforms," the opposition communications spokesman said on Friday.

"I think free to air (television) is a better bet than subscription TV.

"If you were a sporting code, why wouldn't you want to go direct? Then you own the customer. In a digital environment you can offer them much greater functionality.

"I think the NRL is likely to do the same."

Mr Turnbull, addressing a group of newspaper executives in Sydney for a Pacific Area Newspaper Publishers Association conference, said smartphones, tablets and televisions were essentially the same devices, all connected to the internet but differing in size and broadband capacity.

His "crystal ball gazing" led him to speculate that the AFL would develop an app, priced at perhaps "a couple of hundred dollars a season", that would allow footy fans to see every game live on any device they had, and to replay games and download data.

"Free to air will still get games," he said, aided by being free and by anti-siphoning laws which ensure they show protected major sporting events.

"But the guys who I think will be disintermediated (cut out from the primary source of a commercial product) will be subscription TV.

"I am probably wrong but this is what I think they (the AFL) will do.

"Maybe the AFL will use the prospect of this as leverage to get a better deal. But you can see that it's very feasible."

Mr Turnbull said his biggest concern about the digital world's erosion of traditional newspapers was that democracy depended on an independent and vibrant press.

It was critical for newspaper groups to resolve the problem of paid content with consumers who had grown used to receiving news free online.

Now was not the time to be slashing the ABC's resources, he said, because public broadcasters were more important than ever.

why getting rid of first and last rights was a massive deal

 

[some11]

Vlad with a massive overreaction. I fail to see how it is disgusting.

Hyperbole makes the media world go round.

 

[Diesel]

Are 9 responsible for the 8pm kick off tonight when it was advertised as a 7:45 start or was there a delay due to some other reason?

 

[carlosthedwarf]

Are 9 responsible for the 8pm kick off tonight when it was advertised as a 7:45 start or was there a delay due to some other reason?

Probably, they only had one game to broadcast so it benefits them to start it later. On the bye weeks the Friday night game was starting very close to 8pm.

 

[elbusto]

No League on GEM tonight and all games on delay in Tasmania. The assholes who run Channel 9 and WIN have screwed us over. FFS I thought this was the dawn of a new era!

 

[LESStar58]

No League on GEM tonight and all games on delay in Tasmania. The assholes who run Channel 9 and WIN have screwed us over. FFS I thought this was the dawn of a new era!

What? Not even in Melbourne? TV guide says it is...

 

[gallagher]

Last night was live on GEM in Perth. The others are listed as live aswell.

 

[elbusto]

Last night was live on GEM in Perth. The others are listed as live aswell.

Yeah I was wrong. Relied on the local TV guide. My bad,

 

[Phil McGrawhan]

Last night was live on GEM in Perth. The others are listed as live aswell.

Yeh im on hols in Perth..
Watched the game live.

 

[Perth Red]

With the nbn and internet enabled tv's eventually becoming the norm the way we watch sport will change dramatically. Probably going to take 10 years but eventually the nrl will deliver its own content directly to viewers.

 

[Canucks]

A great comparison of the tv deals is here:

Swans Live in Sydney on 7... Not 7mate

Storm live in Melbourne on Gem... Not Nine

Will this change next year? They never mentioned Melbourne TV coverage

 

[El Diablo]

page 4 of the FIN article called NRL makes a pass for media

some bits

The National Rugby League is considering establishing an in-house media unit to produce journalism about the sport and possibly broadcast matches over the internet.

The move would be a threat to the online operations of media outlets like The Daily Telegraph which heavily cover rugby league.

Australian Rugby League Commission interim chief executive Shane Mattiske said negotiations with online-rights holder Telstra and other providers were continuing and he wanted rugby league to have more control over its content.

Telstra may extend its NRL major sponsorship deal, which expires this season.

“As part of the discussions, we have certainly considered the option of undertaking some of these [services] ourselves as well as hearing what our potential partners could bring to us in a new deal,” he said. “It is also vital we are now able to negotiate cleanly with partners now we are free of the ‘last rights’ constraints previously held by News Ltd.”

He said the NRL was considering such options and its Rugby League Films division had digitised all its catalogue of past matches. “So that is also something we are looking at, how we can get it to consumers in tablet, smartphone or traditional desktop form.”

The NRL, which is governed by the ARL Commission, will have a closer relationship with broadcasters Nine Network and Fox Sports – which agreed in August to pay $1.025 billion to extend their rights for five years. “We want to further enhance the viewing experience, which could mean getting them more access to coaches and players during the game, deeper graphics packages and so on,” Mr Mattiske said.

 

[Flapper]

Hope Slothfield read that over his bloody mary this morning.