ABC coy on whether it will bid for Sydney New Year fireworks rights
The ABC says it has not decided whether it will tender for the rights to show the Sydney New Year’s Eve fireworks display, following criticism of its broadcasts for the last two years.
The City of Sydney has confirmed it is starting a new tender process for the rights to the event, which attracted more than 2m viewers nationally for the midnight fireworks this year.
While the tender has yet to go live it is thought there could be interest from commercial rivals to the public broadcaster, which came under fire for too many mentions of the ABC’s funding cuts, poor vision of the fireworks at midnight and overly long and uncomfortable interviews with guests.
In an opinion piece on New Year’s Day the Daily Telegraph’s deputy editor Claire Harvey called for the rights to be turned over to a commercial broadcaster.
Today the ABC told Mumbrella: “There’s been no plans made for the 2015 fireworks yet. The year has just begun and nothing yet has been decided.”
Budget cuts also make it more likely the public broadcaster will be more cautious with which shows it spends money on.
A spokesperson for the City of Sydney said: “The City of Sydney is still determining the best process to select the official broadcaster for 2015. Our aim is to get the best possible return for our ratepayers as well as the highest-quality coverage to help promote Sydney.”
Nine Network has also declined to comment on whether it will pitch for the rights, which handed ABC a winning audience share for the night, whilst Seven and Ten have not responded to requests for comment.
Alex Hayes
Thank heavens, with all those spending cuts the ABC won’t be able to afford to stuff up three New Years Eves in a row.
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I tried to watch the ABC coverage, but gave up after ten minutes. They should have just shown the actual display at midnight without the rubbish beforehand.
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And who is to say that any of the commercial networks will bid? First NYE is not part of the ‘ratings year’. Second OBs cost a fortune. Maybe 2013/2014 was a two-horse race and the better horse won.
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There are fireworks in many cities around the world, so the question to be asked is; Are the fireworks in Sydney of any great interest out side of Sydney? If not then are they worth the effort in broadcasting them? If they is, then how much, and how much money should be spent on a one off event?
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@ Lindsay – this would be my (uneducated) take. Sydney pitches itself as an international city. It wants (wealthy) international tourists, international conferences and events etc. It wants to be seen on the world stage. Hence, its New Year’s fireworks display are imperative to portray this ‘can do’ attitude. The Sydney City Council (whose job it is to make sure lots of cashed-up foreigners come to the city) pay the broadcaster $300K to make sure the images from midnight are flashed across the planet in one of its best PR/marketing promotions of the year. I’d argue there’s a LOT more to Sydney’s $6million annual blast-a-thon than six minutes of bang for the pissed masses. And rightly so….
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I think you are right JB. However it is the rest of the world you need to convince and they all have their own fireworks. To make Sydney’s show internationally worth watching it needs far more than just six minutes of bang.
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