ASTRA slams Twitter Melbourne Cup deal warning of paywall for future streamed sports events
The head of the Australian Subscription Television and Radio Association (ASTRA) has slammed Twitter’s announcement that it will live-stream The Melbourne Cup, warning it is only a matter of time before the brand scooped up more events and put them behind a paywall.
Andrew Maiden, CEO of ASTRA, said that the social media channel was not investing in Australia, but merely taking advantage of current laws surrounding sports’ anti-siphoning which do not affect digital streaming companies.
He said that Twitter was now competing against local companies on an unlevel playing field where subscription broadcasters were limited in how they could fight back.
“Twitter is now a sports broadcaster competing with Australian companies that invest and create jobs here,” Maiden said.
“Twitter is testing the market before digital platforms scoop up more sports rights, eventually putting them behind a paywall.”
He said that the ability of the social media giant to buy the streaming rights to the Melbourne Cup was the beginning of a new push by the brand.
In North America, Twitter has begun streaming National Football League (NFL) Games as it begins to morph from a chatter channel to a media player in its own right.
“Nothing in Australian law stops Twitter, Facebook or other digital platforms buying key local sports and monetising the content via subscriptions,” Maiden said.
“It is absurd that overseas companies that invest little and employ few Australians can do something the local subscription television industry cannot.”
The digital deal sees Twitter’s coverage of the great Australian horse race go head-to-head with Seven’s live coverage on the first Tuesday in November.
Ha, now let’s watch commercial television sink faster than newspapers shall we?
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Boohoo.
It’s sort of like when Subscription TV bought the Formula One rights and put the majority of the race broadcasts behind a paywall.
So yeah. I can’t say I feel sympathy for this industry.
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Looks like the incumbents of old media are going to face the same disruption and competition as the Taxi industry received with Uber and that can only be a good thing for the consumer with Uber eventually getting the blessing of the Government.
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