Fox Sports fears Seven’s Olympics subscription deal will destroy sports broadcasting in Australia
Fox Sports chief executive, Patrick Delany, has warned if anti-siphoning rules are not included in media reform legislation now before the Senate, the sports broadcasting industry could be permanently damaged.
Delany, whose channel was named ASTRA channel of the year at the conference, used the occasion to voice his concerns at the damage anti-siphoning laws – and in particular Seven’s purchase of Olympic Games digital rights, putting them behind a pay-wall – to warn about the implications of continuing to postpone changes to the laws.
“The recent Olympics, where every event is on the list but Seven doesn’t have to show it live, free, or at all, but for very little cost can pick up a pay TV platform and basically offer it now means that the market is now being contorted by this and it’s going to lead to bad outcomes for our country,” Delany told Mumbrella.
“There is not a better example of why they need to look at this.’
Delany was continuing a theme that was repeated throughout the day at the conference – from Foxtel CEO Peter Tonagh down – that anti-siphoning, an issue the industry has been fighting for 20 years, remained one of its most significant issues.
“Dividing things out by technology when the technologies now can deliver the same outcomes is silly and they need to re-look at the laws and if they do want to have a public interest outcome, frame laws that have one rather than ones that contort the market,” he said.
Delany admitted he did not know what needed to be said differently to change the approach legislators were taking to anti-siphoning concerns.
“We are at a loss to understand why it can’t change and I think maybe the answer, the thing that needs to be said is look at it again – the whole lot,” he said.
“It is a complex issue and it’s one that probably the voters don’t understand the impact on the country.”
He said that there would be a point where every broadcaster would be a digital broadcaster.
“At some point everyone offers broadband, everyone’s over the internet and there’s no differentiation I suppose.”
The Fox Sports CEO also highlighted where new opportunities were for the broadcaster, with major sports rights such as the AFL and NRL not up for grabs until 2022 and said he believed that despite the incursion of Optus winning the English Premier League rights, the soon to be discussed Football Federation Australia rights would be retained.
“We have also indicated to the FFA that we would be willing to broaden the free-to-air TV coverage to a commercial network with a better game.”
More channels, connecting with more sports would also be a key to the future model.
“It’s deeper emotional connection,” he said.
“Possibly more dedicated channels, so that you can really represent and be the champion of certain sports and the fans of those sports.”
He said many smaller sports would find the opportunity to be broadcast and Fox Sports would help build the profile of those sports in the way that it had grown the Hyundai A-League and Cricket Big Bash.
If foxtel offered a “fox sports” only package at a affordable rate I’m sure they would receive a lot more sympathy from the broader public.
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Pay TV needs to stop whinging. They should have a stronger pay model in place for internet TV. They don’t. They were slow to market with a Netflix style product. They are slow to market here as well.
If Fox Sports were clever… they would come up with a Netflix style product for sports lovers. Not that hard really!
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They don’t like it when the boot is on the other foot. I’m thinking AFL, V8s for starters …
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FoxSports are the only broadcaster who treat sport seriously, provide what the sports loving viewer wants, live and in HD most of the time.
The more rights they have the better of the viewer is.
Agree a FoxSports only subs package would be ideal and broaden their reach.
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The world’s biggest shovel could not get Foxtel’s head out of the sand.
Fortunately there are still some members in government who understand that there are many Australian families who don’t want to pay $50 a week to watch a few games of footy, and in many cases can’t afford to.
I can almost guarantee that Foxtel wouldn’t resort to offering a FoxSports-only package unless it’s business was in absolute dire straights (which is possible in the not-too-distant future).
A large proportion of their full package subscribers would change almost overnight to the sports-only package.
Sports-only package – never gonna happen.
But I know what would happen if anti-siphoning laws were reformed – goodbye AFL, NRL and all other national sports from free-to-air screens.
Foxtel used to have the monopoly because what it aired could not be seen anywhere else. Then the internet and SVOD took that advantage away. Getting the anti-siphoning laws removed is Foxtel’s last chance to regain some of the power they once had (to charge whatever they want for something, because it can’t be seen anywhere else).
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