‘No winks or a nod’: News Corp boss denies secret government anti-siphoning deal
Miller: “News Corp has made no deals, we’ve received no promises, no winks, or a nod, nothing”
News Corp’s executive chairman Michael Miller has categorically denied the company has made a secret deal with the government which would see the sport anti-siphoning list reduced following the Federal election.
The company which owns pay-TV broadcaster Fox Sports has been open in its criticism of the rules, which lists more than a thousand sporting events, with Miller telling the Senate Inquiry into media reform the Australian system was “world’s worst practice”.
He said in his opening statement: “I would like to reject any inference that a secret deal has been struck with the government to water down the anti-siphoning rules after the election. We’ve been very open in our position that anti-siphoning laws are world’s worst practice.
“News Corp has made no deals, we’ve received no promises, no winks, or a nod, nothing.”
The extensive anti-siphoning list, which prohibits most sports and many major international tournaments from being broadcast exclusively on pay-TV platforms, has been blamed by many for Foxtel’s failure to raise its penetration of Australian households above 30%.
Asked about the problem later in the session, Miller said: “There’s a large number of sports that get offered to free-to-air networks, and Foxtel cannot bid in that process, but it doesn’t prohibit new players like Twitter and YouTube entering that market and these are real players in sport now.
“It is anti-competitive.
“What we’ve got here is world’s worst practice. In New Zealand there’s no anti-siphoning list, in the US there is none. In the UK they have 10 events – three of those are tournaments.
“How many do we have in Australia this year? 1,900. We’re supposed to be a sports-loving nation who are unable to ensure our sporting codes, our public are getting there amount of sport at the times that they want it.”
Alex Hayes
Foxtels problem is not that I can’t get exclusive sports deals. It’s that it bundles the sport into very expensive pricing packages. Which the same reason Netflix is putting such a huge hole in its business.
It’s a dud that can only be saved by a dud political deal.
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“World’s worst practice” is actually an incredibly rare example of Australia putting the average citizen above the needs of big business, and an example of world’s best practice.
Foxtel always make the point of 1,900 sports on the list being unfair on Australians because they miss out on seeing so many sports. But I guarantee you that Foxtel don’t care about 1,880 of those sports.
They just want the rights to the big sports, to take them off free-to-air. That is their end game. Make no mistake about that.
Until they offer a sports only package that the lower income earners of Australia can afford, the anti-siphoning list should be protected, or at least those 20 odd sports that Foxtel want to take away from everyday Australians.
Sport is something that should be fairly available to everyone. Forcing us to pay for channels we will never use isn’t fair. I don’t use more than half of Foxtels channels. It is a waste of my money.
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The anti Syphoning list argument keeps going on for ever, however the cores issues need to be consistently present.
Firstly Foxtel is right. Where there is overseas sport, where few Australians make up the order of play, there is no equity held by the Australian taxpayer in getting any Australians to these elite points. These rights should no longer be on the list.
Where Foxtel and Michael Miller have it wrong, is on Australian sports and especially exclusive Australia sports like AFL, NRL, A League, on Australian soil. These sports are substantially paid and subsided by the Australian taxpayer. One only has to look at the provisions of sports grounds, the $1.6b that the NWS Government is granting for new Stadia construction and reconstruction in Sydney alone, to appreciate that the taxpayer has substantial equity on these sports at their elite point. This support also starts at when these sportspersons commenced their training at public sports grounds , used change rooms, moved on the greater things and often came under the Australian Institute of Sport – a $311m Commonwealth Government cost (Fy15). This cost alone is probably not dissimilar to what Foxtel pays for all its Australian sports rights. Fox Sports last public expenses data- rights plus all other costs, was $352m in FY12. Australian taxpayers probably have much greater equity in the costs of the Australian sporting codes than Foxtel provides, if commercial rates were applied to Government provisions.
On a personal note, as an Ex Sailing Olympian (1988 –Seoul), I was part funded by the Australian Olympics movement, and Commonwealth support. I trained at sailing clubs whose concessional leases with local councils and donations by local businesses, allowed this progression from non sailor to sailor to occur. Foxtel contributed nothing to this level of this sport, but wants to charge to view the very top talent. If Foxtel wants the sports, it should build the grounds. Kerry Packer at least paid for the lights when he launched World Series Cricket.
So keep the anti syphoning list on Australian sports as free and wide as possible, or as Foxtel wants, thieve the value of the sports created by public investment to a pay again cost to taxpayers.
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