Clubs' ploy to abandon Foxtel to get rights value

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Would you cancel your pay TV subscription if the NRL were solely on free-to-air


  • Total voters
    71

Berkeley_Eagle

Current Status: 24/7 Manly Fan
Clubs' ploy to abandon Foxtel to get rights value
NRL club bosses meet tomorrow in Sydney, unanimous they must be rewarded at the next broadcasting contract for the high ratings and subscriptions their games generate, even if it means abandoning Foxtel.

While clubs are optimistic competition among the free-to-air networks will deliver the dollars consistent with the code's popularity in NSW and Queensland, there is a growing fear pay TV monopolist Foxtel will not offer the same for NRL rights as it recently did for AFL games.

It is possible clubs will support NRL chief executive David Gallop in a strategy of offering all eight games per week to the free-to-air networks on a short-term basis, shutting out Foxtel until the News Ltd-controlled service realises the disastrous loss of subscriptions such a move would cause.

Foxtel paid AFL a record $650 million over five years for four exclusive live games a week, yet pays the NRL only $42 million a year for five live games a week. Foxtel boss Kim Williams has acknowledged the high price paid - which allows coverage of all AFL games - was designed to increase subscriptions in the AFL states (currently 24 per cent in Adelaide to 27 per cent in Melbourne), well below subscriptions in Sydney (38 per cent) and Brisbane (32 per cent).

While Williams sees less capacity for growth in NRL subscriptions, club bosses believe Fox Sports was built on the popularity of rugby league and they should be rewarded for what they have delivered.
If this involves selling Foxtel's Super Saturday three games and the high-rating Monday night game to the free-to-air networks, with the consequent cancellation of Foxtel subscriptions in NSW and Queensland, this may be the only course to bring Foxtel to the table with an offer that reflects just value. Asked to comment on a future broadcasting package, Gallop said: ''We envisage a mix of FTA and pay at this stage but one thing is clear - we drive subscriptions, we provide 73 of the top 100 shows [on pay-TV]. You can talk about length of games and number of ads being different with AFL but at the end of the day it's about what people sign up for and that's clearly our game. We must get value for that.

''And if we do not, then we need to consider alternatives. If this involves a short-term FTA deal without Foxtel, so be it.''
Gallop said there had been unprecedented lobbying by networks Seven, Nine and Ten: ''The FTAs are currently knocking our door down to show their interest.''

Tomorrow's rare dual meetings of club chairmen and chief executives in Coogee is the first since an independent commission was named.
The broadcasting contract and its flow on effects to club grants and the salary cap is high on the agenda.

Gallop and L.E.K. Consulting's Colin Smith have not been given permission to begin formal negotiations with networks until the commission is in place to ratify the broadcasting contract, but the first meeting of the eight directors of the new ruling body is imminent.

Complicated first-and-last rights provisions with each of the four entities that hold options over NRL rights - Channel Nine, Fox Sports, SKY New Zealand and News Ltd - mean it could take 15 months to negotiate the final broadcasting contract.
Informal discussions to date with network chiefs have delighted the NRL over the interest from free-to-air TV but executives are alarmed Williams prefers AFL because of its superior ''family image.'' Gallop countered with: '
'The AFL have had their fair share of off-field image issues.''
Williams also points out AFL games last three hours, compared to the NRL's two, allowing greater opportunity for commercials.
However, Foxtel will not show advertisements after goals, in a deliberate strategy of wooing viewers from Channel Seven for the four AFL games they simulcast. Foxtel also believe AFL's pre- and post-game shows are superior to the NRL.

Smith said: ''The NRL media results for 2011 reinforce the game's leadership position with State of Origin, the three most watched game ever with 3.8 million viewers; critically, pay TV numbers are up 20 per cent; NRL dominates the top 100 shows on pay TV.''
Asked the effect of Foxtel losing rugby league, considering its existing packages force subscribers to buy programs they don't wish to see, Smith said: ''It would be very significant indeed and lead to a major loss in subscribers from pay TV.
''If FTA TV bought NRL for say three years, it could be catastrophic for Foxtel.''


http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/l...hnb0.html#poll

the online poll there is at 80% yes to cancel subscription atm
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Dead set if fox no longer broadcasts the NRL, I would piss off my platinum hd foxtel package in a flash and save $135 a month.
I've recently started downloading movies in blu ray quality so I don't need their crappy movies and any other show/series I am interested in, I will simply download to my external hdd which I plug (USB) directly into my Sammy TV or stream from my laptop to my tv through DLNA.
The RL is the ONLY thing that keeps me subscribed to foxtel. I am an all or nothing type person so I would not bother downgrading, I would simply cancel the service altogether.
 
I'd be in two minds. When I move, I'll only have foxtel for sports (league and epl) and for the recording feature of IQ. If league weren't televised to foxtel, I'd have to seriously consider dropping it.
 
If this happens it would screw league fans in Vic, Tas, SA and WA bigtime.

I'm in Sydney but would still keep my Foxl, I watch alot of other stuff besides league, and only really watch 2 games on Fox at home each week, usually at the pub Sat nights if no Manly game on.
 
People are delusional if they think the game would be better on FTA alone. What you'd get is more delayed games and no where near the price you should be getting either. Also what makes the NRL think they are so special that they can go away from a medium that every other sporting organisation in the world thinks its a major part of their future. Heck, Pay TV pays a greater slice of the AFLs $1b TV Deal than CH7 does.
 
you are right Masked, the better option would be to have it as every game live, whatever the platform.

But the question at hand is would you keep pay without it?
 
Probably would. Disney channel and Nick Jnr has had more of, and probably a greater influence (for the better I might ad) of raising my kids than I have!!! :)
 
This is the NRL just putting this idea out their to spook Foxtel a bit to try and keep them honest when it comes to the next TV deal and the amount of money they get out of Foxtel
 
Game must change to match AFL: Nine boss
Greg Prichard July 21, 2011


CHANNEL NINE boss David Gyngell has told the NRL that if it hopes to match the AFL for money from television rights holders the game must make dramatic changes to its packaging that open up new opportunities for advertisers.
Gyngell yesterday chose a Canterbury Bulldogs lunch to express his level of desire to keep the free-to-air rights to the game, saying he was a ''sucker for league'' and that Nine would be ''fighting to the death for it''.
''What I'm saying is Channel Nine will not be losing the rugby league rights,'' Gyngell declared.
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The annual SMS [sport, media and social responsibility] lunch was the perfect opportunity for Gyngell to effectively launch a public campaign, as he was on stage as a guest speaker with three other CEOs, including Bulldogs boss Todd Greenberg.
During the lunch, Gyngell sat alongside NRL CEO David Gallop. During his speech, Gyngell stressed the need for change if the code was going to get the money it wants after the current free-to-air and pay-TV deals run out at the end of next year.
It was great theatre as Gyngell, like a politician hell-bent on keeping his seat, said: ''Not for a second are we going to damage the integrity of the sport. Cricket went from eight-ball overs to six-ball overs and the game didn't get destroyed.
''If we keep on benchmarking the AFL, which has all these differences with more commercial opportunities, it's unfair to put pressure on David Gallop and his team to say he's got to get this [financial] number, because it's impossible, but the game can evolve to get greater commercial opportunity into it.
''You look at everything without damaging an incredible product. I've stated time and time again that it's the best product in television, so I don't want to be damaging it, but if you look for subtleties that can find you another couple of minutes per hour it may well be worth $50,000 to $100,000 per game.''
Gallop was not perturbed by anything Gyngell had to say. To the
contrary, he rightly saw it as further indication of league's solid position, as the NRL prepares to get serious with negotiations amid interest from both the Seven and Ten networks to challenge Nine for at least some of the pie.
''David's comments only reinforce the fact of how valuable our game has become,'' Gallop said. ''As a live television sport, rugby league is compelling. Put simply, it's a winner, and David has indicated that Nine is willing to go after it again in a big way.''
It emerged after Gyngell's speech that the sort of changes he is talking about have already been discussed at length by NRL management. The league's director of football operations, Nathan McGuirk, said last night there were several areas he and other officials were looking at.
''One is the possibility of a stoppage for television advertising when a kick downfield forces a scrum,'' McGuirk said. ''The average time it takes for players to get to the area where the ball went out and form the scrum is 37 seconds, which fits in well as a possibility. On average, there are three to four scrums a game forced by such circumstances.
''Another is a possible stoppage for line drop-outs, although that is a potentially more difficult area because teams sometimes look to take quick drop-outs according to the state of the match and we don't want to interfere with the basic nature of the game.
''Another thing we are looking is possibly extending the half-time break from 12 minutes to 14. Another two minutes … would obviously be quite valuable.''
Gyngell flagged the possibility of short advertising spots before scrums are set at other times, saying a 15-second spot is a worthwhile minimum. He said Nine and the league had ''touched on'' the possibilities in casual discussions, but that nothing would become serious until the game's independent commission was in place.
''If we get more commercial breaks and allow sponsors to get greater benefits, that will get passed through to the league and they will in turn pass it through to the clubs,'' Gyngell said.
Asked if he thought the league would be able to match the $1 billion-plus deal the AFL got from free-to-air and pay TV, Gyngell replied: ''I doubt it, but I would say that. There are other people out there who would say they can. It depends on how hard they work. They are going to have to work hard to get to $1 billion.''
 
And I was hoping 9 Wouldn't bother. The way they televise games now sure gives the impression they are not interested in the game or it's fans.
 
Nine have had their chance to show a bit of respect to those that follow the game. They have failed badly and need to be booted. Hello 7 & 10
 
WAMF said:
Nine have had their chance to show a bit of respect to those that follow the game. They have failed badly and need to be booted. Hello 7 & 10

Channel 10 and 7 are quite happy to screw sports when it suits them too, but they are better than 9.
 
I have 2 Foxtel boxes - The one in the back room is only really used for the footy. I could live without it if fox dropped NRL coverage.

Can download most things I watch these days - stick em on a USB stick or stream them through the xbox.
 
Team P W L PD Pts
3 3 0 48 6
4 3 1 28 6
3 2 1 10 6
4 2 2 39 4
3 2 1 28 4
3 2 1 15 4
3 2 1 14 4
2 1 1 13 4
2 1 1 6 4
3 2 1 -3 4
3 1 2 0 2
3 1 2 -5 2
3 1 2 -15 2
3 1 2 -22 2
3 1 2 -36 2
2 0 2 -56 2
3 0 3 -64 0
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