Anti-Siphoning List Changes

[mack]

Conroy to oversee AFL and NRL broadcasts

 

Stephen Conroy will oversee AFL and NRL broadcasts under proposed new reforms unveiled by the government today.

 

Communications Minister Stephen Conroy will have wide-ranging powers to determine how many AFL and NRL sporting matches are broadcast on free-to-air television, under proposed reforms unveiled today.

 

The reforms will give Senator Conroy the power to declare quotas for the number of games broadcast on free-to-air TV, versus subscription TV.

 

"For example," Senator Conroy said, "the minister may declare that an eight-match round of the NRL premiership season is a quota group, with a quota number of three. This would mean that subscription television broadcasters could acquire the exclusive rights of up to five matches of this round.

 

"A subscription broadcaster could also acquire the rights to the other three matches of this round, so long as the acquisition would not prevent a free-to-air broadcaster from being able to acquire the rights to those three matches."

 

The new anti-siphoning laws also give Senator Conroy the power to "declare" a sporting event be listed as a "Tier A" or "Tier B" event, and the coverage obligations of broadcasters showing them.

 

Events in Tier A include "nationally iconic" events such as the Melbourne Cup and football premierships, while Tier B refers to "secondary regionally iconic and nationally significant" events such as Australian Open non-finals games.

 

The rights for "nationally iconic" sporting events such as the Melbourne Cup and NRL and AFL grand finals will be offered first to free-to-air television stations to protect the right of all Australians to watch them, under legislation introduced yesterday.

 

The legislation will reform the so-called "anti-siphoning" laws, which prevent subscription broadcasters from acquiring the rights to sporting events before free-to-air broadcasters have had the chance to do so.

 

To appease regional audiences, particularly those outside the eastern seaboard states, the legislation will require free-to-air broadcasters to show Tier B games within four hours of kick-off, giving them the ability to schedule coverage to maximise audience capture.

 

Tier A games must be televised live.

 

But if they choose not to take up those rights for Tier A or Tier B games, the right to televise those events will go to pay-TV providers.

 

Sporting bodies will have greater freedom to negotiate with pay-TV broadcasters for the rights to listed events that free-to-air broadcasters have chosen not to show.

 

Under the laws tabled today, free to air television channels will remain the main broadcasters of major sporting events.

 

But, for the first time, Australia's television laws will take into account the rise of online and digital media.

 

With 82 per cent of households having made the switch to digital TV, the government has moved to relax restrictions on free-to-air broadcasters from showing games on their digital stations.

 

And, for the first time, anti-siphoning laws will also address the rapid rise in new media rights, for which there is currently no regulation.

 

For the first time, the laws will also address the rapid rise in new media rights, for which there is currently no regulation.

 

"The bill will address this by preventing the potential for the rights to anti-siphoning events being siphoned off to new media and no longer being freely available to Australian sports fans," Mr Conroy said.

 

And, for the first time, Twenty20 cricket matches involving Australia and played in Australia will be on the anti-siphoning list, as well as Twenty20 World Cup matches involving Australia and FIFA World Cup qualifiers in which the Socceroos play.

 

Main issues for me. What will stop networks from showing matches only on their digital networks and not their main channels?

 

Will they be forced to show them in HD like they used to, after their sponsors reaped the benefit of selling millions in HD tv's only for the networks to turn around and give the arse to show 60 year old re-runs instead?

 

Will any Football matches end up on a "Tier B" list and end up anything from a 10pm (for a 6pm kickoff) to a 2am (for a 10pm kickoff) airing time? Not to mention that Tier B will likely also end up on a the secondary channels this could be a major issue and drop the rights significantly.

[Erebus]

There will be no such thing as secondary channels come December 2013 when the entire country will have been switched over to digital only.

Its just the stupid Australian FTA networks treating them as secondary channels and still focusing on their "main" channels.

It'll be interesting to see what happens next year when that entire concept is moot.

 

Then comes the talks that they may go to MPEG-4 effectively doubling the capacity for channels.

And the spectrum restack after analogue TV is turned off.

And then IP-TV taking a foothold in this country within the next 5 years.

 

Sports need to stop being so narrow minded in selling their ****. Who says they have to sell to a major network only? The major networks are also stupid for expanding their IP side of things so slowly (if at all).

 

This anti-siphoning stuff is going to mean less and less in the next decade methinks and the narrow minded view of FTA vs Pay TV needs to go also.