Free-to-air TV picture fuzzy

AS NSW moves closer to striking a 52-week Saturday freeto-air broadcast agreement for Sydney racing, Queensland officials face a looming deadline to join the party.

Sydney racing will be on Channel 7 or 7TWO from tomorrow through to April 21, All Aged Stakes Day.

It is believed officials in NSW are keen to sign a deal with Seven in the next four to six weeks which would extend the free-to-air arrangement to every Saturday of the year.

If Queensland does not agree to come on board before that deadline arrives, Sydney would likely “go it alone” for the annual coverage.

Coverage of Brisbane meetings on Sky’s premium Thoroughbred Central (STC) has long been a bugbear of Queensland punters, who feel the local product has been consistently set aside to cater for mass NSW coverage.

But if a free-to-air agreement is struck, Seven’s coverage would be almost a replica of STC and it is believed Racing NSW has agreed to reduce its current extended provincial coverage to “vision only”, allowing more time for Brisbane.

It may also solve the riddle of Brisbane’s races constantly being stuck in the middle of a 15-minute jam between Sydney and Melbourne.

The free-to-air puzzle comes in the midst of looming new broadcast rights negotiations, with Queensland’s current deal with SKY set to end in 2020, and the enacting of Racing Queensland’s Deed of Understanding, which was signed with SKY’s parent company Tabcorp in 2017.

“One of the key drivers in Racing Queensland’s five-year strategic plan is to review and maximise its media rights opportunities to grow revenue and further increase returns to industry participants,” Racing Queensland chief executive Eliot Forbes said.

“Racing Queensland will continue to examine media rights opportunities with our commercial partners as they emerge, including potential free-to-air broadcasting opportunities.”

One of the major sticking points in any agreement is potential objections from pubs and clubs, with free-to-air coverage potentially diminishing the value of the agreements they have in place with SKY.