Channel 7 poorer without King Kohli
new delhi — Broadcasters Channel 7 hit out at Cricket Australia (CA) on Thursday after its ongoing dispute took a turn for the worse following India skipper Virat Kohli’s decision to withdraw from three of the four Tests. Kohli’s absence has left Channel 7 at a major disadvantage but it has given a major boost to its rivals Fox Sports.
Channel 7, a free-to-air, holds the rights for the four-match Test series while Fox Sports, a pay channel, has the rights to broadcast the two white-ball series — three T20Is and as many ODIs.
Both channels will, however, be able to broadcast the first Test, a pink-ball affair to be played at the Adelaide Oval, where Kohli will play.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Monday granted Kohli paternity leave, allowing him to return home after the first Test to be with wife Anushka Sharma who is due for delivery around that time.
It will mean that while Fox Sports will get to broadcast 14 days of cricket with Kohli — six whiteball series games, a warm-up match, and the day-night Test — Channel 7 will broadcast only the five- day first Test featuring one of the best batsmen in the world. Channel 7 will have to broadcast the remaining 15 days of Test cricket sans the talismanic Indian.
Kerry Stokes, chairman of Seven West Media, which owns Channel 7 told investors at Seven’s virtual AGM that CA administrators have let them down. According to reports in the Australian media, both channels, Channel 7 and Fox Sports had built their promotion on Kohli who is one of the top selling sports personalities in the world.
“Football superstars Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo and basketball icon LeBron James are the only international athletes on earth with a bigger marketing and social media footprint than ‘King Kohli’, and his ‘limited time only’ summer has now put a premium on every game he plays on Fox,” a report in The Australian newspaper said.
“Both networks have based their summer promotion almost entirely on Kohli, and while Channel 7 will now have to re-cut their advertising to reflect the fact he’s missing the last three Tests, including Boxing Day, Fox Sports will double down on ramming home the fact they’re the home of a megastar with a social media reach of more than 100 million people.”
Football superstars Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo and basketball icon LeBron James are the only international athletes on earth with a bigger marketing and social media footprint than ‘King Kohli’
The Australian