Big ratings won’t stop TV war
CHANNEL 7 is leading a double life in its relationship with cricket but there remains a chance the station may never cover another Test match.
Seven West Media will stay the course in its fight for a cut in rights fees over the quality of matches and scheduling issues, despite the Border-Gavaskar Trophy between Australia and India delivering massive ratings.
It remains to be seen whether daily press releases from Seven spotlighting the station’s strong Test ratings will be used against the network in its fight for a discount.
Following the last day of the final Test in Brisbane last Tuesday, Seven released a statement saying the series had reached 10.8 million Australians, and ratings on the fourth Test were up 11 per cent on when the Indians last visited Australia two years ago.
The strength of Seven’s argument for a cut in fees may, perversely, be undermined by its strong ratings this season. However, its plea for a better deal stretches wider than the Test series.
Seven pays more for the Big Bash than it does for Test rights and it has claimed the Big Bash, with travelling hubs and a lack of star players, is a diminished product.
Cricket Australia and Seven are awaiting an independent ruling of the value of the rights from designated assessor, Venture Consulting chief executive Justin Jameson.
Seven has also launched action through the Federal Court seeking pre-discovery for documents relating to why this summer’s schedule was altered with white ball matches coming ahead of the Tests.
Seven pays more than $80m annually for the rights as part of a $450m six-year package but lost more than $60m per year in the first two years of the deal.
Seven officials privately concede the station will never again bid for the cricket rights and there is a chance its relationship with Cricket Australia could end before next season’s Ashes tour of Australia.
That would leave Cricket Australia searching for a new free-to-air partner in a small, contracting pool, featuring former partners Channel 9, now the home of tennis, and Channel 10, which has limited financial resources.