by Johnson Leung reporting for AFANA from Melbourne
Negotiations for the next AFL TV rights deal have resumed after TV network executives were briefed on possible anti-siphoning law changes by Federal Communications Minister Stephen Conroy. The secret meeting in Melbourne on July 19 was organized by Freeview, representing the interests of Channels Seven, Nine and Ten, as well as public broadcasters ABC and SBS. Senator Conroy is said to have given the ''the best indication yet'' that rights holders will be able to broadcast some first-run sport on free-to-air digital stations, but no details were revealed during the meeting. Channel Nine Melbourne Managing Director Jeff Browne said Senator Conroy "… has done a good job in getting across the issues. We still won't know what the rules will be until after the (Federal) election (on August 21), but we have some clarity and are hopeful that commonsense will prevail, especially when it comes to the ability of rights holders to broadcast on the digital stations.''
On July 20, three senior Channel Nine executives visited AFL house to re-open talks with league Chief Executive Andrew Demetriou and Chief Operations Officer Gillon McLachlan. A few days later, Demetriou and McLachlan had lunch with Seven Network Chief Executive David Leckie, Network Ten Chief Executive Grant Brackley and Ten General Manager of Sport David White at Sydney's Rockpool restaurant. Seven, which paired with Ten to win the current AFL rights in 2005, has confirmed it would again bid in partnership with Ten. Seven will seek to remain as the senior partner, retaining the lucrative Friday night time slot, with Ten to keep Saturday afternoon and Saturday nights. Channel Nine, determined to regain the rights after last broadcasting AFL in 2006, is earmarking Friday night and Monday night matches.
The AFL has been desperate to finalize its broadcast rights for 2012-2016 by the end of the year, while the National Rugby League is eager to secure a deal for 2013-2017. Negotiations for both deals have been hampered by the Federal Government's refusal to release details of its review of anti-siphoning laws until after the August 21 election. The review, which began in August last year, received 322 submissions by the October deadline. The Federal Government spent the first half of 2010 talking to media and sport organizations, before Senator Conroy gave former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd three separate lists. The AFL Finals were included in the list of events that must be shown on free-to-air TV with the home-and-away season included in the list of events to which the free-to-air networks would have first rights.
If the Labor Party is returned at the election, Senator Conroy is expected to make a number of changes to the laws, including allowing Foxtel to bid directly for some AFL and NRL games each round, but also allowing the networks to show some first-run matches on their digital channels. However free-to-air networks are against Foxtel's bid for some AFL matches directly, as well as its push to show finals matches as the same time with free-to-air TV.
A critical part of negotiations will be scheduling. The AFL at present creates its schedule before each season after consulting with clubs and broadcasters. Senator Conroy, a keen Collingwood supporter who has taken a detailed interest in AFL matches, wants assurances that games will be mostly shown on free-to-air in their home markets.
A winner for the AFL rights is expected to be announced by January next year, by which time negotiations for the NRL TV rights is due to begin. NRL Chief Executive David Gallop has already stated that Seven, Nine and Ten networks had all shown strong interest in bidding for the rights.
Sources: The Australian, The Age, The Australian Financial Review, The Sydney Morning Herald
Article last changed on Saturday, August 21, 2010 - 9:03 PM EDT
