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Alarm sounds as Crown Jewels are raided
THE television sporting landscape has changed beyond recognition over the past 20 years.
And there is set to be another major sea-change – in terms of who shows what and for how much – after an independent review set up by the Department Of Culture, Media and Sport recommended which major sporting events should be available on 'free-to-air' television.
The most eye-catching recommendation is that cricket's Ashes should join sport's so-called 'crown jewels' – the events available on a non-subscription basis on what used to be called terrestrial TV before the digital switch-over.
The Government will have the final say, but this has not gone down at all well with Sky, who hold the rights to all Test and one-day cricket internationals.
They face losing or having to share the rights with the BBC/five/ITV or Channel 4.
The cricket authorities say they will lose revenue as a result because the price of the rights will be forced down and will have a knock-on effect on cash feeding down to the grassroots game.
I can understand Sky's dismay at the recommendation but the protestations of the England and Wales Cricket Board do not hold much water.
If TV money is being ploughed into the game to develop young players, it is not working judging by the number of South African-born players who seem to be fast-tracked into the England set-up these days.
The BBC's attitude to cricket is hard to fathom.
It is only recently that the BBC Sport hierarchy decided not to join the latest round of bidding for live Test rights because they could find no room in their schedules for the sport. That is strange because for 50 years or more they always found room for it, even in the days when there was only one BBC channel.
One gets the over-riding impression that the BBC have given cricket the elbow because they are still nursing a sense of grievance over the way that the Corporation were jettisoned in favour of Channel 4 some years ago. Sky's sense of grievance is understandable.
After all, they cover all England Tests – both home and away, regardless of the opposition.
They will rightly regard the loss of their exclusive rights as an affront, given all the support they have given the game in terms of ball-by-ball coverage.
They can't have the Ashes on an exclusive basis, but they are expected to show a non-event like England v Bangladesh and do so gladly.
While most commercial channels have suffered from a severe advertising downturn, Sky have largely escaped this.
Their revenues are only about eight per cent dependent on advertising, the vast bulk of their income arriving via subscription.
And even in a recession, Sky Sports subscribers are loathe to give up a service which they view as a necessity – not like, gas, electricity or water, of course, but one to be cancelled only as a last resort.
Also recommended for a return to the list are all of England's home and away qualification matches for football's World Cup and European Championships. Again the soccer bodies are not happy because of lost revenue concerns.
However, if a poll was held among sports-watchers to determine what they would most like to see free-to-air, then the winner would be live Premier League soccer.
But given that Sky paid 1.3billion for its latest Premier League rights deal that isn't going to happen.
But what is the Premier League if it is not a 'crown jewel'?
The Epsom Derby and the Winter Olympics have been recommended to be dropped from the protected list, as has the Rugby League Challenge Cup Final, so Sky could bid for these.
Again it's an involved situation for an event like the Winter Olympics.
There are not many addicts in this country who would stay up until the wee small hours for the privilege of watching the biathlon or the luge, which looks like a mad bloke in Lycra whizzing down the frozen snow on a tea-tray.
But then the Winter Olympics does throw up iconic moments that the entire national wants to witness.
Some have their doubts over whether or not ice dancing should be called a sport, but then one of the most watched TV events of all time was Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean winning gold at the Sarajevo Games in 1984, when more than 24 million viewers were captivated by their Bolero routine.
Even Eddie 'The Eagle' Edwards (whatever happened to him?) had comic value and national appeal four years later in Calgary – well, some people had a good bellylaugh.
Though the summer Olympics are 'safe', David Davies, formerly of the FA and the BBC and now chairman of the review panel, flet that the Winter Games did not have the same 'national resonance'.
Many would applaud the return of Ashes cricket to the BBC, but many sports are at the whim of sports controllers. For instance, over two decades ago, soccer was not the hottest ticket on TV ... athletics was. The BBC and ITV used to go head to head for viewers, both screening races like the Dream Mile at the Bislett Games.
There was also a bitter bidding war between th companies for live domestic rights. ITV won that one, but once the sport stopped delivering champions – and ratings – they dropped it like a stone.
The BBC weren't bothered for a while either and Channel 4 took up the contract, with dreadful results.
The Corporation eventually picked up the rights again, but probably without any meaningful competition ... and for a song.
Until comparatively recently, the BBCcovered horse racing every Saturday afternoon – even going to Cagnes-Sur-Mer in the south of France when the British programme was wiped out by the weather.
Now they are cutting back to a skeletal 13 meetings in 2010.
Meantime, some 'crown jewels' are dirt-cheap – the BBC have got the Boat Race back for next year but are not paying anything for the rights, though they will point out that it is an extremely expensive outside broadcast.
But whether you pay for your TV sport via subscription or licence fee there will still be plenty of choice.
You can take your choice ... but still pay your money.
steve.simpson@blackpoolgazette.co.uk
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Wednesday 30 May 2012
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