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New Media Deal

Capn Gus Bloodbeard

Well-Known Member
Only having EPL available through a streaming service on our pathetic national digital infrastructure is a very, very bad thing :(

On a side note, never before have I been so flag that I no longer work in the Foxtel Retentions team - so much rage on their facebook page!
 

VicMariner

Well-Known Member
So their summer sport line up has thinned, this would be good for the HAL one would think. Now it's more valuable to Fox sports.

Maybe even a bidding war next deal time?
 

Rowdy

Well-Known Member
Major fcuk up for Foxtel.

Many Football fans getting their 'Sports' pack will be questioning whether to still keep getting it, I for one :confused:

I dont watch any other sport other than HAL, EPL and the Socceroo's. So why would I keep paying the same $$$'s for a now very diluted product for my needs.

Is it cheaper for me to get a season pass for the A-League and watch online on the Foxsports website ????

Do SBS still have FTA rights on Socceroo's games & for how long. ???

I enjoy the analysis that Fox provides pre & post games for both the A-League and the EPL with likes of Bozza, Slater & Harps.

With Optus, what shit will they serve up - fcuking Craig 'technical ability' Foster ???? :fireup:

I like the convenience of having it ALL there on one device to watch whenever I want too, LIVE or later on via my IQ2.

Pissed Off.
 

sydmariner

Well-Known Member
Do SBS still have FTA rights on Socceroo's games & for how long. ???
Yes SBS has the fta rights to all Russia 2018 qualifiers on a 1hr delay (fox has it live as well as all friendly matches) plus next years confederations cup, all Russia 2018 & Corruptar ;) 2022 World cups live.
 

Rowdy

Well-Known Member
A FREE! EPL Season pass o_O ???

A little more insight into what Optus might have up their sleeve....

Singtel Optus Bets Big on Rights to Broadcast EPL in Australia:

NOVEMBER 8, 2015

Australia’s second largest telecommunications giant, Singtel Optus Pty Limited, has staked as much as AU$63 million per season or a total of AU$189 million in snatching the broadcast rights to air the English Premier League (EPL) in Australia for the next three years. Optus Chief Executive Officer Allen Lew came out with the announcement last Friday, calling the move a significant step in their strategy to become a mobile-driven multimedia company.

Local news reports have it that Optus had outbidded current broadcast rights holder Fox Sports, who initially placed AU$35 million as bid, but later upped the price to AU$50 million in the second bidding round. The reports quoted the statement of Fox Sports executives that they made a bid based on the maximum worth of the broadcast rights.
Yet Optus CEO Lew told Fairfax that sport content is iconic to Australian consumers, posing as a major plank in their content strategy. He added that they have witnessed how other providers harnessed the EPL to create an edge in bringing their standard carriage service, and that the company as a whole believes that they can attain the same objectives via the new deal.

Mr. Lew remarked that clinching the EPL broadcast rights gives credibility to their earlier pronouncements of taking steps to differentiate the Optus brand from other telecom networks through the content delivered. He hinted that the plan is to give customers access to media content through a diverse range of platforms, including big screen televisions and smartphone apps. That being the case, he stated further that it denotes building an Optus brand of mobile phone applications. The company is also negotiating a streaming partnership deal with Netflix.

Still, observers consider the Optus move a gamble. Justin Diddams, a Citi Research Analyst commented that it is still unclear just how Optus plans to monetise the EPL deal. He opines that Mr. Lew’s company still has to work harder in order to re-connect with customers, adding that for a number of years, Optus has encountered difficulties in increasing customer base for its broadband/mobile business. By Mr. Diddam’s estimate, Optus would have to add around 80,000 customers just to break-even. Nonetheless, he calculates that at AU$80 average earnings per user and a 75 percent drop-thru rate, such an undertaking seems achievable.

The Optus CEO though is optimistic, dropping further hints that the company is working on other deals. The buzz is that Optus is likewise bidding fiercely in order to wrest the streaming rights for the National Rugby League NRL), from closest Australian competitor, Telstra.

Apparently, the Telstra contract is up for re-negotiations and Optus already has a team in place to convey their interest in an NRL deal. In light of Mr. Lew’s comments that the EPL is still not the largest because there are other deals he has not negotiated yet, it is safe to surmise that Singtel’s Optus’ bid for the NRL digital rights would be greater than the AU$63 million deal struck with the EPL.

Actually, Mr. Lew had stated previously that the multi-million streaming partnership agreement signed with Cricket Australia last October 2015 is only the beginning of other broadcast rights to come. At that time, he refrained from mentioning the other sport codes under consideration. He simply mentioned that their goal is to offer live streaming of sport matches and entice customers with free season passes. The deals are transformational and in line with the telecom company’s plans to alter Australian consumers’ perception of Optus, as a mere provider of basic telecom utility services.

http://onlinecasinos.best/news/singtel-optus-bets-big-on-rights-to-broadcast-epl-in-australia/
 

Rowdy

Well-Known Member
Bad ratings show up the league, not the networks:

gettyimages-156667306.jpg


By
Les Murray,
TWG - 13 NOV 2015

When it comes to discussing broadcast rights for the A-League, let’s begin by cutting the crap. It is not SBS who is losing ratings. Neither is it Fox Sports, whose figures are also down, who is losing ratings. It is the A-League that is losing ratings.

If there is one thing that I learned while spending ten years as SBS head of sport it was that viewers, certainly when it comes to watching sport, don’t choose channels when it comes to deciding what to watch. They choose content. And it matters not a hoot to them which channel broadcasts the content they want to watch.

In recent times there has been quite some chatter about the future of the A-League’s current broadcast partnership with SBS. The suggestion, or certainly the innuendo, is that the Football Federation Australia is not happy with SBS and are looking for a new free to air partner.

This, to be frank, is unseemly. By which I mean the way commercial partners should publicly act while they are in commercial partnership. SBS’ current four year deal as the A-League’s free to air broadcaster is barely through its half way stage. It is due to expire in mid-2017.

Yet as long ago as last December, when SBS was barely half way through only its second season as the A-League broadcaster (and that of the Socceroos’ World Cup qualifiers), FFA’s David Gallop was already sending loud signals in the media that the FFA was courting other suitors.

It was not a nice thing to read at SBS headquarters in Artarmon.

I too found it a strange thing to read, given that I was in the room just two years earlier when Frank Lowy announced the new deal with SBS and Fox Sports, describing it as "a bloody good day".

Problems between SBS and FFA began early because of a number of factors. SBS chose to put the A-League on SBS 2, something that peeved FFA. SBS countered that SBS 2 was free and just as accessible as SBS.

SBS also said, "You give us Saturday games and we’ll put them on SBS One."

From the beginning SBS was not happy with the content they were getting: Friday evening games only, no derbies, no Big Blue, all of which were played on Saturdays or Sundays. SBS fought hard to get a better deal but were thwarted at every turn.

While I never supported the notion that the A-League games should be slotted on SBS 2, neither can it be argued that that under their contract SBS were ever given games that could potentially rate. In the current season allocation the two highest rating teams in the league, Melbourne Victory and Sydney FC, will appear on SBS just eight times between them out of 27 rounds. The allocation avoids Sydney FC like a leper. They appear on SBS just twice.

But what of the reasons why Fox Sports' ratings have also slipped, despite being able to screen the big blockbusters?

_______________________________________

This can only be for one reason: the A-League has lost much of its entertainment value. And one reason has to be the total absence of genuine marquee players. The league which once boasted players like Dwight Yorke, Robbie Fowler, Romario, Benito Carbone, Kazu Miura, Juninho, Harry Kewell, Alessandro Del Piero, Shinjo Ono and David Villa, now has none of that ilk.
_______________________________________

Nondescript imports of doubtful appeal are now being paraded as marquees under the supposition that football fans who come through the turnstiles are both blind and stupid.

The recent Sydney FC top of the table clash against Brisbane Roar, admittedly played on a drizzly Friday evening, attracted just 12,000 fans. Just 80,000 watched, out of the rain, on free to air SBS 2 and 73,000 on Fox. This would not have happened while Del Piero was playing.

There are two reasons for the lack of investment in marquees: (1) clubs have become more financially risk averse than ever, and (2) the coaches, who govern the acquisition process like self-serving czars, don’t want them.

I remember when one coach told the agent of Juninho, who was prepared to lower his wage demands by more than half, "I don’t want him."

I remember Tony Popovic telling the courtiers of Michael Ballack the same thing: "I don’t want him."

Sure, the technical quality of the A-League is as high as maybe it has ever been. But the star quality, so essential for financial growth and market penetration, is not there.

SBS has nothing to apologise for, nor to be ashamed of when it comes to football audiences. SBS attracted an audience of 11 million for last year’s FIFA World Cup. The 2013 World Cup qualifier between Australia and Iraq had an SBS audience of 1.5 million, despite being on a one hour delay.

Yet FFA is now embarked on a new broadcasts deal in the hope that it will get bigger rights fees, bigger ratings and bigger exposure. This is despite the fact that SBS and Fox Sports have iron clad contracts and the rights cannot go elsewhere unless those networks are willing to let them go.

My news to them is this: As long as the ratings continue to be low and on the slide on SBS and Fox Sports, no network will pay more for them. And if the A-League is not good enough to rate, it ain’t gonna rate on Seven, Nine or Ten either.

If the FFA wants better ratings for the A-League it should start its work at headquarters in Whitlam Square. By fixing the A-League.
 

Rowdy

Well-Known Member
If there is one thing that I learned while spending ten years as SBS head of sport it was that viewers, certainly when it comes to watching sport, don’t choose channels when it comes to deciding what to watch. They choose content. And it matters not a hoot to them which channel broadcasts the content they want to watch.

I think that's a load of shit!

If SBS had the fta right to televise 'live' A-League games & Socceroo's games @ exactly the same time-slot as Foxtel.

I'd choose Foxtel EVERY SINGLE TIME!

Why?

Well you see Les, it's because they dont have muppets such as yourself, Craig Foster and David Zdrilla and that most annoying of all Lucy 'frick'n' Zelic ! providing annoying commentary and analysis.

Foxtel whip your (SBS) arses hands down on this.

So it ain't just about content. It's production also.

And to highlight this point even further, the coverage of the W-League is now on Foxtel.

Production is much better, better pre-game graphics, team listings/photo's etc. ..........however the 'personalties' or talent have just been transplanted from SBS. Stephanie Brantz etc. again I find poor quality, especially as I really enjoy watching the W-League as had a daughter who played State League.

Better Footballing 'Personalties' are needed to provide better analysis & commentary if the Women's Game is to grow to where the FFA want it to be.

So you see Les, theres more to it than your 'one-eyed' outlook. Foxtel makes me quite content.
 
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Forum Phoenix

Well-Known Member
Didn't care for the article at all. Still happy to talk the HAL down. "Maybe the same technical quality" Jog on Les. And SBS does have something to be ashamed of when it comes to Australian football. It's that they spent the first several really important foundation years of the HAL where it was trying to build, being unabashed euro snobs and largely just bagging the shit out of it. Their bitterness, self interest and egos were so clearly at that time more important than the good of Australian football - it was a game changer for me in how I saw them.

So yep, their deal of Friday night games etc was not great...
Well A) that's what they signed on for. B) They had to be bloody grateful for any FFA olive branch they got after their atrocious behaviour towards the HAL, - which I'm sure they knew and is why the accepted the deal as it was - finally realising it wasn't going to fail and they were losing their public opinion war, so they could either continue to become even more marginalised or try and become a part of it.

There are obviously press gains in having big Marquees, but even having this as the key focus of his argument still has a good whiff of Euro snobbery about it. Unlike Les, I'm glad the FFA is not trying to pressure our coaches and club owners into spending stupid amounts of money on names that are at times embarrassingly past their due by date, potentially highly toxic to dressing rooms, and rather accepting that playing really good football and developing young Australian players is the most important thing.


So here's the thing, yeah, if you want FFA to feel like you really are doing everything you can to make it succeed and believe in the HAL... you might need to put the games on your most viewed channel. Advertise the actual football a lot more effectively. Improve your coverage and analysis - which is a very poor second to Fox as Rowdy stated... Rather than just expecting owners to lose millions on marquees to make your marketing job easier and more exciting for euro snobs than pointing fingers at the FFA. Who now seem to be very much focused on selling "Football" and ironically "the world game" "Derby's" and the "unparalleled experience" and with pride in Australian football. Not just selling X former star senior citizen who I love and now get to have latte's with and interview. Also let's not forget that 75% of any deal SBS put on the table is being funded by tax payers money. But instead they still come across as full of pride and carrying their old resentment.

The FFA does not owe SBS and its pundits anything. They do however owe it to football fans, clubs, players across all Australia to get the best possible broadcast deals they can moving into the future, and yeah, if that puts pressure on you to prove that you value the license and that you are doing everything possible to make it succeed in a free market. So be it. Save the Nix 13K crowd tonight - FFA's pressure looks to be the best thing that could well have happened to them.
 
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midfielder

Well-Known Member
SBS have retuned to their Sour Bitter Shits days almost everything they broadcast is negative today ... I hope 9 or 10 pick up the game and show them for what they are...
 

midfielder

Well-Known Member
Football Federation Australia to open TV talks in April

By Max Mason
March 14, 2016, midnight

Football Federation Australia is confident that interest across free-to-air broadcasters and Fox Sports can help it sign a bumper television rights deal that will provide critical funding for the sport.

It's understood that the FFA has been engaging with a number of interested parties, but official negotiations are penciled in for early April.

Fox Sports has held rights to the A-League since its inception in 2005 and is likely to remain the FFA's pay television partner.

Network Ten chief executive Paul Anderson said he was interested in the A-League.

"I think what we've shown with Big Bash is that we have the ability to innovate and do things differently," Mr Anderson told Fairfax Media.

"We've shown that if you have an alignment with the sporting body about the direction of the code and you work together for a mutually beneficial outcome, then lots of things become possible.

A-League centrepiece

"We agree that the A-League probably needs to be the centrepiece of their strategy going forward and we've got a track record in building franchises."

Nine is understood to be interested in sitting down with the FFA to see what is on offer for the free-to-air sector.

The current $40 million per season, four-year deal, which expires mid-2017, sees Fox Sports show all matches, including the weekend's higher rating derbies and rivalry games. SBS has rights to show one Friday match live each week, and the finals series on delay.

Prior to the beginning of the current A-League season it looked as though SBS might sell its current free-to-air rights commercial broadcaster such as Nine Entertainment, Seven West Media or Network Ten. However, a deal failed to materialise.

The A-League, which had been moved to SBS's main channel during the second year of the deal, was moved back to SBS2 for the current season.

"It's been reasonably well documented that FFA and SBS have explored alternatives," FFA chief executive David Gallop said at the time.

Oliver & Ohlbaum are advising the FFA on the negotiations. They were recommended by City Football Group, owners of English Premier League giants Manchester City and 80 per cent of A-league club Melbourne City.

Fairfax Media revealed in January 2015 that football authorities were confident they could secure a large increasing in the value of the rights, potentially $80 million per year. However, this would depend on whether television operators believe that could achieve higher ratings than the sport gets now.

Last week, the FFA announced a strategic plan for 2016-2019 focusing on audience and revenue growth for the sport.

"This is primarily about broadcast rights and commercial partnerships, which are the economic foundation of football around the world," FFA chairman Steven Lowy said.

"There is impatience from all levels of the game to do more, and do it quickly. That's good. It's healthy. The upcoming renegotiation of our broadcast arrangements will be critical to funding our four-year strategy, but some projects can't wait until we wrap up that new deal."

The league is planning several initiatives, including a centralised approached to marquee player recruitment, trying to bring more Socceroos players to the A-League, and improving grassroots projects to better connect with fans.

"Having the funds to invest in the Whole of Football Plan is fundamental, but so too is the unity of purpose that comes from all football's stakeholders working together," Mr Gallop said last week.

The story Football Federation Australia to open TV talks in April first appeared on The Sydney Morning Herald.

http://www.afr.com/business/media-a...lia-to-open-tv-talks-in-april-20160310-gnff18
 

midfielder

Well-Known Member
Interesting comment from SBS to media watch about the next media deal...

http://www.mediaweek.com.au/are-you-happy-losing-some-fta-world-cup-games-for-epl-matches/

The impact of the EPL deal on A-League

Answering an extra question from Mediaweek about the effect of the EPL deal on SBS plans for the A-League, SBS chief executive Michael Ebeid replied: ?SBS still has the A-League for one more season after the current one. When the time comes for the discussions on the new rights, SBS will certainly be interested and will decided what we do at that time.?

?With Optus now an SBS partner we could perhaps see SBS work with the telco for an A-League JV. A winning bid from Optus and SBS would continue to give the A-League a FTA presence and make Optus the one-stop shop for football fans. And perhaps give Optus enough content for another 24/7 football channel. That would be a nightmare scenario for Fox Sports, taking away its most significant live summer sport in Australia.?


Also vid about the future about Fox / Telstra

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-03-18/the-long-term-future-of-foxtel-is-increasingly-in/7259968
 

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