Black Wednesday: English Home Tests - Now Exclusive to SKY

[superkingdave]

IIRC the four years have everyone but Bangladesh coming.

 

[Richard Rash]

Good for you.. If my photography doesnt progress like I want it to, I could well just become a back yard cricketer and not bother to follow any International cricket, the ICC, the ECB and all their bullsh**...

A pessimists view if i have ever heard one. If you make 8,000 posts on a cricket forum you are obviously passionate about the game so why let anything get in the way of that passion. There are always positivies to look at.

 

[superkingdave]

I would not say that cricket is an elitist sport round here. School cricket maybe but there is a very strong local club cricket scene

 

[Craig]

CEEFAX:

"Highlights of each day's play in the Test matches will, however, be screened on Five"

How long will the highlights be?

 

[Craig]

Same in NZ. The game is thriving over here and the cricket has been on our version of sky for about 7 or 8 years. All sport on in NZ is only on sky actually including our national game of Rugby which hasn't seemed to have been damaged from not being on free to air t.v.

Then the die hard sports fan who just happens to live in the wrong side of some mountain and can't get sky really must get cheesed off.

 

[marc71178]

The ECB are gonna lose a lot overall in ticket sales, replica shirts etc., sponsorship deals and advertising in 2006-2009 and that's before any boycott.

Why do you say that?!

 

[Scaly piscine]

Because of the lessened interest due to not seeing England thrash the Aussies next year... sure the keenest lot will still listen on radio or whatever but the casual fan will lose interest due to lack of exposure on terrestrial TV. Similarly sponsors/advertising won't be seen by as large an audience so they're obviously gonna pay less, even stuff like the advertising boards around the ground will lose a bit.

As for the Channel 5 highlights they're supposedly gonna be on from 7:15 to 8pm.

 

[Neil Pickup]

That is true, but why isn't that the case in Australia? Every school plays it, state and private. We have AFL in Victoria and around Australia, and Rugby in NSW, Queensland and other states as well. Yet cricket remains as popular as ever.

Because it's barely played in state schools without staff or volunteers who have a real passion for the game.

 

[marc71178]

Because of the lessened interest due to not seeing England thrash the Aussies next year.

Except next years is on C4.

 

[Scaly piscine]

Except next years is on C4.

True, got sidetracked by Oz-baiting. I'm sure someone will say I wouldn't get to see England thrashing Australia whether the series was on terrestrial or not.

 

[Neil Pickup]

Looks like the deal may be blocked by OfCom (Media Regulator).

Excerpt from the Government rules on TV Coverage for Sports Events:

2.5 The law guarantees the availability of rights to live coverage of listed events to broadcasters who meet certain set criteria, i.e. those which reach 95% coverage of UK viewers and at no additional cost to the viewer than the television licence fee. Broadcasters currently meeting these criteria (Category A broadcasters) are the BBC1, BBC2, ITV1 and Channel 4.

2.6 The current list of protected events is split into two categories, Group A and Group B. Details of the list are at Appendix A of this leaflet. Full live coverage of Group A events is protected by ensuring that, where offered at all, broadcasting rights must be made available to category A broadcasters. Exclusive live coverage of Group B events is permitted on Category B channels provided that adequate arrangements are made, where sought, for delayed coverage or highlights on BBC1, BBC2, ITV1 or
Channel 4.

Channel 5 only reaches 92% of the country and therefore the deal could be seen as contravening the rules. Keep on hoping.

 

[Scaly piscine]

Yea I read that before, the counter-argument was something along the lines of there is going to be 95% coverage by 2006 for Channel 5. It's the exclusive live coverage for Sky that's the big problem anyway, the highlights being on a decent time offsets the limited coverage of Channel 5.

 

[SpaceMonkey]

Looks like the deal may be blocked by OfCom (Media Regulator).

Excerpt from the Government rules on TV Coverage for Sports Events:

2.5 The law guarantees the availability of rights to live coverage of listed events to broadcasters who meet certain set criteria, i.e. those which reach 95% coverage of UK viewers and at no additional cost to the viewer than the television licence fee. Broadcasters currently meeting these criteria (Category A broadcasters) are the BBC1, BBC2, ITV1 and Channel 4.

2.6 The current list of protected events is split into two categories, Group A and Group B. Details of the list are at Appendix A of this leaflet. Full live coverage of Group A events is protected by ensuring that, where offered at all, broadcasting rights must be made available to category A broadcasters. Exclusive live coverage of Group B events is permitted on Category B channels provided that adequate arrangements are made, where sought, for delayed coverage or highlights on BBC1, BBC2, ITV1 or
Channel 4.

Channel 5 only reaches 92% of the country and therefore the deal could be seen as contravening the rules. Keep on hoping.

All that will happen is that Sky will go with a package where the highlights are on another channel (prolly ch4).

 

[Neil Pickup]

They can't create a bid without agreement of the partner channel.

As it stands, there are only two bids on the table - if one is illegal, the other one becomes the only bid.

 

[sledger]

All that will happen is that Sky will go with a package where the highlights are on another channel (prolly ch4).

im afraid my right honourable friend that the highlights package for tests and ODI's has been purchased exclusively for terrestrial viewing by channel 5,

if its anything like their football coverage then prepare for a rough time

 

[SpaceMonkey]

im afraid my right honourable friend that the highlights package for tests and ODI's has been purchased exclusively for terrestrial viewing by channel 5,

if its anything like their football coverage then prepare for a rough time

i have sky so no worries

 

[sledger]

lol same goes for me, but i wud rather not be confinded to wathcing it in the one room, i prefer my personal area

 

[Langeveldt]

A pessimists view if i have ever heard one. If you make 8,000 posts on a cricket forum you are obviously passionate about the game so why let anything get in the way of that passion. There are always positivies to look at.

I love the game, I love playing it, but I must say the county game has no all season round appeal, and the ICC aren't exactly in the best interests of world cricket are they?
And I guess about 7,000 - 7,500 of my posts have been made in OT

 

[Magrat Garlick]

Channel 5 only reaches 92% of the country and therefore the deal could be seen as contravening the rules. Keep on hoping.

Certainly hope so. Much of the key to success in any sport lies in generating interest among the public to play and watch the game - and of course, this is also where the long-run money lies. Underwater rugby teams may be as successful as they like, sponsorship, crowd income and TV rights still lies fairly flat around £0. This money, I guess, is most likely to fund Kolpak players in the CC, which may increase the level of the competition - but this has
nothing to do with the level of the national team. And if the national team starts to sink into West Indies ignominy (possible given a smaller talent pool - as fewer kids are drawn to the sport), with TV coverage being denied to significant parts of the population, that means Sky won't pay as much the next time - and neither will anyone else. Less money for coaching will mean that the few talents there are won't get the coaching they need to break through at international level. And that might kill off cricket in England.

 

[Langeveldt]

When I was in the West indies, i found the level of apathy towards cricket absolutely astonishing.. Even though many in England are not die hard fans, I hope it doesnt get to the stage it seems to be at in Jamaica amongst the youngsters