The Sport Thread

Am sure I heard about that before, but it was as it being the BBC News live position, not the main Olympic studio. I suppose time will tell!

With the row over Murdoch and News corp still ongoing, as a Rugby Union fan, I wanted to guage opinion on here about sports TV deals, especially the southern hemisphere.

Currently, News corp has the worldwide TV rights to the tri nations, all internationals and tour matches in South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand, and also the New Zealand provincial championship. These current rights remain until, I think, 2013.

Of course, News corp does have interests in Australia, but I believe there are concerns there about the phone hacking as well. This has got me thinking, what damage could this scandal do to news corp, in trying to negotiate a new TV deal? Could it be that SANZAR decides that news corp cannot have the worldwide TV rights, but instead can only have them in New Zealand, South Africa, and Australia, and SANZAR talks to other broadcasters elsewhere, such as Channel 5 here in the UK as an example? Or, could news corp be forced to have worldwide Tv rights to just the tri nations, and be forced to compete for the rights to tour matches and internationals outwith the tri nations?

It's all a bit confusing, but what do you all think, and what abut other TV rights?

The simple answer to the above is it probably won't make a blind bit of difference.

Nice to see the Open Championship getting it's own colouring on graphics.

While these look quite nice...
http://home.vis-is.co.uk/data/grabs/open2011.png

... the scorecard on the interactive stream is hideous!
http://home.vis-is.co.uk/data/grabs/open2011-scorecard.png

Rugby wise Sky are nowhere near as dominent in the Northern Hemisphere. The only major Northern Hemisphere tournaments they have the rights to are the Heineken Cup and Aviva Premiership, along with England's Autumn Internationals. The RBS Six Nations and Ireland, Scotland, and Wales Autumn internationals are on BBC & RTÉ. The Pro 12 (the artist formerly known as the Magners' League) is on RTÉ, TG4, BBC, and S4C. We are spoiled for rugby on free-to-air television in the Northern Hemisphere compared to in the Southern Hemisphere.

Now there is some strange one-off situation happening with Ireland v England in August where for the first time an Ireland home game will be exclusively live on Sky Sports, nothwithstanding the fact that the IRFU's deal for home internationals is with RTÉ. Apparently this is due to the legal fiction of it being an "England home game being played in Ireland". Go figure, the IRFU are telling us its' a one off situation and a stipulation insisted on by the RFU so England will play the match. Wierd. Most rugby fans will grin and bear it and either go to the game or go to the pub.

On the subject of sports rights in general - I do agree sporting organisations have the right to maximise their assets including television coverage rights. In rugby, in Ireland at any rate, all the profits including TV rights, from the pro game is going back to the game at amateur level, as the four professional "clubs" are in fact wholly owned by the IRFU. It benefits the game. Obviously there are protections for events of major public importance through the crown jewels list.

It always has, at least in recent years:

http://tvnewsroom.co.uk/wp-content/section-images/bbc-golf-graphics-2010/TVNR-2010-08-19-16h59m10s135.jpg

http://tvnewsroom.co.uk/wp-content/section-images/bbc-golf-graphics-2010/TVNR-2010-08-19-21h52m16s129.jpg

Images from TVNewsroom.co.uk

Ok, what about other sporting rights, what do we tink may happen there with Sky here, and maybe News corp channels overseas?

OK good point. But we were in a time when all sports had individual colour schemes.

I don't think it will make a blind bit of difference, if Sky offer the most money they will get the packages. People in charge of giving rights of sport coverage don't usually base it on their own personal morals.

I agree - although with the very sudden demise of News of the World last week I do think the question of what happens should Sky fail be considered - although of course even through this rocky patch for the Murdoch empire I would still say other broadcasters are a riskier bet currently - even the BBC.

I'm sure I made exactly the same comment last year but such a waste of the remaining Freeview interactive stream when it could be used for an alternative video stream, with the leaderboard offered in text form - as indeed it is hidden away on page 3 or 4 of the Golf menu, although pre-generic BBC Sport the dedicated interactive applications offered it in text form with 1/4 screen picture.

Some pictures of the new BBC Sport football studio in Salford... http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150258318200982.359779.8585725981#!/media/set/?set=a.10150258318200982.359779.8585725981&closeTheater=1

Football Focus will be there in August, Match of the Day however not until the end of 2011.