Televised Cricket in 2006?

[belboid]

Are the Ashes not protected from extra terrestrial telly like the FA Cup and Wimbledon?

THE REVISED LIST OF SPORTS EVENTS PROTECTED UNDER PART IV OF THE BROADCASTING ACT 1996

Group A (Full Live Coverage Protected)

The Olympic Games
The FIFA World Cup Finals Tournament
The European Football Championship Finals Tournament
The FA Cup Final
The Scottish FA Cup Final (in Scotland)
The Grand National
The Derby
The Wimbledon Tennis Finals
The Rugby League Challenge Cup Final
The Rugby World Cup Final

Group B (Secondary Coverage Protected)

Non-Finals play in the Wimbledon Tournament
All Other Matches in the Rugby World Cup Finals Tournament
Six Nations Rugby Tournament Matches Involving Home Countries
The Commonwealth Games
The World Athletics Championship
The Cricket World Cup - the Final, Semi-finals and Matches Involving Home Nations' Teams
The Ryder Cup
The Open Golf Championship

Full details of how and why at www.culture.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/E4039BD6-FF27-49F2-9ECF-907518C4BDDF/0/SportLeafletrevmarch05.pdf

 

[christonabike]

Cheers for that belboid, my spannerish efforts failed to unearth that webite so I asked someone

 

[belboid]

it took the inclusion of 'wimbeldon' within the obvious search terms for me to get there.

You may call me the master.

Or, then again, you may not.

 

[christonabike]

I'll call yer master belboid and be done with it

 

[mhwfc]

The goverments is partly responsible. I mean why aren't the home games one of the "sporting crown jewels" or whatever they are called.

http://sport.guardian.co.uk/cricket/story/0,,1377077,00.html

When the original list of the sporting crown jewels was drawn up in the early 90s all Test matches played in England were "Group A", ie live coverage had to be on BBC,ITV or C4. However when the rights came up for 1999-2002 Channel 4 offered far more money than the BBC in a joint deal with Sky, and promised to revolutionise coverage of the sport. Part of the deal was that 1 test per summer would be exclusively on Sky.

To get round this there was a gentleman's agreement between Lord MacLaurin, then chairman of the ECB and Chris Smith, then the Culture Secretary, to demote Cricket to "Group B", i.e only highlights had to be on mainstream TV, on the understanding that the majority of the live Tests would remain on terrestrial TV.

Technically the new deal is illegal, as Group B sporting events should have highlights on a broadcaster which reaches "95% coverage of UK viewers and at no further cost to the viewer than the TV license fee". Channel 5 only covers about 90% of the population through it's analogue broadcasts as not all transmitters broadcast it,and those that do often do so at a lower power than BBC,ITV and CH4/S4C. Needless to say though there appears to be little political will to challenge this.

The whole situation stinks, I can see why the ECB took the money as Sky were paying hardball offering far less money for the one day rights if they didn't also have the Tests, as the Telegraph article linked above shows. Personally I think most of the blame falls with the BBC, if Channel 4 couldn't make showing the Tests pay then the BBC should have saved live coverage of the national summer game, I don't buy their excuse that they couldn't fit it in the schedules as surely they could have just put the coverage on BBC2 if Wimbledon or Royal Ascot's going on, or put it on through the red button or Freeview channel 701/2.

 

[Flashman]

Did somebody mention "pink gin"? Marvellous. Almost my favourite drink, that.

FWIW Channel 5 will show highlights at a decent hour (7pm-ish rigid,IIRC) and they will receive the Sky feed, so it'll be messrs Beefy/Gower/Whispering Death et al.

Fucking chiz though, that it should come to this.

 

[Donna Ferentes]

Channel Four blame the ECB

 

[mhwfc]

http://media.guardian.co.uk/mediaguardian/story/0,7558,1553587,00.html (registation required)

Interesting article, sadly I can't see the Government having the balls to challenge Sky's exclusive rights, there may be a private members bill that doesn't get very far but that'll be it.

 

[JTG]

Did somebody mention "pink gin"? Marvellous. Almost my favourite drink, that.

FWIW Channel 5 will show highlights at a decent hour (7pm-ish rigid,IIRC) and they will receive the Sky feed, so it'll be messrs Beefy/Gower/Whispering Death et al.

Fucking chiz though, that it should come to this.

Oh joy, that opinionated cock Botham gets to ruin my enjoyment of the game all summer does he? Fuckwit, he only gets on telly 'cos he was good and likes to slate anyone and everyone for no good reason. I think I prefer Boycott's version of that particular role to Botham's.

 

[butchersapron]

More anti-somerset nonsense.

 

[Orang Utan]

Tis a shame, but I'm quite relieved, cos it means less work for me and a swanky party to say goodbye.

 

[JTG]

More anti-somerset nonsense.

And why not indeed? Backward excuse of a 'first' class county