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TEN talks up AFL desires

AFL broadcasting rights already? TEN wants a slice of the pie, after ditching them in 2011.

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aflbDitched by TEN under Lachlan Murdoch, AFL is back on the network’s agenda under CEO and Chairman Hamish McLennan.

Broadcasting rights are already gathering pace despite the current deal between the AFL, Seven Network and Foxtel running until 2016.

McLennan told News Corp that TEN would push for a carve-up of AFL rights with Seven when new footy boss Gillon McLachlan opens negotiations shortly.

The AFL is rumoured to be after $1.5 billion for its next five-year deal, up from the last $1.258 billion deal.

“I think Cricket Australia were the absolute winners out of the competitive tension between Nine and TEN — it would be the same thing with the AFL,” McLennan said.

“With cricket, two broadcasters competing against each other brought new ideas, new marketing and a broader audience base. And each brought new viewers to cricket.”

McLennan suggested Tennis Australia missed an opportunity by failing to put Australian Open rights out to open competition.

Of course, TEN let go of its AFL commentators after TEN withdrew from broadcast rights bidding in 2011 when Lachlan Murdoch was concerned at losses of around $10m a year.

Now the new management wants them back, after realising sport is key to driving consistent and live audiences.

After all those cuts in news, will there be another U-turn in 18 months?

19 Responses

  1. Would love Ten to get the rights back. I feel as though they did a better job than 7 and loved BTG as well as the fifth quarter. But maybe the AFL I read some where that by 2017 they will have a couple of games streamed exclusively via the Internet.

  2. Any chance we can see some internet rights so everyone can watch live games streamed over the internet without having to resort to pirate streaming sites showing the US/EU broadcasts?

    Or is that asking for way way way too much?

    I suppose, if we cant get something as simple as HD on FTA, what hope do we have for legal high quality streaming

  3. D@GP – I thought the same for awhile when ONE ditched sport, then when TEN took the Big Bash League away from Foxtel (which they started and nurtured), I figured it was just a save money decision by Lachlan for TEN.

    Would like to see TEN get AFL back as well, TEN’s coverage was better than Seven’s for mine. With the rubbish commentary on Seven Friday and Saturday nights, not too mention the awful way they interview the NAB AFL Auskick Kids (like the interviewer doesn’t want to be doing it), the AFL broadcast landscape on FTA needs freshing up.

  4. I’d love for Ten to get a slice of the pie. Not only beause I thought they did a decent job last time but also because we need more on free-to-air. I love footy but I don’t want to have to buy a subscription to all these channels I won’t watch.

  5. @Shoudy Chen – that will be a disaster for AFL and fans as they are in so much debt. Nine would rather focus on NRL as they wouldn’t want that to slip but on the other hand, fans might want Ten or 7 to do it.
    @MHA – because AFL says so as they want two free to air networks to cover TNF as 7 and Fox can’t go it alone as 7 will go bankrupt if they sign the $1.5b as it is not sustainable

  6. I’ve always suspected that Mr L M ditched the sport on One and whatever else was on TEN to clear the way for Foxtel to buy it cheaper.

    But I’m sure that comment has no substance.

  8. Lachlan Murdoch could of had two AFL games on TEN (Sat Afternoon & Night) but the idiot said no. Murdoch then tried to get NRL & lost that too.

    Lachlan Murdoch has stuffed TEN but i hope they can get Saturday AFL back on TEN in next tv rights.

  9. Here’s an idea why don’t Seven and Ten share AFL and leave Fox out altogether. Everyone deserves the right to watch their team play, whether they have pay tv or not.

  10. The AFL will sign a deal with Ten as long as the money is there. I don’t think the AFL will be too worried about Ten’s ratings, as sport is not like regular programming. They have a stable and guaranteed audience regardless of the network, and other sports like Big Bash cricket have rated decently, despite being on Ten. This is exactly why Ten need premium sport so badly.

    And Hamish is delusional. He says the same thing every month. He clearly knows nothing about television.

  11. @MHA Seven West Media ie Seven Network (7 Sport) can not afford the entire rights alone. The AFL will want to increase tv rights revenue not shrink it. For the 2007 to 2011 rights 7 bid together with 10 and beat 9, those rights were worth 780 million then ended up onselling 4 games to Foxtel. Last time round after 10 pulled out Foxtel made a larger bid and the rest was made up by 7 hence the current arrangements. As to whether TEN can afford them now i doubt it maybe 2 games per week minus anythin else. With this statement by Hamish McLennan shows how stupid Lachlan was and how idiotic the investors are at TEN for allowing him to do this.

  12. I thought that the main reason that Lachlan Murdoch decided to forgo AFL broadcast rights was because he wanted to try to secure the rights for the NRL. Another example of him thinking with his heart instead of his head perhaps?

  14. Apparently Ten are also interested in NRL and I wouldn’t mind seeing them both on a Ten providing that they renew their MotoGP and F1 rights

  16. What is to stop Seven keeping all the AFL to itself and spread coverage across its multichannels and lock Foxtel and TEN out? Would any sporting body risk their future with a broadcaster that may not last the length of the contract unless there was an up front payment?

  18. Ten were very silly to give up afl rights.

    Hopefully the new agreement will have at a minimum 4 live games a week, hopefully more. In this day an age having the Saturday afternoon game on delay is just ridiculous.

  19. Lachlan’s decision to let go of the AFL and fail in the NRL rights is now folklore.

    How can Ten possibly mount a bid when it cannot service it’s basic operating needs ? Surely the AFL will see through this – as they would not want to align with a low rating, unprofitable outfit !

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