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Poor Show Channel 4

Rich2001

International Captain
Neil Pickup said:
Channel 4's contract expires at the end of this Summer doesn't it?
I blieve so - NZ in England 1999 to this summer (iam sure I have been reading it was only a 4 year contract)
 

Rich2001

International Captain
Langeveldt said:
But who else wants it??? Eventually it will be away from terrestrial screens altogether.....
Don't hold me to it, but I heard at one point the BBC wantted to try and get more top sport(s) back after losing so much over the years.

But Iam certain Sky will sanp it up, if C4 decided not to continue
 

Rik

Cricketer Of The Year
marc71178 said:
The Grand National, Wimbledon, FA Cup Final, Boat Race and Open all are!
Only because the BBC and occasionally ITV show them, if the interist was not there then they wouldn't show them.
 

Neil Pickup

Cricket Web Moderator
Rik said:
Only because the BBC and occasionally ITV show them, if the interist was not there then they wouldn't show them.
Small issue of UK Law here making it definite that they are shown terrestrially... hence the BBC being state-funded.
 

Neil Pickup

Cricket Web Moderator
ITC Guidelines for Sport on Television

Category A events
MUST be shown on free-to-air Terrestrial TV
Olympic Games
FIFA World Cup Finals Tournament
FA Cup Final
Scottish FA Cup Final (in Scotland)
Grand National
The Derby
Wimbledon Tennis Finals
European Football Championship Finals Tournament
Rugby League Challenge Cup Final
Rugby World Cup Final

Category B events
May be shown on Pay TV provided there is the potential for satisfactory secondary coverage on Terrestrial TV
Cricket Test Matches played in England
Non-finals play in the Wimbledon Tournament
Other matches in the Rugby World Cup Finals Tournament
Five Nations Rugby Tournament matches involving home countries
Commonwealth Games
World Athletics Championship
Cricket World Cup (final, semi-final and matches involving home nations)
Ryder Cup
Open Golf Championship

So Marc - Wimbledon isn't fully protected, nor is the Open, and nobody cares about the Boat Race.

I am highly concerned about Cricket's inclusion on List B - and given the BBC & C4's attitude to the World Cup highlights (i.e. no interest at all in showing them) - it could be a bit messy.

Test Cricket was removed from List A in June 1998. Oh, how I hate New Labour.
 
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luckyeddie

Cricket Web Staff Member
I think this still pretty-well applies :

Listed Events

In 1991, the Home Secretary announced a reduced list of events which were not permitted under the 1990 Broadcasting Act, to be shown on television on pay-per-view terms. As stated above, the 1996 Act altered the rules surrounding the transmission of listed events; however, the list was not changed by the new legislation. In June 1998, the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport announced a revised list of sporting events for which live coverage must be made available to free-to-air terrestrial television (Category A) and those for which live coverage might be shown on pay TV, provided there were satisfactory arrangements for secondary coverage by a free-to-air broadcaster (Category B). Following consultation by the ITC, these changes were incorporated in the ITC Code on Sports and Other Listed Events in 1999. The Code was further amended in January 2000 to implement certain European Broadcasting Directive requirements, giving the ITC responsibility to protect events listed by other EEA states in relation to broadcasters established in the UK and transmitting to those states.

One such broadcaster, TV Danmark, applied to the ITC in July 2000 for consent to show five Danish World Cup (football) qualifying matches, and was refused because the ITC felt that the free-to-air public broadcasters in Danmark had not been provided with a sufficient opportunity to acquire the rights to broadcast these matches. TV Danmark challenged the ITC’s decision and lost the judicial review but the ruling was overturned in favour of TV Danmark on appeal. The ITC recently appealed against this decision to the House of Lords who decided in favour of the ITC’s original decision therefore supporting the procedures which the ITC originally applied and the ITC’s interpretation of the relevant jurisdictions.

Category A events: The Olympic Games, the FIFA World Cup Finals Tournament, the FA Cup Final, the Scottish FA Cup Final (in Scotland), the Grand National, the Derby, the Wimbledon Tennis Finals, the European Football Championship Finals Tournament, the Rugby League Challenge Cup Final and the Rugby World Cup Final.

Category B events: Cricket Test Matches played in England, non-finals play in the Wimbledon Tournament, all other matches in the Rugby World Cup Finals Tournament, Five Nations Rugby Tournament matches involving home countries, the Commonwealth Games, the World Athletics Championship, the Cricket World Cup (final, semi-final and matches involving home nations’ teams), the Ryder Cup, the Open Gold Championship.
 

Frome Exile

Cricket Spectator
Definitions

Bear in mind that the definitions of "pay-per-view", and "free-to air" are not as clear cut as you might think, and are slowly changing in the public perception.

Subscription channels, such as Sky Sports are clearly not "free-to air", but neither is the bulk of their coverage considered "pay-per-view" (just Premiership Plus, Boxing and F1 up to now, I think).

Add to this the fact that the BBC's Charter is up for renewal in 2006, and that there are a number of organisations pressing for an alternative funding arrangement to the Licence Fee (such as subscription). When one also considers the Government's stated aim of closing down analogue braodcasting systems by 2010 at the latest, it's possible that in a few short years there will be no truly "free-to-air" channels, as a subscription service will be required to view the only one left (ITV).

Bearing all of this in mind, and assuming a more competitive market in the near future, it is probably fair to say that the next round of rights negotiations in most sports will be interesting, to say the least.
 

Rik

Cricketer Of The Year
Neil Pickup said:
Test Cricket was removed from List A in June 1998. Oh, how I hate New Labour.
Your not the only one...

Anyway do you think it had anything to do with John Major's love of Cricket? The position as List A?
 

jf2001

Cricket Web Staff Member
C&G Vs Surrey

Apologies if the answer to this is featured in theis thread but I lost the plot after a while. I am disappointed C&G cricket isn't featured on C4 especially when the alternatives includes the tripe that is Big Brother 4. At the risk of being accused of arrogant, Somerset (winners and an excellent pedigree in this comp) and Surrey (say no more) is about as big as this gets but no cameras it seems. Perhaps only the later rounds are covered but shame as chances are we will miss out on air-time and I will miss out on the chance to run around wearing Somerset Talk boxer shorts and get excellent free publicity. :O
 

Rich2001

International Captain
Re: C&G Vs Surrey

jf2001 said:
Apologies if the answer to this is featured in theis thread but I lost the plot after a while. I am disappointed C&G cricket isn't featured on C4 especially when the alternatives includes the tripe that is Big Brother 4. At the risk of being accused of arrogant, Somerset (winners and an excellent pedigree in this comp) and Surrey (say no more) is about as big as this gets but no cameras it seems. Perhaps only the later rounds are covered but shame as chances are we will miss out on air-time and I will miss out on the chance to run around wearing Somerset Talk boxer shorts and get excellent free publicity. :O
Indeed it is only the later rounds, but only the highlights..

It's an intresting point that alot of forum users are saying there's so little coverage on "Free to Air" TV, yet C4 are saying this is the most cricket they have ever shown.... Pitty most of it's highlights only!

Here is a full coverage guide for C4 for this summer

ENGLAND v ZIMBABWE npower Test Series

May 22 - 26
ENG v ZIM, 1st Test, Lord's (LIVE)

Jun 5-9
ENG v ZIM, 2nd Test, Durham (Highlights)

NATWEST CHALLENGE (Highlights only)

Jun 17
ENG v PAK, NatWest Challenge, Old Trafford

Jun 20
ENG v PAK, NatWest Challenge, The Oval

Jun 22
ENG v PAK, NatWest Challenge, Lord's

NATWEST SERIES (highlights only)

Jun 26
ENG v ZIM, NatWest Series, Trent Bridge

Jun 28
ENG v SA, NatWest Series, The Oval

Jul 1
ENG v ZIM, NatWest Series, Headingley

Jul 3
ENG v SA, NatWest Series, Old Trafford

Jul 6
ENG v ZIM, NatWest Series, Bristol

Jul 8
ENG v SA, NatWest Series, Edgbaston

Jul 12
NatWest Series Final, Lord's

ENGLAND v SOUTH AFRICA npower Test Series

Jul 24 - 28
ENG v SA, 1st Test, Edgbaston, (LIVE)

Jul 31- Aug 4
ENG v SA, 2nd Test, Lord's, (LIVE)

Aug 14-18
ENG v SA, 3rd Test, Trent Bridge, (LIVE)

Aug 21-25
ENG v SA, 4th Test, Headingley, (LIVE)

Sep 4-8
ENG v SA, 5th Test, The Oval, (LIVE)

CHELTENHAM AND GLOUCESTER TROPHY (Highlights only)

Jun 11
C&G QF (match and venue tbc)

Aug 7
C&G SF 1

Aug 9
C&G SF2

Aug 30
C&G Final, Lord's

20:20 LIMITED OVERS COMPETITION

Jun 14
20:20 match, Headingley (LIVE)

Jul 19
20:20 SFs and Final (venue tbc), (Highlights)
 

jf2001

Cricket Web Staff Member
Twenty20 Cup

Any idea if there will be coverage on TV for the new Twenty20 Cup? I'd imagine this would be the most exciting form of cricket to watch on TV and to try and attract new viewers.

I noted that Mark Nicholas was using his Telegraph column to defend C4's coverage. Well, he's hardly likely to criticise them is he? He argued that they bid for World Cup cricket highlights but nothing could be sorted. I'm sorry but this issue winds me right up. How can any broadcaster (and I hold the BBC equally culpable here) who says they have a dedication to sport and to cricket not be able to fund highlights for the biggest competition in the world? It wouldn't happen in other Test-playing countries...In fact I know that other countries were gob-smacked the World Cup wasn't being shown on TV in England. Can you imagine BBC/ITV saing sorry no World Cup rugby this year. No way... In fact, I remember years back when we won the Rugby Sevens title with the likes of Matt Dawson and ex-Quins Andrew Harriman when it was hosted in Scotland. The BBC showed every single game and highlights to boot over four glorious days. If only cricket could be seen with the same enthusiasm.

Sorry, moan over. :D JF
 

Frome Exile

Cricket Spectator
I think you're barking at the wrong target

Sorry John, but I think your ire at the broadcasters is unjustified in this case.

If it weren't for the fact that the Rugby World Cup Final is on the protected list, then the terrestrial broadcasters would very probably have lost the rights to the entire tournament in a bidding war with Sky, etc. The pay TV channels are hardly likely to stump up huge wedge for tournaments that they lose exclusivity on at the last and crucial stage, but would price others out of the market if the final itself were not on the protected list.

The Beeb and other free-to-air operators can only afford events that are either protected at some stage, or are of little majority interest, such as sevens rugby and Formula 1. (The only reason this is still on ITV is that the uptake for Sky's enhanced coverage was so poor in a period when interest in the "sport" was on the wane).

Your anger with respect to the ICC WC coverage should be aimed at the government and the regulator, who a) excluded the event from List A, and b) reckoned that half an hour at around midnight on the days of England games, the semis and the final represented "adequate arrangements for secondary coverage".

PS. There will be coverage of some 20Twenty games on Murdoch-vision.
 
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