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For stuff not worthy of a thread of its own (July 2016)

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JO
Jon
Strongly against any live matches going behind a pay wall but this is probably the least worse scenario. and can see why the BBC/ITV would go for it.

Crucial though the FTA channels have 1st pick for the final round, but also as you say home nations games being on Amazon whilst France v Italy is on BBC1/ITV isn't great either. That could be protected by having a similar split to now but with France and Italy home games on Amazon, but means we'd have lost the crucial France v Wales and France v Scotland games from FTA.


Is a chance Amazon may be happy with the Autumn series alone and secondary rights to the Six Nations itself (highlights, delayed rights etc.) - especially as this is said to be a short term deal of as little as two years. That said it would still be a shame if the only time free to air viewers got to see the All Blacks in actions was every 4 years at the World Cup.

I think the best case scenario is Amazon get 3rd pick of every round.
RD
rdd Founding member
They’d almost certainly end up with five Italy games (these days, virtually all blow outs) in that scenario.

While in principle I would say that would be a bad deal, it seems reading between the lines that Amazon’s real target here is not the Six Nations at all but the Autumn Internationals, which timing wise makes more sense from its POV. By including some Six Nations games in the package Six Nations Rugby do get to test out what going to subscription will do to the viewing numbers, ahead of perhaps a more comprehensive deal next time around.

Still, I don’t think it will be five Italy games. That’s virtually pointless. More likely there will be a share of first and second picks. The Times report does mention “an equal split of the most attractive matches”.

Full report here for those with a sub:

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/amazon-set-for-share-of-six-nations-kq0jschxc
JA
japitts

Also bidding only opened this week so could be an invite for BBC/ITV or especially Sky & BT to raise their bid.


I sincerely hope so. I know it's widely commented that the RFU/powers-that-be were impressed with Amazon last November, but they're very marmite otherwise.

I'm not keen on streaming services for live sport in general.
RD
rdd Founding member
I’ve said before that it appears that any time a sports competition organiser wants to generate interest that leaking (or even publically stating) that Amazon is/might be interested/is on the cusp of taking rights seems to be the new way to go. We had the strange case of the PRL deal in December where PRL virtually shot themselves in the foot by suggesting Amazon and the existing rights holders didn’t take the bait and ended up doing a cheaper deal!

All the same, I tend to give this report some credence, if only due to the fact that Six Nations Rugby and Amazon have or had an existing relationship with the Autumn Nations Cup last year which proves that Amazon may well have an interest in the Autumn International rights (which I think is their real target rather than the 6N itself).
JA
japitts
rdd posted:

All the same, I tend to give this report some credence, if only due to the fact that Six Nations Rugby and Amazon have or had an existing relationship with the Autumn Nations Cup last year which proves that Amazon may well have an interest in the Autumn International rights (which I think is their real target rather than the 6N itself).


I won't argue with any of that post! I can't recall where I heard/read it (so it could be total nonsense) but I was under the impression Amazon were the only serious bidder for the Autumn cup last year - which I remember thinking sounded credible as just adding to the "tin-pot" nature of the tournament.

If true... I can't decide if that works in Amazon's favour or not. I would agree that the autumn series is Amazon's "seasonal" target, I guess for Sky & BT, the opposite probably applies.
RD
rdd Founding member
Meanwhile, also rugby related, the Irish Times reporting that we are on cusp for a return to the 2010-14 “Grand FTA Coalition” era of Pro14 broadcasting, with perhaps a reduced role for Premier Sports:

https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/rugby/pro14/rté-strong-contenders-to-take-over-as-primary-broadcaster-of-pro-14-rugby-1.4519173?mode=amp

What I find interesting about both of these stories is that they appear to pour cold water over the notion of Sky making a grand re-entry into the rugby union market with bids for the Six Nations and Pro14 main rights, which had been talked up.
VA
valley
I do feel like a lot of these stories are leaked to the media in order to encourage competing (particularly pay-TV) broadcasters to up their bids.
RD
rdd Founding member
I don’t think the Irish Times story will encourage anyone to up their bid! If anything it says that there’s no pay TV operator out there willing to come on board for the Pro14, if we are back to the days of the U.K. and Ireland rights being split across 6 (!) rights holders.

The (London) Times story: yes, absolutely, and I think that goes for any story where Amazon is mentioned. You’d think they were the new Sky Sports the way some sporting bodies talk them up but the reality is that their interest is limited to the strategic acquisition of a small number of rights. The NFL rights they’ve just purchased are for what is far and away the weakest of all the NFL’s packages, they bought a Premier League TV rights package effectively tailor-designed to encourage them in, and let’s face it tennis isn’t a huge subscription driver - the interest in the sport outside of the Grand Slam events is niche at best.
BR
Brekkie
Jon posted:
Strongly against any live matches going behind a pay wall but this is probably the least worse scenario. and can see why the BBC/ITV would go for it.

Crucial though the FTA channels have 1st pick for the final round, but also as you say home nations games being on Amazon whilst France v Italy is on BBC1/ITV isn't great either. That could be protected by having a similar split to now but with France and Italy home games on Amazon, but means we'd have lost the crucial France v Wales and France v Scotland games from FTA.


Is a chance Amazon may be happy with the Autumn series alone and secondary rights to the Six Nations itself (highlights, delayed rights etc.) - especially as this is said to be a short term deal of as little as two years. That said it would still be a shame if the only time free to air viewers got to see the All Blacks in actions was every 4 years at the World Cup.

I think the best case scenario is Amazon get 3rd pick of every round.

The England games then. Wink Very Happy

A fair split would probably be Amazon get 1st pick for the first two rounds, with BBC/ITV alternating on 2nd and 3rd. Amazon then get 3rd pick for the remainder of the tournmanent with BBC/ITV alternating on 1st/2nd (with reverse picks in the 2nd year)

What will be will be. Ultimately it's money vs exposure and money usually wins. I suspect we don't actually have any indication of the sort of ratings Amazon get for sport.

I do feel like a lot of these stories are leaked to the media in order to encourage competing (particularly pay-TV) broadcasters to up their bids.

Some are informed and some clearly clickbait, hence why I didn't take too much notice of the WalesOnline story recently as last year they seemed to switch pretty much weekly on whether it would remain FTA or move to Pay TV. I find many sites run opposing stories now so when the deal is revealed they can say they were right.
Last edited by Brekkie on 25 March 2021 1:01pm - 2 times in total
BR
Brekkie
Seems the story has now been updated - paywalled so not read it but get the impression they're now saying that BBC/ITV will retain the Six Nations and Amazon just have the autumn games.



UL
ulsterman92
Haven't seen this picked up on but Natalie Pinkham lead the commentary today for Free Practice 1 in Bahrain today for Sky Sports F1 alongside Jenson Button & Karun Chandhok. David Croft is set to do the rest of the sessions for Sky but first time a female has lead the commentary in the UK.

Of course we have had Louise Goodman, Lee McKenzie, Rachel Brooks, Georgie Thompson, Suzie Wolff, Natalie Pinkman, Jennie Gow & Holly Samos all involved with F1 presenting, analysing or reporting on TV & Radio since 1997 on BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Sky.
RO
robertclark125
With RTE seemingly involved in the Pro 14, and with increased BBC involvement again, I just wonder if Premier Sports reduced role, is simply them perhaps eventually deciding to say to the Pro 14, in a few years time, "well, goodbye", and deciding to leave it altogether.

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