Usually the ill-informed then blame Murdoch and Sky even though the apparent Australian anti-christ no longer owns the broadcaster.
I’ve not written anything until now, but I’ve snapped after Jim Maxwell’s comment on Saturday evening that it was ‘disgraceful’ none of the tournament was free to air.
No Jim, what is disgraceful is cricket, like all sports seeks to ‘maximise’ its broadcasting revenues – sell them to the highest bidder at prices beyond the market forces of our licence fee, advertising funding free to air channels.
I don’t know what Sky paid for the rights to the World Cup, but the new deal to show all of England’s matches from 2020 onwards is worth £1.1billion. Can you imagine the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 or 5 paying that sort of money?
Sky is a business and of course wants exclusivity but there is nothing to stop rights holders such as the ECB offering one/two packages for just free to air broadcasters. If that reduces Sky’s investment a little then so be it.
However, certain free to air broadcasters will hope that day will never come as quite simply many don’t want to show sports such as cricket.
A one-day came takes eight hours, can you see the BBC clearing their schedules for that long, only Wimbledon gets that privilege.
A test match takes five days, four usually in the modern era. When terrestrial was king, the BBC would leave the test match on Saturday afternoons to go horse racing.
The ultimate snub was Channel 4 who ensured test matches would start at 10.30am so they could clear off and show Hollyoaks and if rain meant a late finish, they’d often draw stumps on the coverage then too.
What do you get with Sky? Uninterrupted coverage which if you are a fan of the sport is all you crave.
Something has got to change, rights holders need to put people before profit and think creatively. Can they offer something to free to air broadcasters while recognising the investment Sky has put into their game.
But can broadcasters such as the BBC and ITV come to the table and offer sports the space they need to breathe? I remain doubtful.
In the last 18 months Sky have been forensically assessing the price they pay for everything, one hopes they don’t take umbrage at this negativity and take their bat and ball home.
Because then cricket, as with many other sports, would be stumped.
