Ford Super Sunday Posted 15 February 2011 Posted 15 February 2011 So it's that time again, the Football League tender documents are out, as the body looks to secure the best deal it can. http://www.football-league.co.uk/staticFiles/95/6c/0,,10794~158869,00.pdf Basically I've summed up the packages for those who don't have time to read it. Package One: The right and obligation to Transmit live a total of 10 Matches from The Championship (on a first pick basis) from fixtures scheduled to be played on a Friday, Saturday, Sunday or any Bank Holiday, plus both legs of one of The Championship play-off semi-fi nals (on a second pick basis after Package Two). This is the same package as was offered the last time, which the BBC won, though Sky re-negotiated the deal to see the play-off semi's on there, rather than the BBC Package 2:The right and obligation to Transmit live a total of 25 Matches from The Championship (on a third pick basis after Packages One and Three) from fi xtures scheduled to be played on a Friday, Saturday, Sunday or any Bank Holiday, plus both legs of one of The Championship play-off semi-fi nals (on a fi rst pick basis) and The Championship play-off final. This is the package that Sky won last time, but with less games in the package, that's because of package four, which we shall come onto. Package Three: The right and obligation to Transmit live a total of 10 Matches from The Championship (on a second pick basis after Package One) from fixtures scheduled to be played on a Friday, Saturday, Sunday or any Bank Holiday and 20 Matches from League One and League Two, plus all four legs of the play-off semi-finals and the play-off final for each of League One and League Two, together with a minimum of two Matches from the “area final” stage, and the final, of the League Trophy. Won by Sky last time. Right, package four Package Four: The right and obligation to Transmit live a total of 10 Matches from The Championship on a Thursday evening, of which a minimum of six in any Season may be selected on a first pick basis from Matches scheduled to be played on a mid-week night (excluding any Bank Holidays) in the fixture list, and the remainder picked from either midweek or weekend fixtures as available. A new package of Thursday night games for the Championship. 10 games taken from the second package as said. Probably won by Sky, though ESPN may be interested. Controversial however, as the FL may make teams play Thursday-Saturday or move the Saturday game to a Sunday. Included in the rest of the list are packages six-nine, which are the League Cup packages, of which package eight is the League Cup final one, on its own. The disappointing thing though is in the detail of the highlights package, which states the following: The right and obligation to Transmit on a weekly basis during each Season, not less than sixty (60) minutes of highlights programming, to include as much of the Match action played in that week as possible, with a maximum of 20 minutes of Footage from any Match. The sixty minutes of programming may be broken down into more than one programme during the week. That means that once again, we're limited to just 60 minutes of highlights a week, rather than being able to have a Saturday show followed by a midweek show. As it says, there is potential for two 30 min shows in a two-game week, but it's a big letdown. Of course Sky will be interested, but it will be intriguing to see if ESPN make a play for the rights. They may well, it'd give them a solid and consistent set of rights, rather than the current 23 games per season and FA Cup. BBC might well drop the 10 live games package with their budget cuts, but I hope they make a move to retain the highlights. Can't abide highlights on a commercial channel. The last set of rights went for £88m a season, the highest since the ill-fated £105m spent by ITV Digital. With the collapse of Setanta since the deal, budget cuts by the BBC, but interest from ESPN, it'll be very interesting to see what happens. Watch this space.
danny. Posted 15 February 2011 Posted 15 February 2011 The right and obligation to Transmit on a weekly basis during each Season, not less than sixty (60) minutes That means that once again, we're limited to just 60 minutes of highlights a week, It says 'not LESS' than 60 mins, not 'not more'?
Ford Super Sunday Posted 15 February 2011 Author Posted 15 February 2011 It says 'not LESS' than 60 mins, not 'not more'? It also says The sixty minutes of programming may be broken down into more than one programme during the week. It states 'not less' but the wording seems to be that it will be 60 minutes, bang on, not 'as much as you want.'
danny. Posted 15 February 2011 Posted 15 February 2011 It surely means a minimum of 60 mins, which can be split. If it was exactly it would say 'exactly 60 mins' and not 'no less than 60 mins' you would think?
accessory Posted 16 February 2011 Posted 16 February 2011 Think ESPN could be serious contenders this time around. Outside the big 4-6 clubs, there's as big an audience for lower-league football as for Premier games.
Ford Super Sunday Posted 23 March 2011 Author Posted 23 March 2011 Bumpety bump The bidding closed yesterday, with strong rumours that due to the 20% cuts forced on the BBC, they've decided not to bid for anything. Meaning a probably drop in revenue for the Football League (And from sponsors nPower, who have a caluse to reduce payments if the BBC pull out) and most likely Sky and ESPN bidding together. Highlights might go to satellite, but if not it's probable that we'll get good ol' ITV back doing the weekly H/L. Yay.
Jimothy Posted 23 March 2011 Posted 23 March 2011 The 60 minute per week highlight rule is a joke, especially with amount of midweek fixtures that are played in these Leagues. Should be 60 minutes per round of fixtures.
Corky Posted 23 March 2011 Posted 23 March 2011 Bumpety bump The bidding closed yesterday, with strong rumours that due to the 20% cuts forced on the BBC, they've decided not to bid for anything. Meaning a probably drop in revenue for the Football League (And from sponsors nPower, who have a caluse to reduce payments if the BBC pull out) and most likely Sky and ESPN bidding together. Highlights might go to satellite, but if not it's probable that we'll get good ol' ITV back doing the weekly H/L. Yay. Really hope not, the FLS isn't perfect but it's far better than the shit ITV used to serve up.
davieG Posted 5 April 2011 Posted 5 April 2011 Looks like it will all be on Sky BBC The Football League has signed a three-year deal with Sky Sports, giving the broadcaster exclusive rights to show live matches from the 2012-13 season. The deal, worth £195m, marks a drop from the current £264m agreement with Sky and the BBC. Football League chairman Greg Clarke said it had been a challenging climate to negotiate in. The BBC said that it had been unable to make a competitive bid for live broadcast rights. Under the new agreement, Sky Sports will broadcast 75 matches from across the Npower Football League, the play-offs including all three finals, 15 matches from the Carling Cup including both legs of each semi-final and the final, the final of the Johnstone's Paint Trophy and at least two matches from the preceding rounds. Sky will also show match highlights. The Football League said it was in ongoing discussions with broadcasters regarding free-to-air highlights. 'Lack of competition'The BBC currently has first pick to show 10 live Championship matches a season, as well as two legs of the semi-finals and shared live coverage of the Carling Cup Final. But a spokesman said: "Given the current financial climate and the internal strategic review being carried out through Delivering Quality First, we were not in a position to be able to make a competitive bid for the Football League live TV broadcast rights. "We look forward to continuing our coverage of the Football League to the end of the 2011-2012 season when our contract expires." League chairman Mr Clarke said: "This has been a challenging climate in which to negotiate television rights, given the state of the economy and the lack of competitive tension in the sports broadcasting market. "I am confident that our clubs will take heart from seeing such a significant ongoing investment in their competitions, despite a reduced level of broadcasting income, as it provides financial certainty in uncertain times."
Edmund Posted 5 April 2011 Posted 5 April 2011 Sky will also show match highlights. Does this mean bye bye to "The Football league show"? Hopefully they do something similar to the highlights of the premiership on a Saturday night where you can watch extended highlights of any game you choose via the red button.
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