The Sanzar rugby unions — South Africa, New Zealand and Australia — could find their lucrative television deal is in jeopardy if the ideas in the discussion paper on sports broadcasting rights released last week by the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) make their way into law.
Sanzar sold radio and television broadcast rights for the Tri-Nations until 2006 to Rupert Murdoch’s Newscorp, which then sold them to Supersport. At present home rugby Tests are shown on the pay channel and then delayed on SABC but away Tests are exclusive to M-Net — and the SABC wants a share.
The discussion paper is looking to define national sporting events that will be shown on free-to-air channels (SABC and e.tv).
The paper was prompted by complaints from the public, who felt certain sports needed to be broadcasted on free-to-air channels. The Broadcasting Act of 1999 requires Icasa to identify ”national sporting events” in consultation with the minister of broadcasting and the minister of sport. The Act also mandates the authority to ensure that subscription services may not acquire exclusive rights for the broadcast of these national events.
The discussion paper has drawn the battle lines between the free-to-air channels and Supersport. The SABC and e.tv have more viewers than the pay channel, but the pay channel has more money to buy exclusive sports rights from the sporting codes who are desperate for publicity, revenue and sponsors.
The three channels have an interim list of sporting events that must be broadcast free to air, including the Olympics, soccer’s World Cup and African Cup of Nations, the rugby world cup and all South Africa’s matches plus others from the cricket world cup. The SABC is not satisfied with this arrangement and is insisting that 50% of all events be shown on free-to-air channels.
All these televised events generate revenue for the various sporting federations that sell broadcast rights to the highest bidder. If the law changes and events have to be on free-to-air television, this takes one bidder — the most cash-flush one — out of the equation.
When several sporting codes were contacted this week they had not yet read the discussion paper and therefore said they could not comment on it.
The example cited in the discussion paper is athletics, which has sold all its broadcast rights to the SABC for three years. However, the SABC does not flight some events live but delays them or flights them the next day merely as a highlight package.
This has resulted in Athletics South Africa (ASA) struggling to attract sponsors for its events. Without television revenue athletics will not be able to survive, ASA claims.
Cricket has sold domestic games to the SABC and international games to Supersport to generate revenue from the pay channel. The free-to-air channels face viewer resistance to extended cricket coverage as the length of a match means regular programmes are cancelled.
Written submissions to Icasa are due before October 4. The body will then draw up a position paper that will include a list of sporting events of national interest and policy and regulations governing sports broadcasting, which will be gazetted.