The Sports Digital Media-scape

Dr Dan LaugheySenior Lecturer, MediaEmail d.laughey@leedsmet.ac.ukBlog http://laughey.wordpress.com/

Digital Britain (2009 White Paper)

National Plan for Digital Participation Universal broadband (2Mbps) by

2012 DAB-only national radio by 2015 Next Generation broadband fund Clampdown on internet piracy Public service (BBC/C4) content

partnerships

Digital Sporting Britain…

A hi-speed, hi-tech, new media future…?

A cautionary tale from (recent) history

February 1985…TV DEAL STAND-OFFFootball League Chairmen reject £17m 4-year deal offered by BBC/ITV, to include £3.8 million for 19 live games next season (85-86). FL want more money for same number of live games as before (10) and only a 2-year contract – Chairmen worried about TV affecting attendances. ITV Head of Sport, John Bromley, says no more money is available: football had ‘delivered some cracking matches on TV’ but ‘the situation looks gloomy. It will be extremely sad if a game as great as football decides to turn its back on the principle medium of communication in this country’.

What happened next?

AUG 85-JAN 86 No league football on TV86-92 BBC/ITV duopoly (88 ITV sign £44

million 4-year deal) until…AUG 92 Premier League formed as

BSkyB sign £191.5 million 5-year deal97 BSkyB £670 million 4-year deal01 Sky £1.11 billion 3-year deal06 Sky/Setanta £1.7 billion 3-year deal

(Sky £1.3 billion for 4/6 packages)

And now?

JUNE 09 Setanta (GB) collapsesAUG 09 ESPN (UK) launches – takes

over Setanta’s PL rights to 20132009 ONGOING… Ofcom/DCMS review

of all Pay TV sports rights, especially events listed in 1996 Broadcasting Act (revised 98)

The Crown Jewels (A-listed live FTA)

Olympic Games World Cup Finals European Football Championships FA Cup/Scottish Cup Final Wimbledon (finals weekend) The Grand National The Derby Rugby World Cup Final Rugby League Challenge Cup Final

The ‘New’ Crown Jewels?

The Ashes (Home Tests) International Football Qualifiers

(World Cup and Euro Champs) Wimbledon (all coverage) Open Golf ChampionshipTO BE REMOVED… The Derby (currently BBC) RL Challenge Cup Final (BBC)

A revival in FTA sports media?

FTA presence likely to increase BUT… Subscription Pay TV to

remain the dominant platform (satellite, cable, digital terrestrial)

Pay Per View TV/web streaming to rise rapidly (club/venue-specific channels, ‘wholesaling of rights’ recommendation by Ofcom)

Other emerging issues Piracy (decoder cards and web

streaming) is rife… content providers must create better legal alternatives

Online betting increasingly integrated into sports media coverage

Image rights - sports clubs/venues/ associations controlling media outputs

SNS (Twitter, Facebook) establishing key news/marketing sites

London 2012 - key testing ground for digital sports media providers

Where to find me

EMAIL d.laughey@leedsmet.ac.uk

BLOG http://laughey.wordpress.com/