Premier League: Rights Decision

DMC

Just a heads up for 4pm today, the rights to the next contract for the Premier League will be announced then.

5 Live and the TV news networks will relay the press conference.

Andy Mc

Premiership back on the BBC


Premiership football will return to the BBC as part of an overhaul of television coverage announced on Friday.
Match of the Day will be revived with highlights programmes on both Saturday and Sunday for three years from the 2004/5 season.

Live games will continue to be shown on Sky satellite television, while ITV will lose its highlights package at the end of the forthcoming season.

Sky's satellite deal is worth £1.02bn, according to Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore.

Scudamore said he believed the new deal would meet with the approval of the European Union's competitions commission, which had expressed concerns about the selling of football TV rights.

The live games were split up into four separate packages, each of which were won individually by Sky, Scudamore said.

The most attractive of the four packages with the pick of the best games was sold for £358m, with the other three going for £282m, £230m and £154m.

More to follow.

Ludo

Anyone know who won the "Irish Package"??Or have SKy taken that also?

---

IRISH LIVE PACKAGE

How many matches? One game every Saturday.
When will they be shown? 3pm Saturday, in the Republic of Ireland only.
Who can bid? Irish pay-TV broadcasters, Irish free-to-air broadcasters.

---

Andy Mc

UK BROADCASTING RIGHTS DECISION
The FA Premier League assigns TV rights for UK transmission.


The FA Premier League has concluded the bidding process for the next contract of live TV and free to air highlights rights for transmission in the United Kingdom, starting in season 2004/5 and lasting for three seasons.

Following the bidding process, each of the live TV packages has been awarded individually to BSkyB.

The value realised for the three year period from live package one is £358 million; from live package two is £282 million; from live of package three is £230 million; from live package four is £154 million. The total value of these live packages is £1,024 million.

The free to air highlights package has been awarded to the BBC, returning Match of the Day to our screens. The value of this package is £105 million over the three seasons.

FA Premier League Chief Executive, Richard Scudamore, said:

"Today's announcement is the culmination of a competitive tendering process for our UK live and free to air highlights packages. The FA Premier League will now enter into a period of exclusive negotiation to conclude agreements with the successful bidders.

"BSkyB has won each of the four live packages individually.

"The BBC has won the free to air highlights package as they made the best bid in that category.

"We are pleased that the bids for these packages have reflected, once again, the quality and success of our League. Everyone in football will welcome the continuity and stability this provides.

"We still have to conclude arrangements for our twelve remaining audio-visual packages for the UK and Eire, including those for new media, as well as our audio rights and overseas rights."

Ludo

Ah ok...at the end of the official annoucement on the premier league site..

"We still have to conclude arrangements for our twelve remaining audio-visual packages for the UK and Eire, including those for new media, as well as our audio rights and overseas rights."

Ludo

you just beat me to it Andy...

DMC

ITV must be pissed that it didnt pick up some of the Live Packages, even 3 or 4.

Ludo

Originally posted by DMC
ITV must be pissed that it didnt pick up some of the Live Packages, even 3 or 4.

Poor old Des Lynham..he'll have nothing to present on ITV now.

Mossy Monk

i am glad that ITV have nothing. there coverage has been brutal

DMC

Here is a good guide to whats what.

Note that they have split the then-named "bronze" package in two.

DMC

Originally posted by Ludo
Poor old Des Lynham..he'll have nothing to present on ITV now.

He still has the Champions League, but there are less games than before.

When he joined ITV, they had the FA Cup, England highlights and the Champions League. Over time, the BBC has gotton the Cup and England live games back.

Some words to haunt Des.....

"Leaving the BBC after 30 years was not an easy decision to make, but it was time for a new challenge - and it's no secret that live football is what I love best.

"This sort of opportunity does not come along every day and the chance to anchor ITV's extensive peak-time Champions League coverage, as well as the FA Cup and other major football, was just too tempting to turn down."

The BBC's soccer portfolio is quite good now.

carrolls

How did RTE get on in the bidding for the 3:00 games?

DMC

Scroll further up, carrolls.

Short answer: No decision at this time.

celticfc

Originally posted by Mossy Monk
i am glad that ITV have nothing. there coverage has been brutal

I couldn't agree more . The prem highlights should have never left the BBC.

parasite

how many "eire" packages are there, are there more than a 3pm game & the highlights

as long as tv3 get nothing i'm happy

radiospan

There were 4 live packages sold today for the UK.

So will 6 be up for grabs in Ireland? (The same 4 as in the UK, the highlights one, plus the 3pm Saturday one?)

Scudamore said that the Irish market is more complex because deals have to be arranged with cable broadcasters or something? I can't remember exactly what he said.

DMC

Nope, nothing else, parasite. Only a 3pm Saturday game and a highlights package like what we have already are Ireland specific.
Remember, Sky could create an Irish opt-out for that game.

Mossy Monk

i have just watched the press conference on SNA and i am kind of worried by what i heard. they said that Sky has gotten the UK rights, not the UK and Éire rights. does this mean blank screens during Super Sunday etc.

DMC

Not a chance, Mossy. They do have the UK and Ireland rights to what they have bought. As I said above, the only Irish specific rights is a 3pm kick-off on a Saturday and highlights.

EDIT: I'll add, yes, the press releases say United Kingdom, but we all know in reality that whatever live games Sky show, they will be transmitted here.

Mossy Monk

Originally posted by DMC
Not a chance, Mossy.

thank goodness for that. will all those games be shown live on Sky Sports or will some be moved to PPV

DMC

Heh!

ITV's reaction...

ITV shrugs off loss of football rights

"We're disappointed not to win the highlights, but we bid what the rights were worth to ITV. The market is very different this time round, we had a clear view of the Premiership's value to the network and we bid accordingly," an ITV spokeswoman said.

"We still have rights to Europe's premier club competition, the Champions League, and the money we'll save on the Premiership will be reinvested in the network programme budget,"

Mossy Monk

Originally posted by DMC
ITV's reaction

compare ITV's CL coverage to Sky and it is really poor.
that home of football ad has come back to haunt them

eyerer

what matches could rte show if they got the 3pm saturday package?
liverpool vs. united standard or bolton vs. leicester standard?

i hope rte get it, i hate not being able to watch premiership matches, i'd prefer to see it than a celtic or rangers match occasionally, when rte feel like it

surely a premier league match would be a ratings winner for rte


i watch the champions league on tv3, for 3 reasons:
1) they show matches on tuesday & wednesday (and re-runs at night)
2) they show matches i want to see rather than united or arse on ITV
3) i can't stand the manc loving commentators on ITV

hopefully this season rte don't **** it up

Charles Slane

From a report on Media Bullet ......

"Unlike before, the TV rights have only been sold in the UK and excludes Eire. The new deal goes live from August 2004."

What does that mean ?

Dr. Nick

Originally posted by Charles Slane
From a report on Media Bullet ......

"Unlike before, the TV rights have only been sold in the UK and excludes Eire. The new deal goes live from August 2004."

What does that mean ?

''Eire'' rights are seperate, but I'll eat my proverbial hat if Sky don't get them. plus the sat. 3pm game.

btw, why wasn't PPV mentioned? is it DEAD?

mike2084

Originally posted by Dr. Nick
''Eire'' rights are seperate, but I'll eat my proverbial hat if Sky don't get them. plus the sat. 3pm game.

btw, why wasn't PPV mentioned? is it DEAD?

This question was asked during the press conference. Packages three and four can be used for pay per view. It is up to Sky as what to do with them.

Dr. Nick

Originally posted by Michael Walsh
This question was asked during the press conference. Packages three and four can be used for pay per view. It is up to Sky as what to do with them.

thanks. missed that, probably 'coz my 17-mth-old was screaming through most of it. holidays my arse.
so we know there'll be PPV, but just at different times (no 2pm sunday?)

i like sat evening to be honest, perfect time for football (without screaming babies of course)

DMC

Some not so accurate reporting this morning on the decision. All papers welcome the return of Match of the Day on Saturday nights to the BBC, but they say that when those rights went to ITV last time, thats when Des Lynam moved.

Not so, he moved before then. Des left the BBC in August 1999, the contract was awarded in the summer of 2000, and ITV began covering the Premiership from August 2001.

They are talking of him retiring now... and ITV now have a surplus of commentators. I'd like to hear Jon Champion back on the BBC, he was an excellent radio commentator on 5 Live and cut his teeth on TV commentary with the BBC in France 98 and Euro 2000. As Motson, Tony Gubba and Barry Davies are getting on a bit, they need to add to Steve Wilson and Simon Brotherton in the box.

Wigster

I have read many reports about the new Sky league deal to show 138 live games. However it is worrying to see that these are only for the UK with TV3 and RTE to bid for the rights for ROI. What does this mean. According to the Irish Times this deal is 'exclusive' to the uk unlike 'previous' years. No disrespect to RTE and TV3 but does this mean they will channel here to show games.??? They cannot compare to Sky's coverage. One of the main reasons Sky has taken off in this country has been the live games and if it is taken away from us then I wll be giving up my sky subscription!:mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:

DMC

Threads merged.

There is no way Sky wont have the same live righst they have for the UK, and not for Ireland.

channelsurfer

dmg technically the rights for "eire" as scudamore called them are totally seperate meaning all live matches. but as you can guess the money that sky have they arent gonna let little rte outbid them .becaause that would mean that a lot of dish sales would be lost. scudamore is clearing with the ec whether he can sell them all as one package or has to take indivdual bids for the seperate packages.

DMC

Exactly. All Sky have to do is make sure that RTÉ and TV3 bid, and beat them. Won't take much

€2 anyone?

byte

Maybe both RTÉ and TV3 will make a joint bid? So that, for example, RTÉ could show live games whilst TV3 had the highlights package or something.

It will be interesting to see the outcome...

Mossy Monk

anyone have any idea when the Irish rights will be announced

MisterAnarchy

I hope that none of the games will be shown pay per view as the amount of money SKy have spent on the contract is less than the previous deal for the 66 live games on Sky Sports.
It would be greedy on their behalf to charge extra when they dont need to ,but they are greedy.

Skyhater

- SKY will get the Irish Rights to the 4 "UK" Live Packages.
- RTE possible could outbid them for the 3pm sat match (I don't think TV3 have the financial mussel), but I think sky will probably win this package also. A long shot is the possibility of NTL bidding for the 3pm package in order to boost their digital service against sky digital (especially with BBC going FTA).
- Obviously, The Terrestrial rights will go to RTE or TV3 (Prob 3 if RTE gets the live game... a joint bid is a possibility)

As for the quality of the 3pm game..... It should be OK... You won't get the Liverpool Vs Man U or Arsenal on it. But you'll sometimes get the likes of Liverpool/Man U/Arsenal vs Fulham/Charlton/Middlesbrough ,etc
The 4 other packages will be clogged up by the need to show each club a minimum number of times.

Just one side point. Do other people hate English people saying "Eire" as much as I do?.... They don't say Deutschland instead of Germany, Nippon instead of Japan or Espana instead of Spain, etc.......
This is Bloody Annoying and Patronising!!!!

dmeehan

very OT but I had to say it
sorry in advance...

Just one side point. Do other people hate English people saying "Eire" as much as I do?.... They don't say Deutschland instead of Germany, Nippon instead of Japan or Espana instead of Spain, etc.......
This is Bloody Annoying and Patronising!!!!

not half as annoying as this.

I received a call from a UK based software company who contacting me about an evaluation I tried on their software

"Hi this Peter from XYZ software on the mainland"

ON THE MAINLAND!!!
boy did my blood boil

needles to say they didnt get the contract

corkviewer

Yeah the Eire thing is rediculous.
Another common (and more understandable) one is for mail order companies to use the address Southern Ireland rather than Republic of Ireland. I suppose they're trying to make the distinction between Northenr Ireland and the res tof us. I guess its just beyond then to admit that we are an independnet state for nearly 80 years.

The "Mainland" thing would make your blood boil though....

Gwynston

At the risk of sending this even more off topic.....

I lived most of my life in Britain (actually Canadian-born) and live in Galway married to a Galway lass. I also notice this strange obsession with the British calling it Eire. I think it is mostly just to avoid confusion with the North which, being part of the UK, has different rates for mail order companies etc. At least Eire is an accurate moniker - unlike "Southern Ireland" which I personally detest.

Mail order companies do also use the abbreviation "ROI", which I find a bit anonymous, but is also at least accurate, unlike my other pet hate which is the British TV football presenters referring to the boys in green as "The Republic" :rolleyes:

The worst one I've come across was on a replacement for a faulty DVD I got sent directly from the studio's Canadian distributer. I sent them my address in an email and they actually added an extra line themselves so that it read:

Blah blah,
County Galway,
Ireland,
ENGLAND

!!!! Not surpsingly, it took a month to arrive !!!!

Skyhater

Yea! "Southern Ireland" is also anoying.

Technically "Republic of Ireland" or "ROI" is also incorrect.
Th official name of this country (26 counties) in English is "Ireland". This is the registered name at the UN.
"The Republic of Ireland" is just the name registered in FIFA and UEFA. And only should be used in Football terms.

DMC

Right, k, its gone seriously OT, can we get back to the point of the thread now? Ta.

Wigster

Its on the Irish Examiner today (Money and Jobs Section) The rights are only for the UK and not Ireland. It says that Sky will bid for the games also.????

channelsurfer

its in the front page of the sunday times business section to day
says that RTE are the favourites to win the race to get live saturday premiership rights. says that sky bid for them but the amount involved would not interest sky as they would have to provide a seperate output for us. must be some truth to this as the sunday times is owned by murdoch so they would be close to skys thinking on this

Mossy Monk

Originally posted by channelsurfer
says that RTE are the favourites to win the race to get live saturday premiership rights. says that sky bid for them but the amount involved would not interest sky as they would have to provide a seperate output for us

i hope that this is the way it goes. as much as i love Sky's coverage of the Premier League it would be great to have 1 game a week on FTA television. some people are saying that they would be crap games but after yesterdays 3pm games i would disagree

would the Premier League please announce who has the rights

mike2084

Will we still be able to see Sky's four packages in Ireland next season?

Mossy Monk

i hope so but if not i will be cancelling and taking a UK sub

Genghis

This deal could work out well for Irish viewers:

1. Sky wins same rights as in UK for Ireland - Irish viewers see the same games as UK viewers
2. Sky don't bid for 3pm '5th package', which is exclusive to Ireland as it would mean providing opt-out etc, and RTE win this (TV3 lose out on basis of money and experience in broadcasting football).

Irish viewers get 33 FTA games, plus 138 Satellite games.

AFAIK the 3pm slot is for 'the choice of games' at 3pm - i.e. RTE can select which it wants to show, probably subject to some clause that ensures all clubs are shown a minimum number of times. Effectively this means that RTE could potentially pick some of the big games of the season.

Of course, with Sky dictating the other 4 live slots, whats left to be played at 3pm on Saturday may not be a great choice to begin with.

And on a final note - what if Mario Monti and the EU declare that the original bidding process for the UK was unfair? That is the factor that is holding up the 'Eire' decision, I reckon. Sky's bid for Irelands 4 main packages would be 100% contingent on it retaining the same rights for UK, so they are hardly going to commit until any doubt surrounding them remains.

watty

I thought what was Holding UP the the Ireland Rights decision was that F.A. has gone on holiday..

irishdeej

I think your right on the F.A. remark. We should know what is happening by mid September.

JTMan

Originally posted by channelsurfer
its in the front page of the sunday times business section to day
says that RTE are the favourites to win the race to get live saturday premiership rights. says that sky bid for them but the amount involved would not interest sky as they would have to provide a seperate output for us. must be some truth to this as the sunday times is owned by murdoch so they would be close to skys thinking on this

The sunday Times always have an agenda in media articles. Mostly likely they are talking up the chances of RTE winning to ease EU concerns.

Every other publication is saying that Sky will win all packages.

skycards

I wonder if they had coverage now what game would they pick


23-08-03 15:00
Chelsea v Leicester
Spurs v Leeds