T
A cagey game for rights
he topsy-turvy Test series in India is bringing much-needed entertainment – though, latterly, little cheer for England fans – during lockdown. When time is hard to fill, what could be better than six hours plus of cricket a day shown on free-to-air TV. There were many raised eyebrows when Channel 4 bought the rights to the four-Test series. Why would a channel that prides itself on risk- taking and a young demographic clear its morning schedules for a game with an elderly and declining fan base? In fact, restoring live Test cricket to terrestrial TV has proved a ratings hit. Nearly 6 million viewers watched England’s progress to a thumping win in the first Test, with many tuning in, bleary-eyed, from the very first ball at 4:00am. And not all the viewers were
Television www.rts.org.uk March 2021
As cricket returns to free-to-air TV, Matthew Bell checks out the bidders eyeing other top sports rights oldies: across the five days, 10% were under 16 and 13% aged 16 to 34. It’s a pity for Channel 4 that England couldn’t drag out their defeat any longer than two days in the third Test. But was Channel 4’s coup an isolated triumph or are there more opportunities for terrestrial TV to pick up sports rights? “This is a bit of a one-off,” reckons Enders Analysis senior TV analyst Julian Aquilina. Sky Sports, which holds the rights for England’s home Tests until 2024, remains cricket’s
BCCI/Pankaj Nangia
India vs England second Test, 2021
dominant broadcaster. “A free-to-air broadcaster got its hands on the rights because pay-TV broadcasters didn’t think they were that valuable,” he suggests. “Sky has learnt that it isn’t necessary to have everything – it can hang on to pretty much all its sports subscribers as long as it has, by some distance, the best sports proposition in the market,” says former Sky COO Mike Darcey. “If you’re a sports fan, you get Sky first and then ask if you need anything else. That’s why Sky is quite happy to step away from England Test matches in India. Is anyone going to churn? No.” Illustrating Darcey’s point, at the end of last month, Sky snapped up the rights to the T20 internationals and the one-day series, which follow the Test series. Short-form cricket puts more bums on sofas – Sky wasn’t �
15