WestminsterResearch http://www.westminster.ac.uk/research/westminsterresearch Moving the goalposts: the transformation of television sport in the UK (1992-2014) Michael Milne Faculty of Media, Arts and Design This is an electronic version of a PhD thesis awarded by the University of Westminster. © The Author, 2014. This is an exact reproduction of the paper copy held by the University of Westminster library. The WestminsterResearch online digital archive at the University of Westminster aims to make the research output of the University available to a wider audience. Copyright and Moral Rights remain with the authors and/or copyright owners. Users are permitted to download and/or print one copy for non-commercial private study or research. Further distribution and any use of material from within this archive for profit-making enterprises or for commercial gain is strictly forbidden. Whilst further distribution of specific materials from within this archive is forbidden, you may freely distribute the URL of WestminsterResearch: (http://westminsterresearch.wmin.ac.uk/). In case of abuse or copyright appearing without permission e- mail [email protected] MOVING THE GOALPOSTS: THE TRANSFORMATION OF TELEVISION SPORT IN THE UK (1992-2014) MICHAEL MILNE A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the University of Westminster for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy June 2014 Milne | June 2014 2 Abstract Despite its prominence and popularity, television sport remains an under- researched area in media studies and is a subject that lacks a ready-made theoretical context. Consequently, a political economy approach - including ideas about value, commodification, transformations, power-relationships and the emergence of a profit-motivated sport-media-corporate axis – is used to answer 3 primary questions: 1) Whilst sports and broadcasting systems in the US and UK started from diametrically opposed positions post-World War II, why have the similarities between them, including a more overtly consumer- oriented approach in the UK, become the most noticeable features? 2) How do three often unseen upstream pre-production processes – technology, broadcasting rights and regulation - increasingly influence what television sport looks and sounds like, where it can be seen and who can see it? 3) How are upstream pre-production processes manifest downstream on the supply side in terms of (a) broadcasters (including who provides sports media) and (b) independent sports television production, including the day-to-day work of sports producers and directors? Milne | June 2014 3 Two critical perspectives are added: 1) the central role of sports federations, ranging from the “peculiar economics of sport” (Neale, 1964) through to federation run host broadcast operations for major events; and, 2) a relevant micro-level analysis of downstream supply-side activities following the trickle down effect of significant upstream transformations. This new perspective complements the big picture often favoured by political economists. It is argued that important transformations in technology, broadcasting rights and regulation have radically changed the television sport landscape in the UK since 1992. How these factors have evolved goes a long way to explain (a) what sport we see on television, (b) where we can see it and (c) what the final output looks and sounds like. The battle to control broadcasting rights and subsequent television output is set against the increasing commercialisation of sport and the marketisation of broadcasting. Milne | June 2014 4 List of contents Index of figures 7 Author’s declaration 8 Part one | Background 1 | Introduction and methodology 9 2 | Literature 24 2.1 Literature review 24 2.2 Further context 32 2.2.1 Transformations in economics and politics 33 2.2.2 Transformations in broadcasting policy 41 2.2.3 Technological transformations in sports broadcasting 48 2.2.4 Media economics, sports economics and sports broadcasting rights 52 2.2.5 Regulation and competition 62 3 | History, the development of televised sport in the UK and USA between 1945-1995 73 3.1 Sport and television in United States and UK 1945 to 1970 75 3.2 Free-markets, commercialism, sport and television in United States and UK 1970 to 1995 88 3.3 The rise of the global televised-sport event 101 3.3.1 The transformation of the Olympics 102 3.3.2 The commercialisation of the FIFA World Cup Finals 107 3.3.3 The NBA, sports marketing and globalisation 111 Milne | June 2014 5 3.3.4 UEFA Champions League, embedded sponsorship and output control 113 Part two | Pre-production processes in television sport 120 4 | Technology 125 4.1 Transmission technology 126 4.2 Production technology, the analogue paradigm 134 4.3 Digital production technology arrives 143 4.4 Contemporary digital production workflows 148 4.5 Output: significantly increased volume and scope 161 4.5.1 Core production 162 4.5.2 Full content service 163 4.5.3 Archive-based content 165 4.5.4 Digital production 166 4.5.5 Distribution 166 5 | Sports broadcasting rights 171 5.1 What is intellectual property and what is it for? 174 5.2 How has copyright developed and how is it connected to the market? 176 5.3 Sports broadcasting rights, changing values and definitions 178 5.4 Broadcasting rights and prescriptive practices, examples from Formula 1 and the UEFA Champions League 196 6 | Regulation 213 6.1 The list of protected events 217 6.2 The Premier League 223 Milne | June 2014 6 6.3 The UEFA Champions League 229 6.4 Ofcom, UK market regulation 232 6.5 Regulating content production 236 6.6 Regional and independent production quotas 239 6.7 Transfer of Undertakings, TUPE 241 Part three | Challenges and trends 247 7 | Broadcasters and media providers 250 7.1 Commercial performance and market polarisation 250 7.2 Federation run host broadcast operations 262 7.3 More scope, less criticism; even more media, and coverage versus presentation 275 8 | Independent sports television production 292 8.1 The UK independent sports production sector 293 8.2 Live sports television production, creativity or prescription? 302 8.3 Commissioning content 306 8.4 The trend towards specialisation in sports production 316 8.5 The rise of production management 324 9 | Conclusion 335 Bibliography 356 Milne | June 2014 7 Index of figures Fig 2.1 Policy, technology, economics and regulation 32, 120 Fig 2.2 Economic globalisation and global media 39 Fig 2.3 Pre-production factors 40 Fig 2.4 Vertical supply chain 55 Fig 2.5 Willingness to pay in sports broadcasting rights 60 Fig 3.1 Summer Olympics, US broadcasting rights fees 85 Fig 4.1 6 camera plan for football 137 Fig 4.2 PL Host broadcast to Licensee pathway 150 Fig 4.3 Illustrative HBP PL camera plan 154 Fig 4.4 PLP Signal path, from PL stadia to Licensee 157 Fig 4.5 Indicative digital workflow 159 Fig 5.1 PL Broadcasting Rights Values 2013-16 182 Fig 5.2 Rising PL Broadcasting Rights Values 184 Fig 5.3 Overseas revenue for Premier League rights 186 Fig 5.4 Illustrative categories for sports rights 190 Fig 5.5 Illustrative MRO for UCL Pre-Match 207 Fig 6.1 Protected List of Events (Groups A and B) 222 Milne | June 2014 8 Author’s declaration I declare that all the material contained in my thesis – Moving the Goalposts: the transformation of television sport in the UK since 1992 – submitted on 12.06.2014 is my own work. Mike Milne, 12.06.2014 Milne | June 2014 9 1 | Introduction and methodology My first encounter with professional sport was as a four year old. Standing outside East End Park, Dunfermline, the noise and excitement near the end of a match had a magnetic attraction - what was this? I wasn’t sure, but I was hooked. In May 1967, local streets emptied as people turned to their televisions to see Celtic become the first British team to win the European Cup. A year later came the 1968 Mexico Olympics. The fuzzy black and white satellite pictures and the crackling telephone-line quality of commentary from David Coleman on the BBC’s breakfast-time television presentation was hypnotic; watching television before school was unheard of, it even felt a little bit revolutionary. The effervescent 1970 World Cup Finals, when Pele’s Brazil swept aside Italy 4-1 in the blazing sun of the Azteca Stadium, was the first time I saw colour television - the shimmering gold of Brazil and the brilliant azure blue of Italy are images that still come easily to mind. Back then, any idea that I would work as an executive producer in television sport in the UK and USA would have sounded far- fetched. But it happened. As a frontline participant-observer I have experienced a radical transformation in how television sports programmes are made, who programmes are made for and where they can be seen. From an all time low point in the 1980s, I saw football rise again to become part of a global sports business that, in 2010, was estimated to be worth US$122 billion (Evens, Iosifidis and Smith 2013:19). The goalposts have moved; transformations on this scale and magnitude are not accidental. Milne | June 2014 10 For Boyle and Haynes (2000:45) sport and television were “two great cultural forms which simply proved to be irresistible to each other”. Mediated sport has offered us a view of history lived and shared; it can also provide an engaging dialogue, a sense of identity and enhanced cultural citizenship. Today, for most people, most of the time, watching sport means switching on the television rather than attending an event. Summer 2012 marked a high point in the sheer amount of television sport broadcast in the UK, including the Euro 2012 football tournament, Wimbledon tennis, Bradley Wiggins’ success at the Tour de France, the London Olympics and the Paralympics.