Broadcasting Rights for Cricket
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House of Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee Broadcasting Rights for Cricket Ashes to Ashes – the death knell for live Test match cricket on free-to-air TV? First Report of Session 2005–06 Report, together with formal minutes, oral and written evidence Ordered by The House of Commons to be printed 24 January 2006 HC 720 Published on 1 February 2006 by authority of the House of Commons London: The Stationery Office Limited £15.50 The Culture, Media and Sport Committee The Culture, Media and Sport Committee is appointed by the House of Commons to examine the expenditure, administration, and policy of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and its associated public bodies. Current membership Mr John Whittingdale MP (Conservative, Maldon and East Chelmsford) [Chairman] Janet Anderson MP (Labour, Rossendale and Darwen) Mr Nigel Evans MP (Conservative, Ribble Valley) Paul Farrelly MP (Labour, Newcastle-under-Lyme) Mr Mike Hall MP (Labour, Weaver Vale) Alan Keen MP (Labour, Feltham and Heston) Rosemary McKenna MP (Labour, Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East) Adam Price MP (Plaid Cymru, Carmarthen East and Dinefwr) Mr Adrian Sanders MP (Liberal Democrat, Torquay) Helen Southworth MP (Labour, Warrington South) Mr Tim Yeo MP (Conservative, South Suffolk) Powers The Committee is one of the departmental select committees, the powers of which are set out in House of Commons Standing Orders, principally in SO No 152. These are available on the Internet via www.parliament.uk. Publications The Reports and evidence of the Committee are published by The Stationery Office by Order of the House. All publications of the Committee (including press notices) are on the Internet at http://www.parliament.uk/parliamentary_committees/culture__media_and_sport. cfm Committee staff The current staff of the Committee are Kenneth Fox (Clerk), Ian Cameron (Second Clerk), Grahame Danby (Inquiry Manager), Anita Fuki (Committee Assistant) Rowena Macdonald (Secretary), Jonathan Coe (Senior Office Clerk) and Luke Robinson (Media Officer). Contacts All correspondence should be addressed to the Clerk of the Culture, Media and Sport Committee, House of Commons, 7 Millbank, London SW1P 3JA. The telephone number for general enquiries is 020 7219 6188; fax 020 7219 2031; the Committee’s email address is [email protected] 1 Contents Report Page Summary 3 1 Introduction 5 2 Statutory Framework 7 3 The bidding process 9 4 The Gentleman’s Agreement 13 5 The ECB’s decision 17 6 A voluntary meeting? 24 7 Review of listing in 2008/09 25 Conclusions and recommendations 27 Formal minutes 30 List of written evidence 32 List of unprinted written evidence 33 3 Summary The resurgence of English cricket is to be welcomed by all with a passion for the sport. Watching the men’s team as it has climbed from eighth in the world rankings to the top three today, and challenging hard for number one despite some recent disappointments, has been a thoroughly entertaining ride. The Ashes victories by the men’s and women’s teams last summer were the culmination of years of investment and modernisation in the sport. The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) is, in some ways, a victim of its own success. The Ashes series captured the imagination of the public and catapulted the ECB’s decision to award an exclusive contract to Sky for the 2006-09 seasons to the forefront of the sporting agenda. And many cricket fans have reacted with unbridled anger at the outcome which leaves no live Test cricket to be broadcast on free-to-air television. We strongly support the idea that a substantial proportion of Test cricket should be available on free-to-air channels; cricket is too important to the nation for it to be otherwise. But we cannot recommend a return to the days when cricket was starved of the funds it urgently required by preventing the sport’s governing body from negotiating with all broadcasters. Re-listing in Group A could have a harmful effect on the long-term future of cricket in England and Wales. None of the witnesses before our inquiry – including the ‘Keep Cricket Free’ Campaign – seriously maintained that a simple reversal of the decision, even if that were possible, might not have adverse consequences for the future funding of the national game. The gentleman’s agreement between Lord Smith and Lord MacLaurin – to maintain a substantial proportion of live Test cricket on free-to-air television – has sadly proved totally ineffectual. We are disappointed that the ECB clearly breached the terms of the agreement. Equally, it is clear that the Government gave its tacit consent to the breach. The gentleman’s agreement, however, was non-binding in any legal sense and we recommend such informal arrangements should not be used by the Department in the future to give effect to its policies. Formal binding undertakings should instead be sought, not least to maintain public confidence, too, in government decision-making. Ultimately, the decision as to what is best for cricket must rest with the ECB; it is they who are best qualified to judge what is in the long-term interests of the game, balancing considerations of income from broadcast rights, investment in grass-roots cricket and the national game and the effects of restricting the size of the television audience. We agree, however, that this must be balanced with the public interest and the Committee expresses its support for the general principle of listing. Such has been the uproar about the ECB’s decision, there is the potential misconception among cricket fans that re-listing in Group A would automatically lead to all live test matches being shown on free-to-air TV. It would not. Test series are, by their nature, difficult for broadcasters to schedule, whilst also being fair to the non-cricket audience. This was the fundamental reason for the decision to move Test matches to Group B and the reasoning, if not the execution, remains sound. 4 Optional header Free-to-air broadcasters also bear part of the responsibility for the loss of live Test cricket to BSkyB. Ultimately, during the negotiations, the ECB received no bids at all from the BBC or ITV for any televised cricket. Five was also the only broadcaster to bid for the highlights. By failing to bid, the BBC and ITV not only restricted the choice available to the ECB but significantly reduced the amount that could be obtained from the bidding process. However, we also believe that the ECB could have done more to encourage bids for the highlights package, particularly when it became clear that the live coverage was not going to be available free-to-air. Without a renewed interest from terrestrial broadcasters and a commitment from the ECB to maintain a substantial proportion of live coverage on free-to-air television, the Committee is concerned that live Test cricket may never again be shown free-to-air. If the ECB truly believes that, in the current broadcasting and commercial climate, the future of cricket is best served by selling its rights to the highest bidder (which is always likely to be a pay-TV provider), irrespective of the lack of exposure which that decision will bring, then it is inconceivable that in years to come its conclusion could be any different. Unless a change of attitude by all interested parties is forthcoming, the incomparable Ashes series of 2005 could be the last of its kind. 5 1 Introduction 1. The stunning double Ashes victories over Australia last Summer were memorable moments in the 2005 sporting calendar. They served as yet further evidence of the renaissance in English cricket, for both the men’s and women’s game, which has taken place over the last few years. The Committee would like to put on record its warm congratulations on the historic achievements of both teams and looks forward to further successes which will see the national teams climb back to the pinnacle of the world rankings and remain there. 2. Without doubt the excitement of those Test series has placed the sport of cricket squarely at the forefront of the nation’s sporting affection and viewing figures for the climax of the fourth Test, peaking at 8.4 million,1 demonstrated its ability to unite the country. The jubilation witnessed across London as the winning teams paraded through the streets, culminating in the celebrations among vast crowds at Trafalgar Square, underlined that fact. 3. It is, perhaps, the direct consequence of that very success that the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has faced such a public backlash over its decision to award the contract for cricket’s live broadcasting rights for the 2006-09 seasons exclusively to BSkyB. The England teams’ capturing of the Ashes, and their steady movement up the rankings, has led to cricket, once again, taking its place as a leading team sport which presents role models for the nation’s youth and which fills the front and back pages of daily newspapers. The despair, felt by many, that the public would no longer be able to witness their heroes playing live Test cricket in England unless they subscribed to BSkyB came to the fore in late summer. 4. Adding to the controversy was the reported “agreement” between Lord Smith of Finsbury, the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport when the decision was made to move Test matches played in England to Group B of the listed events categories in 1998, and Lord MacLaurin of Knebworth, the then Chairman of the ECB. That “agreement” was intended to ensure that some live Test cricket would remain on a free-to-air channel.