Cricket-Match-Special ... A forum for discussion

I saw that. I was quite interested. Until I saw what it amounted to. Six minute highlights. And how abjectly the ECB were genuflecting in front of Sky.

Arthur Crabtree wrote:I saw that. I was quite interested. Until I saw what it amounted to. Six minute highlights. And how abjectly the ECB were genuflecting in front of Sky.

Well that doesn't add to anything which is already available from ECB I.e. video highlights daily of each county's previous days play. Plus of course the full days radio commentary.

Having watched ICC Associate matches live on their website and England womens cricket on youtube, decent coverage on a cost effective basis is more than do-able nowadays.

Dub radio commentary into the highlights and the BBC have a Twenty20 highlights programme for a Saturday evening. A 6 minute highlight is the equivalent of a featured match on The Football League show. 6 minutes x 9 matches = 55 minutes, add 20 minutes for analysis and you have a 1hr 15 minute length programme.

So the ECB sold the TV rights for all cricket, domestic and international, to a company with a huge wallet, but with only a third of a million sports customers, and it has taken them 9 years to conclude that it might be contributing to the declining interest in the sport amongst the other 50 odd million viewers who don't pay a sports subscription.

really?

9 years?

are we sure that the right people are in charge?

Durhamfootman wrote:So the ECB sold the TV rights for all cricket, domestic and international, to a company with a huge wallet, but with only a third of a million sports customers, and it has taken them 9 years to conclude that it might be contributing to the declining interest in the sport amongst the other 50 odd million viewers who don't pay a sports subscription.

really?

9 years?

are we sure that the right people are in charge?

Got to remember why cricket TV rights went behind a paywall in the first place. ECBs finances were far from secure and had The 2005 Ashes got cancelled due to terrorist attacks, it would of left a significant hole in the balance sheet. Terrestrial television could not match what Sky were bidding, IIRC Channel 4 made a financial loss on televising cricket.

Yorkshire CEO King Arthur joins the call of cricket to be shown on free to air platforms, in order to revive popularity.

http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/sport/cr ... -1-7028804

With the technological advances in digital and broadcasting, there is no reason why cricket can't ever be accessed to the wider public. Since one day cricket is a format is struggling the most in terms of popularity, it makes sense for matches to be broadcast on free to air television including the final.

Most domestic matches already have cameras at them, teams like Lancashire upload every wicket to their Youtube channel.

Seems to be some legal wrangling over the rights to who can show highlights. The ECB thinks they can show a highlight package, Sky seems to disagree.

Speaks volumes that the ECB can't find a broadcaster interested in showing it, though Sky are actually planning on showing cricket on their free to view service.

Making_Splinters wrote:Seems to be some legal wrangling over the rights to who can show highlights. The ECB thinks they can show a highlight package, Sky seems to disagree.

Speaks volumes that the ECB can't find a broadcaster interested in showing it, though Sky are actually planning on showing cricket on their free to view service.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/england/con ... 24729.html

The ICC have broadcasted live association matches online and the quality is watchable, certainly an improvement on those county championship highlights knocking about.

No reason why Sky take some camera crews to selected fixtures and do a proper highlights show for Pick TV.

Alviro Patterson wrote:

Durhamfootman wrote:So the ECB sold the TV rights for all cricket, domestic and international, to a company with a huge wallet, but with only a third of a million sports customers, and it has taken them 9 years to conclude that it might be contributing to the declining interest in the sport amongst the other 50 odd million viewers who don't pay a sports subscription.

really?

9 years?

are we sure that the right people are in charge?

Got to remember why cricket TV rights went behind a paywall in the first place. ECBs finances were far from secure and had The 2005 Ashes got cancelled due to terrorist attacks, it would of left a significant hole in the balance sheet. Terrestrial television could not match what Sky were bidding, IIRC Channel 4 made a financial loss on televising cricket.

Decision to go to Sky was made before the Ashes, which was an unprecedented series in terms of captivating the public (at least in modern times). No series since would have come close even with free live coverage. That said, I do hope the ECB can come to a compromise to get more cricket onto live TV.