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The future of ITV Sport
Glenn A
Posts: 23,877 Forum Member
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What now for ITV as to add to losing the FA Cup earlier this year, they will no longer show European football after 2015? Indeed on the main ITV channel all they will have left are England internationals, the RU World Cup and the Euros and World Cup every two years. Could this mean they pull out of sport altogether as they are still seen by many viewers as the cinderella of sports broadcasters?
I think not. 20 years ago ITV Sport had been badly hit by the loss of top flight football and was reduced to largely showing regional football, a few internationals and second rate boxing and athletics. Yet by 1997 they had bought up the Champions League and the FA Cup and had beaten the BBC for rights to Formula 1.
I think the next stage will be to use the money saved by losing European football to see what else they can get. I wouldn't be surprised if they buy back the League Cup in a joint deal with Sky, as this is one of the cheapest contracts in football, and also go all out to buy the Six Nations and whatever other rugby union internationals are available as they have form with this sport and it is big with the vital ABC1 audience. Also the boom in cycling will probably see Le Tour moving more onto the main channel and other tournaments appearing.
I think not. 20 years ago ITV Sport had been badly hit by the loss of top flight football and was reduced to largely showing regional football, a few internationals and second rate boxing and athletics. Yet by 1997 they had bought up the Champions League and the FA Cup and had beaten the BBC for rights to Formula 1.
I think the next stage will be to use the money saved by losing European football to see what else they can get. I wouldn't be surprised if they buy back the League Cup in a joint deal with Sky, as this is one of the cheapest contracts in football, and also go all out to buy the Six Nations and whatever other rugby union internationals are available as they have form with this sport and it is big with the vital ABC1 audience. Also the boom in cycling will probably see Le Tour moving more onto the main channel and other tournaments appearing.
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I'd estimate around that amount. It does leave ITV Sport with plenty of money to play with. I'm still of the mindset they could do a joint deal with Sky for the League Cup and then go after the 6 Nations.
However, it's unlikely they'd ever chase after Wimbledon or test match cricket as these are huge commitments and Wimbledon overrunning would infuriate the soap watching ITV audience, who are their bread and butter on weekdays.
Of course, the other alternative is ITV could be so disheartened by this move they abandon sport altogether, but I doubt it.
But is it a saving if that £80m was let's say generating a £100m profit?
What programmes will ITV be able to invest in that generate similar or greater profits?
Yes, you are right. It all goes in cycles. It was all doom and gloom at BBC not long ago but I guess they are currently happy with their lot.
Can't see ITV being that interested and Sky will be desperate to hang on to a sport they can claim credit for reviving in the nineties.
I think my money would be on ITV sharing the rights to the League Cup with Sky( highlights, a semi final and the final) and going all out for rugby union rights, which could be very lucrative for them.
IRB Rugby World Cup, and highlights of Premiership Rugby
Tour De France, Tour of Britain and other cycling
French Open Tennis
Snooker
Darts
Bundesliga highlights
BTCC
IPL Cricket
items coming up assuming ITV retains the above
and as has been said Rugby League
with Rugby Union, England games come up for tender soon. As I recall part of a package
ITV England Autumn Games
ITV4 The RFU Championship
ITV or ITV4 if it continues Anglo Welsh
Davis Cup. Fed Cup
Champions League T20
US Open Tennis
maybe outside Golf US Masters and US Open? or The Open?
I thought Sky had signed off Football League/League Cup exclusive until 2018?
Unless BT or Sky go bust, I don't see how when it comes to football. Sky also have their claws in F1 and the 6 nations contract is not viable (3m a game) for a free to air commercial broadcaster. Same goes for Wimbledon where the BBC also has the expense of being the host broadcaster.
Football is the big one.
But Rugby Union has a good profile.
Is French Top 14 on a roiling contract?
Would sit well with ITV if they got England Autumn Games (and maybe RFU Championship)
I think that D2 the second tier French Rugby is broadcast and I hear is better than Englands Second Tier, after Celtic League would be Europes Fourth Competition.
Even if Sky went bust, football has been used to the massive amount of money from pay TV that ITV couldn't realistically pay the same. Also I doubt devoting two hours on a Monday night to a mid table Premiership clash would generate a tenth of the viewers Coronation St would get.
ITV are going for the Davis/Fed Cup?
I'd love to see some boxing on ITV on Saturday nights although the major promoters have deals already in place.
BBC most important contracts, but with potentially tighter budgets which would they let go of
F1
Wimbledon
Six Nations
Summer Olympics
Commonwealth Games
World Snooker
Open Golf
FA Cup
Winter Olympics
FIFA World Cup
UEFA Championship
London Marathon
World Championship Athletics (at least until 2017)
If the BBC were asked which was the ten most important sports contracts would think they would come off this list. But if they let any go first would it be on this list or lesser stuff?
Scotland/Wales Autumnn Internationals
Rugby League Challenge Cup
World Darts
Great North Run
Womens Football
European Athletics
UK Snooker
Womens Open Golf
Queens Club Tennis
University Boat Race
World Bowls
Masters Snooker
Celtic League
and though no broadcaster has been announced for the inagural event European Games would BBC want or alongside Oylmpics/Commonwelath or could Channel 4 /.ITV opt for it?
any of these secondary list fit ITV? Darts and Snooker jump out. As does Queens Club Tennis.
I think it's a case now of seeing what big contract is next. It has been mentioned on another thread that the Euros could be available exclusively and this would be a huge coup for ITV.
See this is ITV's problem most of the big contracts aren't commercially viable for them. There is no cheap undervalued contracts left any more even the Europa League is gone. Like the 6 nations the BBC are paying a premium for the Olympics.
C4 handing back the last world athletics championship to the BBC shows how commercially viable Athletics is.
Looking at the secondary events I can only see snooker/darts as a possibility. Also The Commonwealth games are worth nothing when they're not a home games and iirc the BBC recommended that they lose their protected status when the last 'crown jewels' list was drawn up.
The BBC only picked up the rights for the last last games 4 months before they started and for practically nothing. ITV could have easily picked up the Glasgow games if they wanted.
IIRC the BBC only have secondary coverage of Queen's Tennis behind Eurosport and ITV handed back the rights to the boat race last time due to the big production costs.
The FA Cup contract was a bargain in retrospect but ITV's hands were tied there as BT refused to bid with anyone not called the BBC according to ariusuk. Jake and Gary even delivered a joint presentation.
BT Sport wernt around then
http://www.uefa.org/events/marketing/media-rights-and-services/news/newsid=2021907.html
http://sport.bt.com/sportfootball/football/bt-sport-wins-all-live-uk-tv-rights-to-uefa-champions-league-and-uefa-europa-league-S11363847946944
Wouldn't be affordable. Just because ITV would have double the games over the 4 weeks doesn't mean that advertisers will double their advertising budgets for the period. The more games available the cheaper the advertising slots will become.
Then there's always the lingering image of ITV Sport being second rate and with poor camerawork and presenters. Although they have improved since the nineties, certainly their coverage of the FA Cup has been unpopular and Adrian Chiles isn't highly regarded.
The question is whether ITV want the expense of showing the highlights?
In the same way, ITV have the money available to wrest the Premier League highlights package away from the BBC. However would they really want to? It's live football that draws in the audiences for ITV, and it seems like there's none available between 2015 and 2018... With the exception of the England internationals.