BSkyB lands England Test coverage

[Andy Mellon]

Originally Posted by flanflinger

Secondly, your point about not watching away test for ten years is incorrect, as before SKY started covering away series nobody did, apart from highlights shown at about 1.30am the next day.

What you say is true - but at least I could use the video to record the highlights and watch it the next day. I still have a video somewhere of one of the early 90s tours of the West Indies. From those highlights is where I developed an admiration of Curtley Ambrose which I wouldn't have got had the coverage been on Sky

[Notts Exile]

Originally Posted by top edged for 4

I truely hope so Notts Exile

but saying that, as we are doing well surely it would be better if everyone with a television could get to see it, how many people started to take interest in cricket during Bothams Ashes when it was on the BBC

the extra money now is fantastic, but unless we have people playing the sport in twenty years time then all the money means nothing, we will have excellant facilitites but a rubbish side

Welcome to the board TEF4. I really do hope that SKY do it justice! I still wish it was on the BBC but these days money talks and it's highly unlikely that will ever happen again.

Oh ............ and where in Nottingham are you? My folks are still in Gamston.

[Mike]

I'd like to have audio streaming of live or delayed Test and ODI matches on this site. The price of streaming services should keep coming down so it should be affordable eventually. Not sure whether a license is required to stream audio so I've contacted Ofcom about that.

[Occasional Fan]

Interesting idea, Mike. At least we'd know where to look for it.

I have no concrete information on this, but the impression I am getting from a few sources over the last few days (direct experience regarding streaming of the forthcoming England/ S Africa series and a press report which I read somewhere) is that the first hurdle to overcome is sourcing a webstream. The impression I have is that competition organisers are selling webstreaming rights separately from radio and TV broadcasting rights - this is why, for example, there is no webstream of the upcoming series even though TalkSport otherwise is available on the web, and also why Radio 5 Live is not available on the web outside the UK on Saturday afternoons. The Premiership allows R5 to broadcast its games, and, I think, to webcast them inside the UK, but not outside. So we get an announcement from the Beeb which says "Owing to licensing restrictions, this programme is not available". We can listen to FA Cup ties on the web because the FA sold international webcasting rights to the Beeb. From the consumer viewpoint, it is confusing and frustrating. I assume that the reason the broadcasters are not buying webcasting rights is because the competition organisers are asking too much for them - in a nutshell, the broadcasters don't see a profit in it. Somewhere there must be a market price for the product - lower than the ECB/ICC/UCBSA/Premier League are currently after and higher than I currently have even the opportunity to pay. If WAT can find the price, that's great!

[Oliver]

Several things here Notts Exile:

Originally Posted by Notts Exile

It hasn't affected football too negatively, however their highlights can be see by all.

That answers that point.

Originally Posted by Notts Exile

For those who cannot get it I do have sympathy but they are in a very small minority. We have to hope that the ECB uses the money wisely.

Originally Posted by top edged for 4

Cricket will now become a minority sport in the England & Wales

Dead right here TEF4... the small minority fans of the small minority sport that is cricket will quite probably be part of the small minority of people who don't happen to possess SKY.

Originally Posted by Goatman

What a bunch of short-sighted, uninspired, thintelligent self-abusers. I hope with all my heart that TEF4 is wrong, but this has certainly not helped an already poor situation.

Another great day for the lovers of oikball with thier shiny foreheads, little piggy eyes and no conversation.

Originally Posted by top edged for 4

What a sell out

There's really very little to say after these splendidly salient points.

The only hope for cricket as far as I can see, is in the government's proposed return to pre-late-seventies style school sports.

Certainly when I were a lad, we had between five and seven hours of sport a week. We played Rugby & Association Football, Cricket, Hockey, Athletics and Swimming... I had no idea that twenty years of money grabbing politics had reduced those hours to as low as (is it nothing?) it seems to have been of late.

So here we have what used to be one of our national sports. All under sixteens have to wear helmets, which raises the cost significantly from just the price of the bat, stumps, ball, gloves, pads etc etc., That's the trouble with allying ourselves to the litigious society across the pond.

"Oh my son's been hit on the head by a bouncer." "Sue the sod."

Whoops another argument.

Yes the ECB are money grabbing gits. Perhaps, like Premiership Football clubs & Formula One (two slightly different kettles of fish) the ECB should start their own Television Company. Then they could take money directly from the advertisers and... am I dreaming?

I feel faint.

[top edged for 4]

Notts exile

i live in West Bridgford, pass trent bridge every morning on the way to work

[Occasional Fan]

Originally Posted by Oliver

Yes the ECB are money grabbing gits.

This may be so, Oliver, but with respect I don't think we can necessarily conclude that based only on today's news. Sure they have taken an offer here from BSkyB which gives them £20m more than they would have received from the next closest offer. I haven't got the figures in front of me, but that is, I think, £20m on top of a next highest bid of £40m. It's very difficult to see how they could have turned that away. If the £20m (or even most of it) goes into development of the game - perhaps part of it to provide some helmets for the U16 group - that's got to be a good thing, surely? If the ECB's surpluses rise by £20m, or if the cash goes straight into the salary pot of the administrators and centrally contracted players, I'll join your anti-git campaign. But I'd like to give them a chance to show us what they are planning to do with the £20m first.

[Notts Exile]

Oliver. I am not saying at any point that I disagree with you. However, everything else in this country seems to be selling itself off to the highest bidder and sod the consequences so why should cricket be any different? FWIW I believe that cricket is a minority sport already, hence the number of my so-called friends and acquaintances who roll their eyes when it's mentioned that I play and watch the wonderful game. (Strange also that I should be a football fan also)

[admin]

OF, I wasn't planning on buying webcasting rights. If I can pick-off a satellite radio feed and convert it to a streaming audio feed for my non-profit hobby site then I will. I'm happy for anyone to challenge me or to try and close the site as it will create lots of publicity to draw attention to our plight that cricket coverage is becoming marginalized for those who can't get or afford Sky.

[Notts Exile]

Originally Posted by top edged for 4

Notts exile

i live in West Bridgford, pass trent bridge every morning on the way to work

Small world . I lived in WB until I was 23