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Australian Turf Club in no hurry to end TV row between Sky Channel and TVN

27th Jul 2011

Courier Mail - Bart Sinclair - Wednesday, 27 July 2011

AUSTRALIAN Turf Club chairman John Cornish is "in no hurry" to sign a deal to settle the broadcast rights dispute flaring again between rivals Sky Channel and TVN.

After the merger of the two Sydney race clubs to form ATC, the club is now a 50 per cent owner of TVN in partnership with the three Melbourne metropolitan clubs.

TVN holds the rights to Sydney and Melbourne races and brokered a media rights deal that expires in December next year to allow Sky to broadcast those races.

While the contract expiry date is a long way off there has been some significant public debate recently and a lot of posturing by key players in the standoff, which could easily become a sad saga over the next 17 months.

The Queensland racing industry this year signed a 10-year deal with Sky.

Cornish insists he wants to watch how broadcast technology progresses and also monitor the development of closer racing ties to the Asia-Pacific region before his club commits to a strategic move.

The ATC chairman is particularly interested in the possibilities of closer ties to Asia by a pooling of all the Australian totes.

"That should be a priority for racing. If we can get the TABs and state governments to pool the totes it will take away a lot of the support for the corporate bookies," Cornish said.

"If we can make our tote pools considerably bulkier then we are going to engage with the bigger punters and open up a whole range of opportunities in Asia.

"If the provinces in China embrace racing, as I believe they will, the additional betting turnover into our national pool could be huge.

"Also, technology is changing so rapidly we don't know for sure where the racing product will be broadcast in two to three years. Broadband could have a big role in racing.

"These are things we need to get a better handle on before we have to sit at the table and play hard ball with Sky Channel.

"I think we have to hasten slowly. What's the hurry?"

The Melbourne clubs are talking tough. Through TVN chairman Harold Mitchell the early salvos to Sky Channel owner Tabcorp boldly declare the Victorian races will be withheld from Sky rather than accept a deal considered to be inadequate.

The most likely four options for a settlement are:

• A joint venture. Seen as the most likely outcome but only after some earnest and protracted discussions.

• Sky sells its network to TVN, which already has lobbed a $420 million bid that was spurned in March.

• Retain the present business model albeit with the race clubs and TVN extracting a better deal from Sky.

• The clubs sell their rights to Sky and close TVN.

It would take an extraordinary event to bring TVN to even contemplate option four given the financial and emotional investment they have made to date in the broadcast company.

TVN is aggressively pushing the line that a buyout of Sky is in the best interests of the racing industry. Sky says the business is not for sale.