New twist to Australian TV coverage of Ashes

The chances of the Ashes series being shown on Australian free-to-air TV are still in the balance after new information came to light about the negotiations that took place between the ECB and Australian broadcasters.

A senate committee has been told that the ECB didn't hold talks with the free-to-air broadcasters, ABC, Channel 9 and 10, and only had preliminary discussions with Channel 7. Last week the committee was told that the free-to-air channels had plenty of opportunity to buy rights to the series in 2001 but knocked back proposals from the ECB, through the media company Octogan CSI.

But the latest twist comes as the Labor senator Stephen Conroy said there was written evidence that the free-to-air channels had not be involved with any discussions, as reported by the AAP news agency. "The tenor of information that I've been given...is that ABC, Channels 9 and 10 have no record whatsoever of any negotiations with Octagon," Conroy told the committee. "Channel 7, I believe, had what they would believe to be a preliminary discussion with Octagon."

However, none of the committee members had seen this new information before the meeting in Canberra, and it has yet to be released to the public because of fears that it contains commercially sensitive information. And the committee chairman, the Liberal senator Alan Eggleston, sounded a note of caution about making too many claims before the information has been viewed. He said: "Given none of us have seen the material it is somewhat speculative."

The free-to-air broadcasters have claimed that the Ashes are not an attractive prospect because competition from other sporting events and the fact that the matches would be played during the Australia night-time would mean limited audiences. When Australia last toured England in 2001, Channel 7 had the rights but some of their coverage was delayed.

The rights to the upcoming Ashes series, which begins in July, are currently held by Fox Sports while ABC have started discussions to try to bring some coverage to free-to-air TV.