Roebuck P: Series may not be telecast on Aus Radio or TV (14 Feb 95)

LOUDEST WHISPERS SUGGEST SOUNDS OF SILENCE IN CARIBBEAN Peter Roebuck

Australia`s tour to the Caribbean should be an absolute ripper. Shane Warne to Brian Lara, Curtley Ambrose to Michael Slater - does sport get any better than this?

Two mighty teams in conflict as the crowd roars and the drums beat. No wonder so many cricketers are looking forward to following it on their televisions or listening to it on their transistors.

And they are under the impression they will be able to do so. They may not be so lucky. Unless deals are struck within a fortnight, the series will not be shown on regular television or heard on radio. Unless hands are shaken soon, neither Channel Nine nor the ABC will be in the West Indies in any force. Their coverage will be restricted to an occasional report and a few highlights. I don`t think people are going to like this.

Only the fortunate few able to afford pay-TV can be certain that the matches will be brought into their homes. Otherwise the tour may be as thinly covered as Australia`s controversial and exciting trip to Pakistan, a series that may yet prove the most sensational ever played. Alas, our eyes and ears weren`t there.

As far as ordinary people are concerned, Australia and the West Indies might as well be playing on Mars.

ABC Radio had intended to send a senior commentator and provide regular descriptions as it did in South Africa. But the locals were greedy and asked too much money for the rights. Last year the BBC forked out $120,000, an unprecedented sum far beyond the contemplation of its sister down under.

Negotiations are continuing. If no agreement is reached, the ABC will instruct its reporter to provide news and scores appropriate for its various bulletins. Otherwise all will be silent.

The television impasse is more complicated. Having incurred a heavy loss for its coverage of the series four years ago, Channel Nine had not planned to return. They are a business, not a service, they argues, and sentiment will bring bankruptcy. Ratings and profits are their gods. That their profits from cricket are huge is considered beside the point. Taking the rough with the smooth has no appeal.

They had not expected anyone else to buy the rights, not least because the price was high. Australia`s commercial channels have a cosy arrangement whereby no-one treads upon a rival`s sporting patch.

And then along came Premier Sports Network (PSN), a pay-TV channel dedicated to sport and with money to spend. They bought the rights for several million dollars and raised a team of commentators and cameramen. It was quite a coup. As their experiences in England have shown, pay-TV can rise on the back of sport. It is expensive but it works.

Pay-TV networks are obliged by law to give regular channels an opportunity to share coverage of important sporting events. Accordingly, PSN approached the various stations. SBS`s interest quickly faded. Channel Nine was much taken aback and said the cost was too high, although it was barely 45 per cent of the fee paid in 1990-91, or so PSN says.

Unless a compromise is reached, Channel Nine will not be going to the West Indies.

And so it remains, thought the parties are still talking. Channel Nine has offered to help with production and so forth, provided PSN agrees to a 24-hour delay in its coverage. Naturally, PSN is somewhat reluctant to show a series to which it has the rights and through which it intends to make its name and fortune, a day late.

At present neither Channel Nine nor ABC Radio will be going to the Caribbean. As usual, it is the public and the game that will suffer.

Yesterday, as a special treat, Channel Nine showed some innings played by Richie Richardson and Gordon Greenidge during the series four years ago. Millions watched or listened to those innings. Many remember them still. Lara may play such an innings this autumn. It would be a pity if most people could neither watch it nor listen to it.

Source :: Sydney Morning Herald.