Peers call for Ashes to be shown on free-to-air to challenge pay-TV

NICK FRIEND: Currently, there are no cricket matches that fall under the government's list of live-televised "crown jewel" sporting events

The Ashes should become a protected event and be broadcast on free-to-air television, peers have suggested in a House of Lords Communications and Digital Committee report.

The suggestion comes after an unprecedented year for English cricket and a summer that saw interest in the game increase widely after England’s World Cup win, the final of which was simulcast on Channel 4, as well as on multiple Sky channels.

The game brought in a one-minute audience peak of 8.3m viewers across its various platforms. That number may well have been higher, but for a clash in the sporting calendar with the British Grand Prix and the Wimbledon men’s final between Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer.

The report states that: “At a time of division, public service broadcasters play a role in unifying the country through shared experiences.”

The committee’s findings also reference a report by British think-tank Policy Exchange, which earlier this year argued that the government should review its sporting televised “crown jewels” – the list of events that are protected for free-to-air platforms.

That report recommended adding to the list at least one of England’s home Test matches each summer and coverage of the men’s and women’s Cricket World Cup final and semi-finals.

Currently, events are separated into two lists. In Category A, full live coverage is protected, while secondary coverage is protected in Category B. This means that coverage of Group A events must be offered to broadcasters whose channels are available to 95 per cent of the UK population. Category B events can be broadcast on subscription channels. However, there must be highlights on free-to-air channels.

As it stands, Category A includes the Olympic Games and the Grand National, among others. No cricket match features in the ten-strong Category A bracket, although secondary highlight footage of all Test cricket played in England is protected for free-to-air channels in Category B.

Likewise, the Cricket World Cup Final, as well as semi-finals and other games involving the home nations, are in Category B.

^{The World Cup final was simulcast on free-to-air TV}

The committee’s proposal, however, appears highly unrealistic. An ECB spokesperson said of the committee's report: “For over 20 years, Sky has been a significant partner of cricket, helping to support and grow the game.

“This past summer, their fantastic coverage of cricket has included the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup, the Women’s and Men’s Ashes, and games from the Vitality Blast, Specsavers County Championship, Kia Super League and Royal London One-Day Cup.

“For the ECB, the key is to strike the right balance between reach and revenue. Achieving long-term, sustainable growth requires investment at all levels of a sport, from schools and clubs and on to developing World Cup-winning England teams. As a non-profit organisation, we reinvest every penny into the game. 

“We recognise that inspiration is driven through more than just funding and live cricket through The Hundred and IT20s will return to the BBC as part of our new deal from 2020. This will ensure that fans of all media habits have many ways to access cricket across free-to-air television, digital, social and radio channels and of course Sky's brilliant dedicated cricket channel.”

A Sky spokesperson added: “Investment from broadcasters like Sky has enabled British sports to thrive over the past 30 years, bringing the country together at key sporting moments.

“If popular events, such as The Ashes and The Open, were further restricted to public service broadcasters, there would clearly be scheduling issues, making it likely that sports fans would not be able to watch as much sport as they can today – driving down viewing, participation and investment in British sports. This would be a bad outcome for fans and governing bodies alike.”

In 2010, research commissioned by the ECB suggested that the sport would lose £137.4m over four years if the government chose to add home Ashes Tests to its list of sporting events protected for free-to-air television.

ECB chief executive Tom Harrison alluded to the figure in October when the game’s national governing body sat before a parliamentary select committee of the Department of Culture, Media and Sport. The figure lost would amount to “around 48 per cent of the domestic broadcast rights income”, he explained.

Ian Lucas, an MP for Wrexham, warned the ECB, saying: “Don’t do this again please”, referencing the absence of international cricket away from subscription channels since 2005.

He called for one match per year – a Lord’s Test – to be handed back to free-to-air in order to inspire a new generation of fans – in line with the Inspiring Generations name of the ECB’s strategy for the 2020-24 period.

Asked by Lucas how much money the ECB had spent since 2005, Harrison pointed to the importance of the game’s broadcast rights partnership.

“A massive amount of money, absolutely,” he said. “What I can say, to give you a bit more flesh on the bone, is that we are moving into a scenario from 2020 to 2024 where we are around 75 per cent reliant on pay TV for the revenue of the ECB.

“It is a substantial amount of reliance, and it enables us to invest to the extent that we’re doing into the grassroots of the game and into the professional infrastructure.”

^{The last England Test broadcast on free-to-air was the final game of the 2005 Ashes}

Sports minister Nigel Adams told The Cricketer during the summer of the conundrum at play: “It’s only right that the biggest possible events can be seen by as many people as possible but there’s got to be a balance, and I think the current listed events regime does strike a balance between free-to-air events and the rightsholders being able to negotiate the best possible deal for their sport.”

“You can’t ignore the impact that income has on funding sport. If you listen to what Ashley Giles says, he makes it very clear that the money from Sky that has gone into the game has helped us achieve that elite success.”

England have not played a Test on free-to-air television since Michael Vaughan lifted the urn at the end of the historic 2005 Ashes series – a summer that is widely credited with introducing an entire generation to the sport’s appeal. Several current professionals have referenced the series, which England won for the first time since 1987, as crucial to developing their love for the game.

At the time in 2005 when Sky initially agreed a four-year £220m deal, former Prime Minister John Major described the BBC’s decision not to bid for the rights as a “bad miscalculation”, while he lamented what it would mean for “millions of cricket lovers who cannot afford satellite television”.

The committee’s report describes subscription channels as “prohibitively expensive”.

In its time as English cricket’s principal rights partner, however, Sky has invested massively in the sport’s growth, playing a key role in the development of the men’s and women’s game, although also seeing a fall in the sport’s participation levels – a statistic picked up upon by the parliamentary committee.

^{Sky have made an enormous contribution to English cricket}

Adams added: “We simply wouldn’t have won the World Cup, or won previous Ashes series, or competed in previous Ashes series had the ECB not been able to finance their contracts.

“There’s going to be a big increase in cricketers’ wages shortly – it’s still going to be well below what an Australian cricketer earns - but that’s been enabled by the rights revenue.

“Would we like everything to be free? Of course, we would but that’s not the real world.”

The most recent rights deal signed in 2017, which also includes the BBC, is worth £1.1b and takes Sky’s relationship with English cricket into a third decade.

As part of this latest agreement, some cricket has returned to free-to-air television. The BBC will show 12 live games – 10 from The Hundred, as well as two England T20 internationals.

BBC director general Tony Hall said when the deal was announced: “The BBC is delighted and the public will be too.

“It’s long been our ambition to bring live cricket back to BBC television. I’m thrilled to see that ambition realised. Cricket is an integral part of the British summer and the BBC will be putting its full weight behind the nation’s favourite summer sport.”