Nine has retained the Cricket broadcast rights for the next five years after doing a major deal with WIN. Ten has picked up the Big Bash. The anticipated outcome was confirmed this morning.
Ten issued a statement expressing delight at landing the Twenty20 programme. Nine Entertainment Co boss David Gyngell has told staff the deal made it a "larger, stronger and more profitable company" than it was yesterday, with the WIN deal enabling "significant offset costs".
Ten Ceo Hamish McLennan said the Big Bash was "a great competition, and Ten and Cricket Australia will make it a major free-to-air television event."
He added that Ten "will work closely with Cricket Australia on the scheduling, marketing and promotion of the league to ensure it is the premium domestic sporting event of the Australian summer."
McLennan said that the shorter form of the game was a strong consumer engagement opportunity and said the 100 hours plus of "exciting content across the 2013-14 summer" would be a compelling event for viewers and advertisers".
The rights agreement came after Nine and WIN reached deals on affiliation, with Nine agreeing to buy NWS Adelaide and possibly Perth in the future. The network has yet to issue a statement but Nine Entertainment Co boss David Gyngell last night issued a note to staff, posted below, underlining the significance of the deal:
Dear All,
So that you learn it here first, it’s my great pleasure to confirm that the Nine Network has this morning formally renewed with Cricket Australia its rights to broadcast cricket Tests, One Day Internationals and Twenty/20 matches for the next 5 years, as well as obtaining digital rights to the game.
In addition, Nine has reached agreement with our partners at WIN to purchase NWS Adelaide, with an option to obtain STW Perth in the future.
This is a very big day for Nine. It’s been a long and sometimes difficult and complex process and I pay tribute to Bruce Gordon and his team at WIN for really stepping up to the plate not only on the sale of its major stations but through our new rural affiliation deal which has enabled Nine to achieve a very substantial offset of costs. And I extend my particular thanks to the Nine team for their round-the-clock slog in recent days and weeks to get this deal done , principally among many others Jeffrey Browne, Amanda Laing, Simon Kelly, Brett Dickson, Scott Briggs and David Coleman.
Make no mistake, as a result of this deal, Nine Entertainment is today a larger, stronger and more profitable company than it was yesterday.
And we’ve managed to keep the rights to the sport that is such an intrinsic and historic part of Nine, and we of it, and still come out of it in better shape.
I’m immensely pleased and proud about this deal, and grateful for the hard work of so many to make it a reality. And for cricket in particular, I confidently look forward to Nine leading the way yet again on the best coverage and innovation the game has ever seen.
So well done all. Now let’s get back to business in what’s proving to be a stellar 12 months for Nine, and show our competitors just how good we are.
Warm regards,
David
WIN executive chairman Bruce Gordon said the deal was a result for the network that provided the chance to be part of Nine's growth plan, and for WIN to to "take advantage of opportunities in a continually evolving media landscape both in Australia and globally".
A press conference on the new five year deal will hear from all parties at 2pm today.
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