Cricket Australia wants anti-siphoning relaxed on ODIs
Australian cricket chiefs are planning to lobby the government to allow Fox Sports to bid on certain one day internationals (ODIs), The Australian reports. At present, the pay TV company can bid on games in the AFL and NRL, but not Australia-based international cricket, as these games are restricted by anti-siphoning rules.
Theoretically, relaxing the rules would allow Cricket Australia to earn more from selling sports broadcasting rights for ODIs while still ring-fencing test cricket for free-to-air networks. In the case of AFL and rugby league, free-to-air and pay TV operators simulcast games, while Seven and Nine have exclusive coverage of the code's grand finals as well as State of Origin matches. Fox Sports broadcasts Australian cricket matches, including ODIs, overseas.
Current rights holder Nine spent $450 million on its current deal to broadcast Australian internationals and it is believed the network will not pay a significant increase as rights negotiations begin early next year. The Australian, which is owner by Fox Sports owner News Corp, says this could pave the way for another network and Foxtel to table a rival bid.
'Branded Moments'
Spotify has unveiled its first vertical video ad unit for mobile listeners to appeal to mobile advertisers. Bacardi, Gatorade and Bose are the first to try out the new ads. Users who watch the vertical video ads will receive 30-minutes of audio ad-free listening, but they may still see additional display ads. Brands can buy the mobile optimised unit in Branded Moments, an ad product Spotify recently introduced that lets brands target users based on the context and mood they are in. The branded moments are based around the categories of chill time, workout, party, dinner, focus and sleep. The idea is to infer the context a user is in based on the type of playlist they are listening to.
Largest social media float since Twitter
Snapchat owner Snap Inc has inched closer to listing its shares on the stock exchange after choosing which banks will help with the flotation. It's understood Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs will underwrite the initial public offering (IPO), with several other banks involved. According to the BBC, the IPO is expected to value the company at US $25 billion
It's expected to happen on March and would be the largest social media float since Twitter went public in November 2013.
Twitter's tumble
Shares in Twitter have dropped 7% after cloud software company Salesforce's CEO Marc Benioff confirmed the business would not bid for the social media website. Other rumoured suitors included Google, Apple and Walt Disney, but reports say all considered, but then rejected the idea. Benioff told the Financial Times his firm had "walked away" from any potential deal which then triggered Twitter's shares to fall about 7% to $16.60, while Salesforce's rose more than 6% to about $74.
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