Murdoch's BSkyB attacked by cricket legend Boycott over TV coverage dominance

chris

The government will not move to ensure that home test cricket is returned to free-to-air television in the UK because it fears a 'backlash' from media mogul Rupert Murdoch, whose BSkyB satellite channel currently has a stranglehold over live rights for the matches, said cricket legend Geoffrey Boycott on Tuesday.

He told a meeting of the 'Keep Cricket Free' campaign at parliament that politicians on all sides of the political spectrum were worried about the response from the News Corporation (nyse: NWS - news - people ) stable of British newspapers including The Sun, Times and News of the World.

The former England batsman, and current radio and television commentator, said BSkyB 'will pay anything they can' to keep the cricket rights 'because they have to fill 8-9 hours a day'.

'If they don't, what the hell are they going to fill it with for 50-60 days a year?' he said, adding that BSkyB's live viewing figures were only around 250,000 people compared with almost one million for a 45 minute highlights package on Channel 5.

Cricket was removed several years ago from a protected list of events such as the Wimbledon tennis tournament that must be broadcast on terrestrial television.

BSkyB has the rights until next year, including a lucrative Ashes series involving Australia. The rights for 2010-13 are due to be put out for tender this year.

Boycott said rival pay-TV broadcaster Setanta, which is showing the Indian Premier League 20/20 competition, was talking to the England Cricket Board about bidding for some rights to televise domestic cricket.

It is also understood that the BBC is bidding for live home test match rights.

Boycott believes that the sport will suffer at grass-roots level if school children cannot see England players such as Kevin Pietersen on television for free.

He advocated a mixed package that allowed satellite and free-to-air broadcasters to share the live and recorded highlights rights.

However, he warned that politicians needed to push harder to break BSkyB's dominance.

'He (Murdoch) owns almost everything (in newspapers and television) ... and people are frightened of a backlash from him,' Boycott said, adding that if the current Labour government changed the arrangement the concern was that 'he will turn on them'.

'That can't be right. Nobody is going to admit that but if anyone is going to do anything that is the wrong reason (to do nothing).'

satseeker3

Quite right Geoff,

we need a hell of a lot more public figures to stand up in the government and break the monopoly of Sky. It really is a big, world wide, bully tactic operation that just get's bigger because of this "fear factor". Just look what's happening in the "channel war" of adding more and more repeat programs "to catch up on your viewing". Have you noticed in some programs how you keep getting "flashbacks" to what was said or seen five minutes earlier. In one half hour program the actual "content" was just fifteen minutes...the rest was adverts, flasbacks, and a pretty graphic intro. Does the UK need 24/7 viewing ? If not, then cut out all the channel hype and only have decent programs. Not a "continuous loop" like Sky.
Satseeker3

Channel Hopper

He has balls.

There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness"