ONE of the country's most respected racing writers, ROD NICHOLSON, reports in the Sun Herald in Melbourne on the looming prospect of a TVN- Sky Channel merger - with TVN having majority control, welcome news for most punters.
Here is the Nicholson report, courtesy of News Limited and Australia's leading racing paper, the Sun Herald: 'After five years of often bitter television warfare, TVN and Tabcorp's Sky Channel are discussing a merger that should benefit everyone.
Legal challenges seemed a daily ritual. TabCorp's Sky Racing couldn't show Melbourne or Sydney races. TVN couldn't show other interstate races and country folk couldn't watch the local races.
Punters were forced to switch between two channels to watch races and a fight erupted.
The catalyst was Tabcorp's intention to pay the racing industry almost nothing for use of its racing pictures.
The war took its toll but eventually the pair sorted out many differences. For starters, the industry began receiving $20 million annually from Tabcorp to use the pictures of Victorian and NSW city races on Sky Channel.
During the five-year period, TVN has made media rights payments to its stakeholders of $85 million - as against the belatedly proposed payment of about $20 million Sky Channel offered for non-exclusive media rights.
In 2009, the shareholders of TVN received $17 million and profits are increasing annually. TVN's future is a certainty because it owns the premier racing in Australia.
Sky, spurred by the competition, has provided excellent coverage since, improving the quality of its presentation, adding new shows and race meetings.
During the latest Melbourne Cup week, Sky Racing attracted more than 680,000 viewers and TVN about 400,000 viewers, an indication of the swift rise in TVN popularity.
RACING'S PRODUCT
RACING is the nation's most prolific provider of live sport. In Victoria, the sport has more air time of live action than football or cricket.
Live racing content is produced a minimum of 12 hours every day, seven days a week.
Last year Sky Racing covered 65,324 races from 2503 thoroughbred meetings, 1606 harness and 2367 greyhound meetings.
Think AFL - live telecasts are restricted to around four hours per match and there are only eight of them each week.
Cricket involves Tests as well as first-class, one-day and Twenty20, but falls well short of racing's relentless coverage.
Unlike racing, neither football nor cricket owns its own dedicated television station.
But both sports make multi-million dollars from television rights, whereas racing pays
$4 million for free-to-air coverage of the Spring Carnival and to Foxtel to show races.
The landscape, however, is changing.
THE PROPOSAL
TVN is in negotiations with Sky Racing to merge the television outlets. The proposal is dependent on TVN having majority control, which is non-negotiable - as is the demand for control of decision-making.
As racing in Victoria was denied the opportunity to bid for the new wagering licence which comes into effect in 2012, all that is left to control is the content through all media.
The ACCC would need to approve a merger, but both bodies are understood to be keen to have the new entity up and running within the year.
WHY A MERGER?
THE merger initiative came about because racing (TVN) wants to streamline television exposure and make more profits to churn back into the industry.
Cost sharing, joint use of premises, equipment, technologies and staff, and a uniform and united push into domestic and world markets would save multi-millions to racing's benefit.
Sky also needs to look at costs, even though it makes about $40 million annually.
Tabcorp announced recently that from March it intends to have three dedicated racing channels. Sky Racing1 and Sky Racing2 would be the core wagering channels.
Sky Racing World would deliver 12 hours of thoroughbred racing from Australia and around the world.
How it could sustain three outlets in competition with an established rival in TVN is anyone's guess. Clearly merger talks are more sensible than generating more costly conflict.
CAN A MERGER WORK?
YES, but four racing television outlets would be extravagant in the extreme.
Two is sensible - the wall-to-wall coverage of Sky Racing1 to accommodate and encourage wagering, and the boutique and extensive coverage of TVN, which would provide race coverage here and abroad, plus breeding, preview and review shows and features.
TALENT TO BURN
SKY and TVN each boast excellent stables of presenters and experts.
Sky recently appointed David Raphael (Sky Racing World), Adam Hamilton (harness) and Ben Damon (greyhounds) to join a team which will include Matthew Browning, Ron Dufficy, Tony Brassel and Andrew Bensley. Add Graham McNeice, Richard Freedman, Alf Matthews and a host of others - with further appointments promised in coming months - and there is more than enough talent on display.
Look then to TVN's crop of presenters which includes Bruce Clark, Steve Moran, Shane Templeton, Richard Callander and Caroline Searcy.
A combination of these talented stables would be world-class.
EXTRA BENEFITS
SKY Racing is preparing an enhanced range of magazine and form programs, covering all three codes of racing. TVN is also preparing major form programs, to be screened each race morning.
It also is working on extensive magazine pieces, as well as extra breeding and historical shows.
THE FUTURE
PUNTERS already can watch racing live at home, in pubs and clubs and on mobile phones.
Further opportunities exist, notably through internet protocol TV. Telstra has launched a new box and within a year that box linked to your computer will allow viewing of TVN races.
As 50 per cent of houses have broadband, the opportunity to spread racing's product will increase considerably, especially with the extended rollout of broadband.
INTERNATIONAL RACING
COMING up next year are the rights for international racing - for the first time in 18 years.
Tabcorp now holds the rights. It would be in racing's interests to procure them and for them to be part of the TVN outlet (or merged venture) where international racing could find a niche.
