No free to air cricket in the UK till at least 2013

New deal with Sky
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket/7542774.stm

Who was it that used to drone on and on about this subject?

Was it Jon in Norwich?

FFS - Five get the highlights again!

45 minutes and thats it - crock of shoite!

Sky provides good coverage, imo. Pretty much all of the commentators are likeable (Except Michael Holding when he stars ranting). But Bumble, Nasser, and Athers in particular are solid as.

Just a shame that not as many people can see it. But the way we're playing, maybe that's a good thing.

Wotz Sky cost per month in the UK? Fox costs me $76 per month (that's close to 40 pound now, isn't it?)

skully wrote:Wotz Sky cost per month in the UK? Fox costs me $76 per month (that's close to 40 pound now, isn't it?)

It'll be about £40-50 a month depending on the packages you have I think?!

About the same Skulls.....

Five's highlights are absolutley dreadful. 45 minutes from 7:15 with 2 adverts for a whole days test cricket!!

Its embarrassing - and you have to deal with Nickolarse more than watching England be rubbish!!

yeah its about the same, or at least it was when I last checked the bill...

And it's been pointed out to me that the droning on and on about it was done by Rhys Jenkins of course.

holcs wrote:

skully wrote:Wotz Sky cost per month in the UK? Fox costs me $76 per month (that's close to 40 pound now, isn't it?)

It'll be about £40-50 a month depending on the packages you have I think?!

About the same Skulls.....

Five's highlights are absolutley dreadful. 45 minutes from 7:15 with 2 adverts for a whole days test cricket!!

Its embarrassing - and you have to deal with Nickolarse more than watching England be rubbish!!

Fives highlights are infinitely better than C4's though.

That used to be 25 mins with a break inbetween and Nicholarse droning on. Used to be about 15 mins of cricket.

I blame no-one but the BBC and C4. Didn't make a bid.

I pay about £45. I specifically have it for the cricket. Not just England internationals, but a shitload that the terrestrials can't be bothered to show.

Man, I couldn't live without Fox. As Springsteen said "57 channels and nothing on" but the cricket and 56 channels of sh!te certainly beats the 6 FTA channels of sh!te we have in Aus.

Brass Monkey wrote: I blame no-one but the BBC and C4. Didn't make a bid.

Can a terrestrial company ever outbid Sky unless its a listed event?

Not a chance IMO

Not looking at the information I have found on it!

I always understood that certain sports were going to have to be shown on Terestrial. But it seems cricket isn't one of those?? Not sure how it all works to be honest.

It is embarrassing that the highlights for both C4 and Five are so shoitehouse!

Can't ever see it happening again - cricket on terrestial TV.
Shame.

But having said that, practically all the cricket clubs we play against in
the League (and the majority on Sundays) now have Sky installed in the clubhouses.
Get a small kick-back from Sport England towards the installation costs
and with match fees upped by 50p per player to cover the monthly costs.

Also, open house for Rugby, Football and Cricket etc (just like some pubs do)
brings in revenue as well - think £2 per person and of course, open bar...

So it seems to be working ... young 'uns are getting to see sport live on satellite
TV after all whilst keeping them off the streets.

JKLever wrote:
Can a terrestrial company ever outbid Sky unless its a listed event?

Not a chance IMO

Maybe. If they wanted it. But they don't. They either want to keep their customers wanking to Hollyoaks, or keep the monosyllabs interested in whether Peter Snow would make a better conducter than Goldie.

Couldn't guarnatee they'd show all of it. Or make you tune into FilmFour, which is f*cking moot anyway.

JKLever wrote:

Brass Monkey wrote: I blame no-one but the BBC and C4. Didn't make a bid.

Can a terrestrial company ever outbid Sky unless its a listed event?

Not a chance IMO

They don't have to outbid them. Sky can blow any other channel out of the water for money but the fact they showed no interest in at least giving the ECB the option if taking less money for terrestrial exposure means they can't complain.

It also means that poor people can't watch the cricket. Just as it should be.

Merlin wrote:Can't ever see it happening again - cricket on terrestial TV.
Shame.

But having said that, practically all the cricket clubs we play against in
the League (and the majority on Sundays) now have Sky installed in the clubhouses.
Get a small kick-back from Sport England towards the installation costs
and with match fees upped by 50p per player to cover the monthly costs.

Also, open house for Rugby, Football and Cricket etc (just like some pubs do)
brings in revenue as well - think £2 per person and of course, open bar...

So it seems to be working ... young 'uns are getting to see sport live on satellite
TV after all whilst keeping them off the streets.

Aye problem then becomes the fact you have a cricket game on, and a load of qunuts want to watch some poxy pre-season gayball game between Schalke and Villareal! WTF??

We have actually banned Gayball from the TV at our place during cricket season, unless there is no cricket on!!

holcs wrote:

Aye problem then becomes the fact you have a cricket game on, and a load of qunuts want to watch some poxy pre-season gayball game between Schalke and Villareal! WTF??

We have actually banned Gayball from the TV at our place during cricket season, unless there is no cricket on!!

Aye, same with us. Banned till 31 August.
Mainly the colts who want to watch footie ...

We hosted a few of the last RFU world cup games in the clubhouse (4 I think).
Full house every time (had to put up marquees for the semi and final).. took something like £6K at the bar overall.
two sets of new kit, refurbished the clubhouse, more sponsorship .... rest in the kitty.
Sky has it's plusses ... have to say.

Schalke v Villareal

sounds a bit like me 20 years ago - would watch any football that was on...

Merlin wrote:

holcs wrote:

Aye problem then becomes the fact you have a cricket game on, and a load of qunuts want to watch some poxy pre-season gayball game between Schalke and Villareal! WTF??

We have actually banned Gayball from the TV at our place during cricket season, unless there is no cricket on!!

Aye, same with us. Banned till 31 August.
Mainly the colts who want to watch footie ...

We hosted a few of the last RFU world cup games in the clubhouse (4 I think).
Full house every time (had to put up marquees for the semi and final).. took something like £6K at the bar overall.
two sets of new kit, refurbished the clubhouse, more sponsorship .... rest in the kitty.
Sky has it's plusses ... have to say.

Rugby is never banned! Tri Nations on in the mornings before games - bacon rolls and Coffee all round, bar is open if there is the demand!

RFU WC always brings in a monster crowd. Helps we have a 50" and 42" Plasmas all over!

JKLever wrote:Schalke v Villareal

sounds a bit like me 20 years ago - would watch any football that was on...

Why does that not surprise me?

JKLever wrote:yeah its about the same, or at least it was when I last checked the bill...

And it's been pointed out to me that the droning on and on about it was done by Rhys Jenkins of course.

What are you doing with all these dodgy links if you've got Sky, you crazy baldy?

Lara Lara Laughs wrote:

JKLever wrote:yeah its about the same, or at least it was when I last checked the bill...

And it's been pointed out to me that the droning on and on about it was done by Rhys Jenkins of course.

What are you doing with all these dodgy links if you've got Sky, you crazy baldy?

Cause I can't stop work to piss off and watch Sky in my living room you lazy stoodent....

You still a stoodent Lara?!!
How long you got left?
6 years?

Nope. Just finished masters. Grad in Jan/Feb I think.

No terrestrial channel has enough time or money to spare to care enough about a sport that most people aren't interested in either. Sky may be qunts but at least they're bothered. The BBC and C4 whinge from time to time about cricket not being terrestrial, but it's their shoddiness that has allowed it to get away from them.

A whole generation's going to be lost to the game at this rate. For all the hype surrounding Twenty20 it needs youngsters to catch a game on TV to get their interest in the first place. The large majority growing up in households without Sky Sports will never be likely to stumble across it at all.

Sky do a good job and not suggesting they shouldn't broadcast the majority of matches but a couple of Tests and ODI's a year and perhaps the Twenty20 and county 50-over final on free to air TV would help maintain that link with the general TV audience. Otherwise before long we will see a serious decline in interest both in terms of playing and attending matches, especially if the England team is not successful.