“It will have a lesser effect on Kayo and Foxtel, but they wouldn’t love it either, because it would’ve been a real subscription driver as well. But the major effect is for free-to-air and Seven and Seven Plus.”
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CA chief executive Todd Greenberg has acknowledged the wider commercial and broadcast implications of two-day Test matches.
“Some of these things have a long-term tail if you’re not careful,” Greenberg said. “Broadcasters have an impact; all of the sponsors and partners who invest in cricket. It’s not just about us and ticket sales, it’s about every part of it, including the MCG, who will also lose significant revenue over the next couple of days.
“So there are swings and roundabouts in cricket. The number of people who watched the first two days were way beyond forecast and expectations. My goal is to just have more of it. I can’t think of another sport on the planet that has such a material impact on performance on the field and commercial return off the field through all the variables outside our control on wickets.
“That’s what makes cricket so amazing and unique, but it also creates enormous challenges for us. We’ve got to figure out how we deal with some of these things.”
Travis Head battles the conditions on the second day of the Melbourne Test.Credit: Chris Hopkins
The Big Bash League is also affected by the early end of the Test because the Twenty20 league’s biggest audiences have habitually come in the evenings immediately after a day’s play in Melbourne or Sydney.
“BBL games get a big fillip from being played after a Test match. If the Test ends early, that means you lose some of that fillip,” Smith said.
“If this trend continues, it will be very significant. But the cost for Seven even this year will be very significant, and I wouldn’t imagine there will be a sponsor who doesn’t have a makegood clause.
“Cricket is the No.3 sport for Australia in terms of the value of media rights, and it puts pressure on that. CA have done a really good job in driving interest in the BBL, but then they’ve got this, which they need to address. I can see why CA is starting to indicate they may want to have some input into how these wickets are readied to play.”
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Seven has put out a communiqué trumpeting the huge audience figures for the two days of the Melbourne Test, which had a national audience of 1.84 million during the third session on Boxing Day and 1.6 million for the final session on day two.
“Despite Australia already retaining the Ashes and the Test wrapping up far quicker than we would have liked, the record-breaking attendance figures and ratings once again proved cricket remains Australia’s number one summer sport,” Seven’s head of cricket Joel Starcevic said.
Foxtel declined to comment on subscriber figures.
