Int'l pirates are "aiming to undercut Australia's local pay TV
monopoly, Foxtel, and Sky Racing by tens of thousands of dollars a year
through an elaborate global operation," according to Jared Lynch of THE AGE. For the first time, "rogue
operators are ripping off the digital feeds for Sky Racing and Foxtel's
channels" -- including Fox Footy -- and selling them back to Australians
for A$17.99 ($13.68) a month. This compares with Fox Footy and Sky Racing
packages costing pubs and clubs almost A$50,000 ($38,020) a year, "while Foxtel's
basic sports package" costs general consumers A$50 ($38) per month. The
pirated content comes as Foxtel and Australia's free-to-air commercial TV networks "are negotiating the broadcast rights" for the Australian Football League and
the National Rugby League, which are expected to total more than a combined A$3B ($2.28B) over
five years. It is "feared that if these rogue operators become big enough, they
have the potential to rob traditional broadcasters" of their ability to
monetize sport broadcast rights, which are becoming "increasingly
expensive." World Media Int'l Managing Dir Tony Ishak said, "It is like a big cancer that is going to eat up your
whole organization." Int'l website realsportsstreams.com is one provider that is offering Foxtel and Sky Racing content for A$17.99 per month. The website's channel list includes Fox Footy HD, the various Fox Sports Channels and Sky Racing as well as ESPN, BT Sports, Setanta and others. When contacted, Real Sports Streams said, "why are you doing an article about us?" It did not answer a "subsequent list of questions about its operations" (THE AGE, 6/1).
