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Seven Accusing Pay-TV Of Pushing For Sweeping Anti-Siphoning Changes

Socceroos World Cup qualifiers, Twenty20 cricket matches played in Australia featuring the national team and summer Olympics sports outside the opening and closing ceremonies "are among a list of sweeping changes Seven West Media says the pay-television sector is targeting to have removed from the anti-siphoning list," according to Max Mason of the SYDNEY MORNING HERALD. The list "dictates which sports free-to-air broadcasters have first rights to bid for." Seven submitted a detailed list of sports to the Senate Committee for Environment and Communication, "which is in the middle of an inquiry into changes to media ownership restrictions proposed by Communications Minister Mitch Fifield that said pay TV was seeking to removal from the anti-siphoning list, which it says was provided to contacts in Canberra three years ago." Foxtel denied the list provided by Seven reflects its "proposal to the government." Foxtel prepared a "list of sports for the government that it believes should be taken off the anti-siphoning list." Seven said, "What we know is that the list submitted to this committee is just a sub-set of the real targets for delisting by the Pay TV sector. Foxtel and others prepared a list of the sports they really want off the list and provided it to key Canberra contacts in 2013. It makes it abundantly clear that the current list of sports provided by Pay TV is just a continuation of their consistent strategy over the past decade to whittle away at the list until it becomes meaningless." Seven said that pay-TV has "proposed the removal" of Twenty20 cricket matches involving Australia and played in Australia, the final of the Twenty20 World Cup, and all matches involving Australia, the English FA Cup final and World Cup qualifiers involving Australia. It also "flagged the proposed removal" of Wimbledon and US Open tennis single quarterfinals, semifinals and the finals, Davis Cup matches involving Australia, int'l netball matches featuring Australia played in Australia or New Zealand, the semifinal and final of the Netball World Championships if Australia is playing and the Australian Masters, Australian Open and US Masters golf tournaments. In Foxtel's own submission to the Senate committee, Group Dir of Corporate Affairs Bruce Meagher said that the current anti-siphoning legislation is "analogue-era regulation, is out of date and acts as a protection mechanism for the commercial FTA [free-to-air networks]." Pay-TV lobby Australia Subscription TV & Radio Association CEO Andrew Maiden said in his submission that the "anti-siphoning regime is a detriment to sporting bodies, the general public and competitors to free-to-air TV." Maiden said, "The scheme has been completely overtaken by technological developments. For example, because the scheme only applies to subscription TV licensees, it would not prevent an 'over-the-top' streaming service like Netflix from acquiring exclusive rights to nationally significant sports and charging viewers for access" (SMH, 3/23).

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