A "radical shake-up" of the Australian Football League's radio rights looms with at least one media company looking to "take control of the game's national coverage," according to Caroline Wilson of THE AGE. Craig Hutchison's Crocmedia, a radio and TV distribution company, "has made a bold bid to buy the next radio rights from the AFL and sub-licence the coverage of matches around Australia." With all submissions now in for the next radio media deal it has also emerged that an FM newcomer, Lachlan Murdoch's Nova Entertainment, "has also put forward a bid to call football, challenging Triple M's dominance." Triple M has "also made a bid for greater control of the weekend radio football market." The AFL has refused to comment on the "radio negotiations which come with certain provisos of reach to regional and metropolitan markets Australia-wide guaranteeing the ABC" as the game's national broadcaster. While the forthcoming $2.5B ($1.86B) TV rights agreement will run for six years from '17, the AFL has asked radio bids to cover a minimum of the next three years. Under the Crocmedia bid the AFL's view is the ABC, which broadcasts into Victoria on 774, "would remain the league's broadcaster with the biggest national reach." It remained unclear whether the market would sustain two FM stations in Triple M and Nova (THE AGE, 6/8).
