This has "not been a good winter for Test cricket," according to Simon Wilde of the LONDON TIMES. Apart from England "being held 1-1 on spinning tracks in Bangladesh, there has not been one competitive series." Broadcasters, who typically provide 70% of the revenue received by national boards, "are unimpressed." Channel Nine CEO Hugh Marks said that the company "is unwilling to pay more" for Australia's home internationals. It would "rather spend the cash funding a bid to secure coverage of the smash-hit" Big Bash League from Channel Ten when the rights come up for '18 onward. In '11, Australia's Channel Ten bought the rights for the BBL for A$15M per year -- "they are now valued" at A$36M-$A44M ($26.5M-$32.4M) per year. India’s broadcasters "are similarly lukewarm, despite the phenomenal run of success in home Tests by Virat Kohli’s team," and future deals covering India’s home games "are expected to be less lucrative," especially with competition "thinned" by Sony’s purchase of Zee TV’s sports portfolio. This will have a "knock-on effect for everyone, as TV rights relating to Indian cricket have long driven the sport’s global economy." The England & Wales Cricket Board is distributing £1M ($1.2M) to the 18 counties from reserves built up by the two "bumper years" in its financial cycle, with tours by Australia and India, "but life may not be as good again." The ECB accepts England will play fewer tests under the next broadcasting deal from '20, "which is likely to bundle up elements of the new domestic Twenty20 tournament as well." The rise of Twenty20 "has hurt Test cricket." This all-action format has drawn in a "younger, less male-dominant audience" (LONDON TIMES, 1/8).
TEN OVERTAKES SEVEN: B&T reported Ten's coverage of the BBL is continuing to "do wonders" for the network, moving it past Seven into second place in the latest TV ratings. Nine claimed the top spot for "overall network audience share last week," followed by Ten and Seven. The News Corp. masthead reported that Nine attracted a "national peak audience" of 1.82 million and 1.43 million viewers on the opening two days of the third cricket test against Pakistan in Sydney. Meanwhile, Ten’s BBL numbers "peaked at 1.47 million for Tuesday’s match between the Sydney Sixers and Brisbane Heat," followed by 1.48 million the next night during the Sydney Thunder’s last-ball win against the Melbourne Stars (B&T, 1/9).
