Live int'l cricket will return to free-to-air TV in '20 "for the first time in 15 years," according to Elizabeth Ammon of the LONDON TIMES. Two England Twenty20 matches will be shown as part of the England & Wales Cricket Board's new broadcasting deal, according to the tender document. The document, sent to "all leading broadcasters," set out the bidding process for the rights to all int'l and domestic cricket in England between '20 and '24 and revealed "at least 13 leading matches a year will be shown live and free to air." This will include "the two T20 men's internationals, the final of the women's T20 superleague and ten matches in the new eight-team T20 domestic tournament." The leaked document also revealed:
- Fewer Tests are "likely to be played." When the Ashes are contested at home, England would "only play the five Tests against Australia, rather than also two warm-up Tests against another nation."
- Any pay-TV broadcaster that bids for the rights to the new T20 tournament "must also bid" for the rights to the package that includes int'l and county cricket. Broadcasters "cannot bid for just one."
- As well as making bids for each package, broadcasters must show how they would "maximise their reach and attract new audiences to the game."
- The board's decision on which channels will win the tender will be made at 5pm on June 30 -- "48 hours after the deadline for the submission of bids."
But it is the return of England matches to terrestrial TV "that will most excite cricket fans." The BBC, which has not shown live cricket since '99, is the "firm favourite to win the competition for free-to-air games," although there will be bids from ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5 and
Discovery, which would show it on non-subscription channel Quest (
LONDON TIMES, 5/17).
