Nine Entertainment CEO Hugh Marks is "putting pressure on Cricket Australia" to get a TV rights deal done by the end of '17 at the latest, according to Darren Davidson of THE AUSTRALIAN. Marks said that he is "pushing for a new broadcasting deal" for all forms of the game "towards the end of this year before talks with advertisers" commence as cricket’s governing body seeks to delay the process until next year. Marks also indicated his "desire to snatch the rights to the Big Bash League," and predicted "less competition" from bidders for int'l cricket. CA is making about A$600M ($474M) from its current five-year deal -- A$500M ($395M), or A$100M ($79M) a year, from Nine's int'l rights, and A$100M, or A$20M ($16M) a year, from Ten's BBL rights. The BBL rights, which were worth A$100M in the previous five-year deal that expires after the coming summer, are "expected to fetch up to" A$250M ($197.5M) in the next round of negotiations. It is believed that CA "wants to wait for as much competitive tension as possible between the three commercial networks and pay-TV." Nine "slipped" to a A$203.4M full-year loss due to previously announced writedowns of assets including its free-to-air TV network. Total revenue slipped 3% to A$1.24B but a group-wide 5% reduction in costs "helped Nine lift its underlying profit" 2.7% to A$123.6M. Nine said that its ratings performance "improved significantly" at the start of '17 (THE AUSTRALIAN, 8/24).
