Beyond the Crystal Set

On 20 December 2006, the Minister released guidelines for the ‘use it or lose it’ scheme that will apply to events on the anti-siphoning list, to encourage greater coverage of major sporting events on free to air television.

“The ‘use it or lose it’ scheme will apply to events on the anti-siphoning list from 1 January 2007,” Senator Coonan said.

“‘Use it or lose it’ is not about removing sports from the list that are being given adequate coverage on free to air television. The rules are designed to ensure the anti-siphoning list works the way it was intended and does not produce the perverse effect of reducing rather than increasing the total availability of sport to consumers on both free to air and pay television.

“The guidelines represent a practical set of criteria which reflect the day-to-day realities of covering live sport, while establishing some clear requirements for free to air broadcasters when showing sporting events on the list.

“It is not intended that failing only one of the guidelines will result in a decision that an event has not been ‘used’ and hence will be ‘lost’. Rather, a broadcaster’s treatment of an event will be considered against the guidelines as a whole.”

Listed events that do not receive adequate coverage, or which are not acquired by free to air broadcasters, may be considered for permanent (or partial) removal from the anti-siphoning list. De-listing of events will not rule out those events still being shown by free to air broadcasters in the future.

The anti-siphoning scheme was established in 1994 to ensure sporting events of national significance would continue to be available on free-to-air television, given the introduction of pay television.

The anti-siphoning list gives free to air broadcasters first access to the broadcast rights of listed events—but it does not force them to buy the rights, or to show the events live.

The ‘use it or lose it’ guidelines are attached. The monitoring reports, when publicly released, will be available on the ACMA website www.acma.gov.au.

‘Use it or lose it’ guidelines

1. Have broadcast rights been acquired by a FTA broadcaster, and what type of rights have been acquired?
2. Has the event or events which make up an item been shown by broadcasters to at least 50 per cent of the population?
3. For events other than multi-part, simultaneous events, an event would be considered to have been broadcast if at least half of the total event was broadcast. This consideration will be informed by the intent of the scheme and the public interest in seeing the event.
4. Whether the event or events that make up the listing were shown live, or near live (commencing within one hour of the start of the event); and whether a delay in showing the event or events that make up the listing was intended to allow the event to be broadcast at a time of, or in a form, that would provide greater audience access.
5. Where a FTA broadcaster is unable to reasonably provide full coverage of an event due to its multi-round, simultaneous nature, has complementary coverage been facilitated by:
   • rights being made available to another FTA broadcaster on a reasonable basis? Or:
   • have any subscription TV rights held by the FTA broadcaster been made available to a subscription TV operator on a reasonable basis?
6. The extent to which sports rights have been ‘used’ will be considered by reference to the following criteria:
   • For a listing comprising a series of events such as premierships, competitions and tournaments, whether the rights to each has been acquired or used.
   • Partial de-listing (if appropriate) of any event or part of an event comprising a competition or tournament will have regard to the extent of coverage afforded to the competition or tournament in its entirety.
7. Other matters that may be relevant in individual circumstances.

To ensure the continuing relevance and integrity of the anti-siphoning list, free-to-air coverage of events on the list will be monitored by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA), it was announced by the Minister on 12 October 2005.

ACMA will monitor free-to-air coverage of events on the anti‑siphoning list from 1 January 2006 until 31 December 2010, when the current list is due to expire.

The anti-siphoning scheme aims to maximise free-to-air coverage of listed events and, where that is not possible or practicable, it aims to maximise coverage by enabling pay TV to broadcast events.

ACMA will formally monitor which events have been acquired by free-to-air or national broadcasters and the extent of their rights to those events; how those rights are used and whether unused or partially-used rights are offered to other broadcasters, including pay TV.

On 9 March 2005, the Government announced that it would add the 2010 Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) World Cup to the list of events protected under the anti-siphoning provisions of the Broadcasting Services Act 1992.

“I am advised that FIFA is expected to publish an invitation to tender for the Asian and Oceanic broadcast rights for the 2010 World Cup later this year,” said Senator Coonan.

“The Government acknowledges that there have been calls from Australian soccer fans for the inclusion of the 2010 FIFA World Cup on the anti-siphoning list. We have considered the issue again and we have decided that it would be appropriate to include the event on the list.

“The listing of this event ensures that Australia’s free-to-air broadcasters will have an opportunity to acquire broadcast rights.”

The anti-siphoning scheme is designed to ensure that events of national significance and cultural importance which have traditionally been available on free-to-air television, will continue to be available for free to air broadcasters to acquire.

“The inclusion of an event on the list does not guarantee that it will necessarily be broadcast free-to-air and certainly does not mean it will be broadcast live or in full,” Senator Coonan said.

“Nevertheless, the addition of the 2010 World Cup gives Australian audiences the best chance to see one of the world’s most popular sporting events on free-to-air television.

“I am sure that the decision to include the 2010 World Cup on the anti-siphoning list is something all Australian soccer fans will welcome.

“The Government will continue to monitor the operation of the anti-siphoning list to ensure it properly reflects the attitudes of Australians and the commercial realities of the sporting and broadcasting sectors.”

For further information about Australian Government’s anti-siphoning scheme, visit http://www.dcita.gov.au/broad/television/anti-siphoning_and_anti-hoarding