Guest 2Admin2 Report post Posted September 5, 2014 Channel Seven to take a big punt on racing Date September 5, 2014 - 6:39AM Andrew Webster Chief Sports Writer, The Sydney Morning Herald Off and racing: James McDonald celebrates victory in this year's Golden Slipper on Mossfun. Channel Seven is expanding its involvement in racing. Photo: Anthony Johnson Channel Seven is poised to become a major force in horse racing – to the point where the free-to-air network could angle for a wagering licence in the future. Not many people want to talk about it, most likely because all the major players involved have been forced to sign confidentiality agreements to ensure the story doesn't leak out. But this column has this week caught wind of plans for racing television channel TVN to run all of its content on one of Seven's digital channels. As it stands, TVN already pays Seven about $2 million to show 28 meetings a year on 7TWO. But the association is about to get a whole lot stronger, with the racing network keen to expand into free-to-air TV, rather than have a viewing audience of 30 per cent on subscription TV. "Something like Seven-bet," is how one figure close to negotiations describes it. We have been told the end game for Seven is the long-term view of acquiring a wagering licence: first in Western Australia and then in Victoria. We're told the deal maker behind the scenes is Gold Coast businessman Scott Perrin, who made his fortune alongside brother Matthew when they sold their stake in surfwear giant Billabong for $490 million. Matt spectacularly lost his $150 million fortune because of bad business deals in China, a $1.7 million gambling debt and an ugly divorce. The Perrins have always been avid racing enthusiasts, champion jockey Glen Boss writing of Scott Perrin in his autobiography: "Scottie Perrin became a mate of mine and I soon developed a high regard for the cool way he went about making the world of business sound every bit as exciting as racing." TVN is owned by the Australian Turf Club, Melbourne metropolitan clubs and Country Racing Victoria. Perrin, who did not return calls, has been dealing with Racing NSW chairman John Messara and ATC vice-chairman Laurie Macri. For his part, TVN boss Bruce Mann has repeatedly denied talking with Seven, which is also keen to enhance its profile as a major player in racing. It announced this week that it had struck a long-term deal with Magic Millions co-owners Katie Page and Gerry Harvey to broadcast the annual racing event on the Gold Coast. It already has the rights to the Melbourne Cup carnival, The Championships and Golden Slipper. "As you have seen with this week's announcement with Gerry Harvey and our signing of the Magic Millions, we are increasing our exposure to horse racing," a Seven spokesperson said. "We love being the broadcast television partner of horse racing. It's a great partnership for our television business." Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/sport/channel-seven-to-take-a-big-punt-on-racing-20140904-10cgxx.html#ixzz3COcUwRlc Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mckenzie 600 Report post Posted September 5, 2014 Thanks for posting that. Interesting to see how they promote the sport over there on free-to-air while our bosses do the opposite and somehow think that less exposure is good. hedley and meomy 2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
crustyngrizzly 1,683 Report post Posted September 5, 2014 Who needs Trackside on Freeview in NZ you can spend your Saturdays watching constant repeats of crap cooking shows,talentless singing shows,how to hammer in a nail shows,gardening shows and survival of the stupid shows.Just for good measure they show what they term an omnibus and best of every NZ show from the previous week.Bugger racing my life is now complete. meomy 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
meomy 971 Report post Posted September 6, 2014 We would like to hear some feedback from those of you that lurk in racecafe from Australia about racing on Freeview. It can only be the best platform for reaching the wider community. Your cousins here over the ditch in good ole NZ were left without Watch & Bet , Livestreaming today due to Spark (used to be Telecom) having been affected by a malware infection. Too bad if you rely on the internet here to watch the races & enjoy your entertainment that way now Trackside is no longer on Free to Air Freeview TV. Keep Trackside on Freeview facebook page https://www.facebook.com/pages/Keep-Trackside-on-Freeview/611059238959459 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...