Anti-Siphoning Reform Debate:
Australian anti-siphoning laws delegate which television channels are allowed to show sporting events. Currently, free-to-air providers, such as channels 7, 9, and 10, are allowed to pick which sporting events they would like broadcast. If the free-to-air providers do not want to broadcast an event, subscriber-based television stations, such as FOXTEL and AUSTAR, are then allowed the option of broadcasting that event.
The subscriber-based television networks have pushed for a government review of the anti-siphoning laws, specifically in regard to sporting events such as the Olympics, tennis, and rugby. FOXTEL’s CEO is an advocate for a system whereby the subscriber-based stations are allowed to broadcast events that currently are not even reviewed by the free-to-air providers. They would like to see a ‘Use it or Lose it’ system come into play. The free-to-air providers, represented as a group by Free TV Australia, have also begun arguing for a change in the anti-siphoning laws. They would like to extend the reach of the anti-siphoning laws to the internet, in the form of Internet protocol television (or IPTV) which could really turn the current Australian Anti-siphoning laws and guidelines upside down.
For consumers, the change in these laws offers both advantages and disadvantages. Under the current system, anyone with access to a television can watch sports for free. If the anti-siphoning laws are changed or removed, there is the potential that certain sports will no longer be accessible to those who do not pay for television. On the flip-side, many sporting events are currently difficult to find on the free-to-air providers, or are exclusively broadcast in certain formats, such as high definition, that make viewing difficult for numerous consumers.
Additionally, the potential restriction of the internet brings up an interesting point which is potentially threatening to the existence of the free-to-air providers. If content can be broadcast unrestricted over the internet, why does it need to be through the form of traditional television broadcasting at all? If Australians can access the content they want, whenever they want it, without the use of a television, the need for anti-siphoning laws becomes a moot point. The impending government review of the anti-siphoning laws therefore marks a pivotal change in how sporting events, but to a larger extent, content itself, is accessed, displayed, and consumed in Australia. Youcompare advises consumers to ‘stay tuned’ to this debate…
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