Caitlin Murphy
21-04-05, 06:20 AM
THE Nine Network's bid for the release of details of its rivals' bid to broadcast the AFL was given a boost yesterday when a Federal Court judge said the agreement appeared to be relevant to the Seven Network's mammoth case over pay-television sports rights.
Justice Ron Sackville has reserved his decision on whether he will compel Seven and Network Ten to disclose details such as the number of AFL matches each intends to broadcast live if they are successful in winning the rights for the 2007-11 AFL seasons.
However, he told a hearing yesterday that the agreement between Seven and Ten seemed to be relevant to one of Seven's principal allegations: that its former pay-TV arm C7 had been shut out of the market as a result of collusion between rival media companies.
The agreement between Seven and Ten may bear upon C7's capacity to compete in the pay-TV market in the future because it may "be the vehicle by which Seven can compete for the pay-TV AFL rights", Justice Sackville said. He told the court that the test for what material should be available to parties in a case was whether it "may be relevant".
In March Seven revealed it had made an agreement to share its $20 million legal right to make the last offer over the AFL's free-to-air rights with Network Ten.
The AFL's broadcast rights for 2007-11 expire at the end of next year and are up for renegotiation. Until then, Ten is sharing the AFL's free-to-air TV rights with the Nine Network.
Counsel for Nine's parent company Publishing & Broadcasting, Tony Meagher SC, asked the court to force Seven and Ten to give access to the agreement because it could be important in its defence of the Seven Network's $1 billion legal action against his client and 20 others over the demise of its pay-TV sports channel C7.
Mr Meagher is also seeking details on how many games each network plans to air, who would air the finals, and how the fees would be paid to the AFL. He has asked the networks to hand over documents relating to their ability to broadcast the matches live. Nine is also seeking any records, including diary notes, of the likely effect of the deal between Ten and Seven on the value of the remaining AFL pay-TV rights.
But counsel for Kerry Stokes's Seven Network, John Sheahan, told Justice Sackville that Nine should be denied access to the confidential agreement because it was far too broad, adding that Nine was "just fishing" for information. Justice Sackville appeared reticent to allow Nine access to memos, notes and diary records relating to the agreement terms between Seven and Ten.
"Does this mean that when they talk about getting Lou Richards to commentate instead of somebody else, that [is relevant]?" he asked.
The Kerry Packer-owned Nine Network's attempts to see the documents is the first significant stoush in the C7 case, which is due to begin in July and may run for up to a year.
SOURCE (http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,15032415%255E7582,00.html)
Justice Ron Sackville has reserved his decision on whether he will compel Seven and Network Ten to disclose details such as the number of AFL matches each intends to broadcast live if they are successful in winning the rights for the 2007-11 AFL seasons.
However, he told a hearing yesterday that the agreement between Seven and Ten seemed to be relevant to one of Seven's principal allegations: that its former pay-TV arm C7 had been shut out of the market as a result of collusion between rival media companies.
The agreement between Seven and Ten may bear upon C7's capacity to compete in the pay-TV market in the future because it may "be the vehicle by which Seven can compete for the pay-TV AFL rights", Justice Sackville said. He told the court that the test for what material should be available to parties in a case was whether it "may be relevant".
In March Seven revealed it had made an agreement to share its $20 million legal right to make the last offer over the AFL's free-to-air rights with Network Ten.
The AFL's broadcast rights for 2007-11 expire at the end of next year and are up for renegotiation. Until then, Ten is sharing the AFL's free-to-air TV rights with the Nine Network.
Counsel for Nine's parent company Publishing & Broadcasting, Tony Meagher SC, asked the court to force Seven and Ten to give access to the agreement because it could be important in its defence of the Seven Network's $1 billion legal action against his client and 20 others over the demise of its pay-TV sports channel C7.
Mr Meagher is also seeking details on how many games each network plans to air, who would air the finals, and how the fees would be paid to the AFL. He has asked the networks to hand over documents relating to their ability to broadcast the matches live. Nine is also seeking any records, including diary notes, of the likely effect of the deal between Ten and Seven on the value of the remaining AFL pay-TV rights.
But counsel for Kerry Stokes's Seven Network, John Sheahan, told Justice Sackville that Nine should be denied access to the confidential agreement because it was far too broad, adding that Nine was "just fishing" for information. Justice Sackville appeared reticent to allow Nine access to memos, notes and diary records relating to the agreement terms between Seven and Ten.
"Does this mean that when they talk about getting Lou Richards to commentate instead of somebody else, that [is relevant]?" he asked.
The Kerry Packer-owned Nine Network's attempts to see the documents is the first significant stoush in the C7 case, which is due to begin in July and may run for up to a year.
SOURCE (http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,15032415%255E7582,00.html)