MacLaurin unhappy with new TV deal
Reports that the ECB are about to agree a new TV deal which would pass more coverage of England's home matches to satellite station BSkyB at the expense of terrestrial broadcaster Channel 4 have angered Lord MacLaurin, the former chairman of the
Wisden Cricinfo staff
20-Nov-2004
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MacLaurin said that he gave the government a gentleman's agreement in 1998, while he was chairman, that coverage of Test matches would be kept evenly split between satellite and terrestrial television in return for them dislisting cricket. Until that time, TV coverage of Tests had to be on mainstream television as one of the so-called "crown-jewel" events which include Wimbledon, the Derby and the FA Cup final.
"I spent nine months talking to Chris Smith [the minister responsible] and I did the deal with him at a Test match at Lord's," MacLaurin told the Daily Telegraph. "He agreed on condition that we split coverage equally."
The rumours are that Channel 4's coverage will be downgraded, possibly so they only cover the second series of the summer. With all one-day internationals and domestic matches already the exclusive domain of Sky, that would mean that there would not be any cricket on terrestrial TV until mid July.
MacLaurin has flagged his concerns with David Morgan, his successor at the ECB. "If they change anything radically, they will have to clear it with the Government because Smith would have logged the deal," MacLaurin warned. "It'll be a great shame if we don't see cricket on terrestrial television until at least halfway through the season."
The BBC is the only other broadcaster who was interested in the rights, but they are understood to have withdrawn from the bidding last month.