SA Footy

Wondering if anyone can answer this question -

Why is cricket only ever broadcast on the ABC? (Sure, everyone loves it there as far as I know).

What I can't work out is how no other stations seem to broadcast it ever - are the radio broadcast rights up for idding in the same way as TV rights are for cricket? If so, do any other stations ever have a dip?

I'm more than happy with ABC cricket - it's part of the Australian summer - but I just cant fathom how it has never changed stations in all these years, or been broadcast simultaneously on a commercial radio station.

3AW / 2UE last broadcast cricket in the late 80s early 90s with a team that included Dennis Cometti and Graham Dawson among others. I think those two commercial stations very quickly got tired of the travel costs (ABC uses a core team of 2-3 and then uses as many locals as possible behind the scenes, whereas commercials had to fly 7-8 guys when including techs), they couldn't get a return on ads for one-dayers and when spinners bowled (in case they missed balls), lost a lot of their other audience between matches and felt that ABC was doing a better job. They did it for one rights period and then dropped off very quickly.
I can't speak for 50 / 60 / 70s if any commercial stations did it then but I know cricket was very very big in the 30s and 40s across multiple radio outlets.

Can you imagine Dennis Cometti commentating cricket?

GOLD!

Footy Chick wrote:Can you imagine Dennis Cometti commentating cricket?

GOLD!

he used to do the cricket frequently when working at the abc & was rather good from memory

Footy Chick wrote:Can you imagine Dennis Cometti commentating cricket?

GOLD!

I'm still kicking myself for this happening, but I have (had) on tape (it goes snowy not long before it happens) the dismissal where Paul "frog in a blender" Adams reverse sweeps Warne straight to Taylor and Warnie just laughs long and hard at Adams! Cometti was the commentator at the time.