FoxTel, the leading Australian cable service provider, has a simple message on their website, “We want every Australian to be
able to find something on TV they want to watch every time they switch on.”
Therein lies the rub for many Australian drag racing fans.
“Down Under” drag racing fans want to watch NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing in the convenience of their homes, but cannot. While FoxTel carried the ESPN broadcasts, they do not carry Fox Sports 1.
The exemption has been such an issue Down Under, a Facebook page has been created in a protest urging the cable service provider to live up to the motto on their website. As of this article, there are 4,480 followers of their page.
Foxtel is an Australian pay television company, operating a duopoly in cable television, a monopoly in direct broadcast satellite television, and IPTV catch-up services. It was formed in 1995 through a joint venture established between News Corporation (now News Corp; through News Limited, now News Corp Australia) (FOX) and Telstra (TEL).
Foxtel’s shareholders are Telstra (50%, through Telstra Media Pty Ltd) and News Corporation (now News Corp; through News Limited, now News Corp Australia). It shares many features with the Sky service in the United Kingdom, including iQ, the electronic program guide, a similar remote control, and Red Button Active.
If members of NHRA’s management team had their way, television broadcasts of their Mello Yello Drag Racing Series events would air in Australia as well as other portions of the world.
Terry Blount, NHRA’s VP of Public Relations and Communications, says the situation is one the sanctioning body has worked tirelessly behind the scenes to resolve; going as far as to bring in a third-party negotiator on their behalf.
“We have retained Green Light International, which is the number one television syndication firm worldwide, to try and broker a deal for us in Australia and other countries for our television package,” said Blount. “They’re negotiating with them but at this point, I’m not exactly sure where that stands except we’re very hopeful that something will get worked out.
“We realize that we have thousands of fans in Australia who want to see our telecast, and we want them to see it. We’re doing everything possible at this point to make that happen.”
Green Light, according to Blount, has already successfully negotiated a deal with the service providers in Greece and most recently in New Zealand. The New Zealand shows will appear on Channel 3.
In the meantime, Blount confirmed NHRA has finalized their live streaming Internet coverage for the rest of the season, where race fans can watch all three days of the events worldwide.
NHRA’s all access streaming is available at https://www.nhraallaccess.com and costs $99.95 for a one-year subscription.
“It will enable them to see not only the pro classes but almost all of the sportsman classes from the start to the end of the day so they will have that option until this gets worked out,” said Blount. “We’re hopeful that it gets worked out soon but I can’t say when that’s going to happen, I hope it happens soon, but we just don’t know. It’s an ongoing negotiation.”
Unlike in the years of the ESPN3 broadcasts, NHRA fans are not required to log-in through a cable service provider at this time.
“That’s $99 USD, but it works out to like $4.50 an event and $1 a day,” said Blount.
Also, at issue is Western Canada, which is truly one outside of NHRA’s control.
“Fox has a channel that’s called Fox Sports Racing that most of Eastern Canada has, but the two biggest providers in Western Canada, Shaw and Telus, do not,” explained Blount. “There are ongoing negotiations with them to get them added. We’re out of the loop there. Fox has exclusive negotiating rights there and in the Caribbean.”
Blount said it’s easy for frustrated international race fans to brand quickly one side or the other the villain in the NHRA/FoxTel issue.
“I don’t think there’s a bad guy or a good guy; it’s just typical television negotiations for cable providers,” Blount said. “This happens a lot these days. The way these things typically get settled is the more people that complain to their cable providers about it, the more pressure it puts on the cable providers to come to some sort of agreement and televise the events.
“I don’t think there’s a good guy or a bad guy, it’s just a process of negotiation, and we hope that one gets worked out sooner rather than later.”
