CA announces new radio rights deal

Cricket Australia has announced new radio rights deals which will see the ABC, Macquarie Media Limited and Crocmedia broadcast cricket for the next six summers.

All radio coverage of Australian cricket will also continue to be streamed through cricket.com.au and the CA Live app.

The ABC will continue to deliver national coverage of all men’s and women’s international matches, while for the first time, it will also cover all Rebel Women’s Big Bash matches via a mixture of AM, FM and digital channels, making it the radio home of Australian women’s cricket.

The ABC will also call the Prime Minister’s XI and Governor General’s XI matches via digital channels.

A partnership between CA, MML and Crocmedia will provide more choice than ever to cricket fans on commercial radio. MML’s new Macquarie Sports Radio channel in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Perth will cover all men’s and women’s internationals, as well as every match of the KFC Big Bash season.

MML’s Perth 6PR AM channel will also broadcast selected men’s internationals and all Scorchers games.

Crocmedia will also hold the exclusive regional commercial radio rights and will also cover on SEN in Melbourne all men’s Tests and BBL matches.

Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland welcomed the new deal, saying he was disappointed with a report from Wide World of Sports, published on Thursday, which claimed the ABC would no longer broadcast cricket.

 “We are excited to announce our new radio rights deals with the ABC, Macquarie Media and Crocmedia, which will deliver comprehensive coverage of international and Big Bash cricket to fans across Australia,” Sutherland said on Friday.

“We were very disappointed by inaccurate reporting this week suggesting that the ABC would no longer broadcast cricket. It undermined our commitment to the ABC and the ABC’s longstanding commitment to cricket.

“Never for a minute had it crossed our minds that the ABC was not a staple in the Australian cricketing summer.

“Radio has long been an important part of how people enjoy cricket in Australia over the summer, and the breadth and depth of these agreements ensures that people will be able to tune in to the cricket action regardless of where they are.

“In addition to continued commitments around the broadcast of Women’s International matches, it is pleasing to have secured radio coverage for all WBBL matches, a clear sign of the rapidly growing interest from fans for the competition.

“We are also excited to announce a new radio rights deal, which sees Macquarie Media return as a valued radio partner and Crocmedia also coming on board to complement cricket’s radio footprint via their extensive regional syndication network.

“We are now looking forward to working together with these partners to deliver fantastic coverage of our game and promote cricket to all Australians.”

Cricket's new radio rights deals

ABC

All men's and women's internationals, all Rebel WBBL matches, Prime Minister's XI, Governor General's XI 

Macquarie Media Limited 

All men's and women's internationals, every KFC Big Bash match

Crocmedia on SEN1116

Men's Tests, KFC Big Bash