Seriously, It Really Isn’t Cricket

In an earlier blog we looked at the recent decline in rugby viewing on TV in New Zealand. The argument bandied about in the press at the end of last month was that cricket was to blame. I took a different view and attributed the decline to SkyTV’s poor pricing, and distribution strategies. In the vernacular of the business school, SkyTV’s executives have a classic production orientation with little regard for customers’ diverse needs and pricing elasticities. Is it any coincidence that the decline in viewership only began after SkyTV purchased the broadcasting rights off News Corp.?

This morning I came across some new evidence supporting my view that cricket is not to blame for the demise in rugby viewership. Look at the following chart which I created this morning from google.trends. The blue line represents the volume of searches done with “cricket” as a keyword. The red line records searches involving “rugby.” The chart is limited to New Zealand figures.

The chart clearly shows that rugby remains as popular as ever in NZ. The volume of searches involving “rugby” tends to dip each year after the northern hemisphere tours end then picks up again with the Super 14. Search volumes tend to be greatest in the middle of the year during the Tri-Nations tournament. The big spike recorded in 2007 reflects heightened interest in the sport during the quadrennial World Cup.

“Cricket” is used much less as a search term. Only occasionally does it top rugby for volume but there is nothing in the chart to suggest that cricket interest is increasing to the detriment of rugby in New Zealand.

As the NZRU ponders the drop in TV viewership, it would do well to examine the marketing practices of its biggest broadcaster and to consider alternative means for distributing televised games to viewers who don’t subscribe to SkyTV. At present, rugby fans who cannot access SkyTV have no other viewing options save for one solitary delayed game on PrimeTV. These fans represent an untapped market niche for advertisers and a potential source of revenue for the NZRU. The obvious suggestion is to increase the number of delayed games broadcast on free-to-air TV. This gives fans something they presently lack: choice. If they want to watch games live, they can shell out for SkyTV. If they can’t afford SkyTV they can wait a bit and watch games for free or at inconvenient times. An intermediate strategy is that they could pay for delayed games downloaded from online sources such as www.mediazone.com.

With Kiwi households feeling the pinch from rising food, oil, and mortgage prices, I would expect the number of SkyTV subscribers to decline. When it costs $100 to fill your car and $15 to buy a block of cheese, satellite TV becomes a luxury few can afford. With the World Cup three years away, a drop in subscriptions would be a major source of embarrassment for local officials. The NZRU needs to act soon before this decline in viewership leads to an actual decline in interest.