December 2013 www.tvbeurope.com


TVBEurope 41 The Workflow SIS LIVE’s loss is others’ gain


The outside broadcast supply pack has been reshuffled, with SIS LIVE losing its hand, and others picking up trumps. Adrian Pennington reports on a fluctuating end of season


IT WAS always on the cards that SIS LIVE, incumbent of BBC Sport contracts since 2008, would shed some work as a result of the broadcaster’s recent tender renewal, but few anticipated it would be sidelined entirely, least of all SIS LIVE itself which seemed not to have contemplated an outcome in which it was not even placed on the list of companies awarded framework agreements to pitch for future BBC work.


Since BBC Sport contributed the majority of business for SIS’ OB division, and with all other major contracts sewn up, the firm had little choice, it seems, but to fold the unit from March, affecting 240 jobs.


In a letter to customers SIS LIVE’s Phil Aspden


explaining the decision commercial director Phil Aspden said, “More and more, it has become a commodity marketplace, driven by ‘spot’ contracts, where price is the dominant factor.” While rival suppliers recognise this situation, they say it is hardly new and that SIS failed to adapt. “Cost has always been a factor,” says Brian Clark, commercial and technical projects director at NEP Visions. “Clients are keen to get the best value for money and will pay a premium for expertise, scale and reputation.” “All OB companies at some point have wanted to buy the odd contract by pricing at close


to break even,” suggests Arena chief, Richard Yeowart. “This also applies to SIS though, as they also tried to build market share by being aggressive at times. The most polite way of dumping your ‘OB date’ is to tell them they were beaten on price, but perhaps things are not always that clear-cut.”


Less competition, less quality? The sudden withdrawal of SIS LIVE leaves the market with even fewer main players, although those left standing deny that this will result in less competition, or lesser quality. “It will provide greater job security for the remaining operators as the market


balances and it will allow one or two of the smaller companies to find their feet and grow organically,” says Yeowart. “The market always finds its own balance and this will happen quite quickly with the OB sector. “From a numbers point of


view, having an added slice of turnover will allow the remaining players to offer better economies of scale across their business,” he adds. “The negative aspect is that 200+ staff will be made redundant, but many will resurface as freelancers or as staff elsewhere.” Arena was so concentrated on signing with Sunset+Vine to cover all BT Sport’s football played in England and Wales until 2017, that it didn’t in fact have capacity to land any BBC strands.


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