In this week’s On Background, why England’s rapid style of cricket (and capitulation) is bad news for Cricket Australia’s broadcasters, Fevola joins Seven, Sky goes gaga for Pauline, and a happy News Corp family.

Seven’s execs are nervous and praying the pink ball doesn’t swing too much in Brisbane next week. A repeat of (or anything close to) the shortest Ashes test in 137 years could further blow a multimillion-dollar hole in the company’s already ailing revenue and further damage advertiser sentiments.

If this is the way cricket goes in 2026, Seven’s Cricket deal, which runs until 2031, could quickly become more of a millstone around its neck, adding to the pain of its AFL deal, also in place until 2031.

Like every sporting rights contract in Australia, cricket is already a loss-maker for Seven. It pays about $65 million a year for the free-to-air summer of cricket, which includes five tests and a few dozen Big Bash League games.

Australia romped to victory over England in the first Test within two days.Credit: Getty Images

For the five tests, Seven could usually expect between $30 million and $40 million in advertising revenue and about $15 million more for the Big Bash League. This doesn’t match its outlay, but with big, consistent viewership figures, the opportunity to promote the rest of its news and entertainment programming usually makes it worthwhile.

According to senior execs with direct knowledge of Seven’s sales figures, the two-day test in Perth wasn’t a complete disaster, but it could spell trouble. Due to the time difference, much of the gameplay was in the sweet spot for viewers on the East Coast, and with advertisers paying by total eyeballs, not by time, the average audience of 1.17 million helped.

Still, there was an estimated loss of $1 million to $2 million in revenue, plus the need to provide “make goods” to advertisers – essentially free ad spots on future programming or coming Tests to make up for spots already paid for. For ads promoting Black Friday retail sales, though, there’s no chance of a future run, meaning Seven would essentially have to hand back cash.

Should the remaining Tests finish anywhere between two and three days, the situation could snowball, and Seven........

© The Sydney Morning Herald