are we set , page-2

we have regulatory approval now!! this should get media attention!!!! considering the following did

State puts pay TV bets on hold
Vanda Carson | January 9, 2008

ATTEMPTS by the gambling giant Tabcorp to launch Australia's first pay-TV wagering operation on to NSW screens have been scotched by the State Government.

The $7.6 billion company had hoped Foxtel viewers would have been able to start using the service by the end of last year.

But Tabcorp's partner, the listed betting technology company Two Way, told the market yesterday that the Minister for Gaming and Racing, Graham West, had told the company he would delay approval.

Mr West said he wished to complete a review of the state's wagering regulations before giving the green light to the service, which allows Sky Channel viewers to bet through Foxtel.

Tabcorp, which has a monopoly on wagering in NSW and Victoria, plans to expand its presence on the internet and pay TV to make it easier for punters to lay their bets at a time when the earnings of its wagering division are down.

The firm blamed a blow-out in costs from updating betting technology and buying broadcasting rights to horse races for the fall in wagering earnings, down nearly 6 per cent last financial year.

The chief executive of Two Way, Ben Reichel, said the wagering review by the former Australian Securities and Investments Commission head Alan Cameron meant the pay TV service might not be able to launch until August or September, or even the end of this year.

"This decision in NSW is disappointing," Mr Reichel said.

When the wagering review was announced in early November it focused on whether betting exchanges such as Betfair, half-owned by James Packer's gambling company Crown, would be granted a licence to operate in NSW.

Mr Reichel said the minister had initially indicated that Two Way's pay-TV wagering would not be a part of the review, but the terms of reference made public in December included a much broader examination of the industry including "new technology and wagering".

The delay means that Victorian pay television viewers will probably be the first to use the service, because the company is also seeking regulatory approval in that state.

Mr Reichel plans to spend the next six months focusing on expanding the wagering service beyond Foxtel to other pay TV services including Austar and into other states, starting with Queensland, then potentially to New Zealand and Asia.

The company also hopes to expand the betting to other sports beyond thoroughbred, harness and greyhound racing.

Two Way has not announced any earnings forecasts for the service, although it has based internal forecasts on the number of Sky Channel viewers and Tabcorp phone and internet betting accounts. Sky Channel is available in 1.8 million homes, and Tabcorp has 400,000 phone and internet betting subscribers.

A spokesman for Mr West said a submissions would be called for in March.

Shares in Two Way fell 2.5c yesterday to a record low of 7c.