Victorian racing will be excluded from a state-of-the-art national racing channel If some of the state's racing executives manage to revive the haemorrhaging TVN network.
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Plans are to showcase the best of Australian and international racing on the one channel.
Every state in Australia will be given time on the premium channel making it for the first time a genuinely national broadcaster.
But the premium network could be launched without Victorian racing following moves to explore alternatives other than the Tabcorp Sky Channel organisation.
Fairfax Media understands that the rest of Australian race clubs will not hesitate to go forward with the new channel if Victoria remain set on refloating TVN.
RVL chairman Robert Roulston said this week that the racing media and vision rights going forward would incorporate Tabcorp.
However, RVL have no say in where the rights go as that is the task of country racing, VRC, Melbourne Racing Club and the Moonee Valley Racing Club.
Some fear that if the four break away and negotiate on their own behalf it will place Victoria in an exceptionally poor position.
Revelations from TVN's 10 years continue with the news that two currentmetropolitan race club chairmen enjoyed consultancies with TVN for $20,000 a month.
A highly paid spin doctor was promoted from $10,000 a month to $30,000 in a bid for him to sell the TVN message.
Fairfax Media understand that a strong corporate bookmaking lobby is hoping that the vision rights in this state are placed in some way with corporate bookmakers.
It's understood that the philosophical gulf between NSW and Victoria has been this state's need to cater for the corporate bookmaking fraternity. It's also understood that NSW and Victoria will honour a $10 million bank loan created by TVN if the network is wound up.
However, if the Victorian arm of the rights deal decide to re-float TVN it will be at a cost of between $10 million and $15 million a year.
This includes $5 million for the labour cost of the network in Sydney.
And the state government is monitoring moves by the day and are concerned at the wastage of the network that was created in 2004 has incurred.
As one leading television producer said yesterday: "The channel that is in the early working stages can be one of the most exciting ventures racing has ever gone into. In the spring we're in Melbourne, in Sydney for the Championships at Easter, looking at the Magic Millions in the heart of the summer, and all of those other states can have their product front and centre to the eyes of the world.
"It will be so exciting because it will be a boutique station, a station actually that TVN were supposed to supply but $200 million later and they are as effective as the test pattern."
