TNT Sport’s coverage of The Ashes

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England’s cricket team head down under with a sporting chance of returning with a little urn. This Ashes series which begins 21 November in Perth is the most anticipated in years, on this side of the world at least. It is also the third consecutive away Ashes series broadcast by TNT Sport, which did so as BT Sport in 2017/18 and 2021/22, and one where the payTV broadcaster is promoting its presence for every ball bowled.

“TNT Sport is entering our third season now and we’ve started to really understand how to broadcast premium sport to an audience that loves that sport,” says Scott Young, executive vice president at WBD Sports Europe. “That's the lens that we're now going to put over the top of something as important as the Ashes.”

TNT Sport were reportedly the only bidder for the UK rights from Cricket Australia this time around with Sky concentrating its Christmas coverage on the World Darts Championship. However, England’s dismal performance over the last two Ashes tours when the series was over as a competition after a couple of tests probably contributed to lacklustre interest.

TNT is hoping the contest will be sustained into the fourth test in Melbourne which begins on Boxing Day. “We would love for our cricket fan base for this to go right down to the wire in Sydney because that would give you a full slate of five Tests to enjoy what is some of the best sporting competition around. We don't want for this to be a whitewash. Many years ago, five-nil was a great story for Australians but it's not much of a competition. We would love to go down to the wire.”

The time zone is a challenge since the first ball of the first test will be delivered at 02:20 AM for viewers in the UK and Ireland.

“From the moment you start watching early in the morning we want that bright Australian sunlight to come directly into your living room,” says Young. “We want you to feel like you are there and that we are not in the studio.

“The unique experience for us this year is going to be the second test in Brisbane which is  a Day-Night game. Having an event that starts a bit later in the Australian day but is still live further into the UK daytime will be brilliant. I think that's going to expose the second Test to a wider audience  and I'm really looking forward to seeing what impact it has.”

Cricket Australia appointed Fox Sports as the host broadcaster with TNT Sport taking the world feed with presentation fronted by Becky Ives with former players Alastair Cook, Graeme Swann and Steven Finn.

“We made a decision very early on that we wanted to be on site. We looked at the balance between presentation in a studio, which would have been at Stockley Park, where we do all our football production as well as our cycling and tennis production, and on-site. Stockley Park is a proven technical facility for us to do any kind of sport and being on-site is the more challenging way to do it but absolute right for this particular event.”

NEP is Fox Sports’ technical supplier and will also supply TNT Sport with dedicated production facilities at each of the five venues. Presentation cameras and mics are sent into PCRs at Stockley Park where the directing, producing and the studio control room teams will be. NEP Connect is managing transfer of signals back to London from each of the grounds via fully redundant dual path fibre. This has the effect of reducing the amount of kit required on-site whilst giving TNT Sports the look and feel of being at the ground.

“When the audience wake up, they know they're going to be on the boundary rope, amongst the action and amongst the story. We didn't want to be detached from the Ashes. We need to be in the heart of the story.”

“The quirky part of cricket is that you never know how it will end. It could be a fast Test with a result in three days or it could go right down to the final ball on the fifth day. It's really important to have our teams on site to tell the story as it unfolds. This story began in 1882 and it never fails to deliver.”

Commentary is led by Alastair Eykyn and Rob Hatch. Both are more familiar to coverage of rugby union and cycling and they will also be based in the UK, a decision that the Daily Mail described as a “dumbed-down insult to long-suffering England fans.”

“The beauty of commentary is individuals can be anywhere, connected not just be audio but with picture so everyone can see each other as they're commentating together,” defends Young.  “We've reimagined, what was BT Sport, now TNT Sports, as being a very fan first sports broadcaster with relatable experts ripping up the playbook and being a little bit maverick in our tone and style. I think our approach on commentary is making a bit of noise at the moment but I think it's making noise the right way.”

Social media video, also produced in London, will also be distinctive. Hosted by Ives, it will feature her experience of traveling Australia from November to January.

“There is an audience here in the UK that may never get to go to Australia. So how do we not only cover the Ashes but also what's it like to be in some of these cities in between each of the Tests? What is it like walking into the MCG on Boxing Day. Having done that, I can tell you it's quite an extraordinary experience, so we want to bring a lot of that feel of the Ashes particularly our social media coverage.”

The biggest on screen innovation will be the use of Timeline Markers. Familiar to Premiere League viewers on Discovery+, the markers signal key moments to enable viewers to go back and catch-up before moving back to the live action.

To complement the live action, TNT Sports will broadcast highlights throughout the daytime on its linear channels and discovery+. In addition, TNT Sports will produce The Edge – a review programme presented from its studios in London - airing in an evening prime-time slot on TNT Sports after the completion of each Test.

As an Australian, Young admits to being naturally conflicted. “I grew up on cricket and in particular on England's tour of Australia which, as a cricket fan, was always one of the best moments of summer. I don’t think you'll ever see a sporting audience in Australia complacent about the Ashes.

Given that I run a UK sports business, it’s slightly challenging to be as fully bipartisan as I normally am across all of the sport. When it comes to the Ashes, I would like to see England do well because that's great for our audience and our platform here in the UK. As an Australian, the ultimate result might be slightly different. Let’s say we've had some lively conversations here.”