Despite a much-hyped launch of ABC Radio’s smartphone app earlier this year, listeners are unable to hear live cricket coverage. Listeners selecting ABC Radio’s Grandstand app any time during this cricket season expecting to hear the national broadcaster’s famous cricket commentary instead heard a recorded message from Jim Maxwell telling them that the ABC could not provide them with mobile phone coverage due to rights restrictions.

While listeners can hear the cricket as usual via analog and digital radio, and via the ABC’s website, they cannot use the app to tune in, because Vodafone has sewn up the rights for mobile devices.

As more radio broadcasters extend their reach into phones and other mobile devices, mobile rights issues will become increasingly significant and will pitch radio broadcasters directly up against telco operators in rights negotiations.

At the Sydney Cricket Ground this week test sponsor Vodafone was prominent, leveraging its rights deal further with red coloured promotional ear-radio giveaways, marketing collateral and promotion of the Cricket Live app, which integrates live tweets, instant score updates plus audio and video coverage.

Non-Vodafone customers who forgot to bring their own radio could still buy location ear-radios at the ground for $20 and wear their green ear-radios to listen to Maxwell’s coverage.

Vodafone customers are able to consume all the content of the Cricket Live app free as part of their phone plan. Customers of other phone networks using the app can still consume all the content, but will pay for data usage.

When radioinfo raised the issue yesterday on twitter @ABCgrandstand, there was a flurry of comments about the lack of apps coverage. One blogger reported that his site has been inundated with complaints all season.

British radio company, TalkSPORT, was one of the first to realise the significance of including mobile devices in its rights negotiations, securing multiplatform world rights for its soccer calls, a recognition of the changing nature of modern audio broadcast platforms.

When the ABC’s broadcast rights were negotiated, the national broadcaster had not launched its radio apps, so it is not surprising that it was not factored into the rights agreement at that time.

You can bet that when the next round of sports rights contracts come up for negotiation, radio broadcast companies will now be more aware of bidding for rights across all platforms including mobile devices. It will be interesting to see how the rights holders treat these new devices when negotiating future deals.