Rural punters who were celebrating the broadcast of Austar racing content on TVN last week found their joy short lived after Sky Channel won an injunction against the pay TV carrier screening the content. The Tabcorp-owned Sky Channel was granted a temporary injunction in the Supreme Court last Friday, arguing that the TVN deal breached Austar’s contractual obligation to the Sky Channel.

In a statement issued last Friday, Sky Channel Chief Executive Peter Caillard promised to continue screening the TVN content, saying the channel would maintain its commitment to country viewers:

Sky Channel is prepared to broadcast the TVN service on its home Pay-TV Sky Racing service. This will be at no cost to punters, TVN or Pay-TV subscribers. TVN will not be disadvantaged and will be helping country punters if it decides to share its races on an interim basis to country and regional areas by Sky Channel.

But the deal still leaves country racing fans “somewhat distraught,” says Craig Young in today’s Sydney Morning Herald, with the message coming across loud and clear: “Stuff the punters, the broadcasting rights war is one Tabcorp wants to win.”

As for staff at Austar, an anonymous Crikey reader tells us that after the injunction went through on Friday afternoon, employees were told to leave – and to “keep their mouths shut and conceal all Austar logos from their clothing and merchandise.” Apparently, though, one Austar employee managed to sneak back into the office, past a “decidedly suspicious looking character in a black trench coat and gangster hat” who was seen pacing outside the Ultimo Wilcox Mofflin building from 6pm.