CRICKET may no longer be broadcast in parts of regional Australia if a key plank of Labor's media reforms is passed into law.

Chief executive of WIN television Andrew Lancaster has told a parliamentary inquiry cricket broadcasts could be put in jeopardy in Perth and Adelaide if the 75 per cent reach rule was abolished.

Mr Lancaster said if Southern Cross and the Nine Network were able to merge after the reach rule was abolished, WIN TV would no longer take the Nine feed and thus cricket broadcasts would no longer be shown.

He said regional areas in Western Australia and South Australia who didn't get Southern Cross feeds could potentially miss out.

"There is a fear for those in Perth and Adelaide, in regional South Australia and regional West Australia," Mr Lancaster said.

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"I would say that would be of great concern for cricket fans and of even more concern for Cricket Australia."

Under existing media ownership laws the merger of Southern Cross Media and Nine Entertainment Co is not lawful, however if changes to the legislation put forward by Communications Minister Stephen Conroy are passed the proposal would be able to go ahead.

Southern Cross CEO Rhys Holleran told the committee there was "no reason" why all Australians couldn't continue to enjoy cricket broadcasts.

However he conceded that his network did not broadcast right around the nation.

"We don't broadcast in Western Australia and there are pockets of the eastern seaboard that we don't broadcast to," he told the committee.

"I don't think the reach rule is relevant to whether people receive their cricket or not. If other people make commercial decisions it is their commercial decisions. There is no reason why everyone in Australia can't continue to enjoy their cricket."

Media executives have descended on Canberra today for two separate hearings reforms for the sector.

A 10-person joint select committee is probing the changes that will affect television broadcasters and is this morning hearing evidence from WIN TV, Prime, Southern Cross and Network Ten.

It is considering the abolition of the reach rule, giving the Australian Communications and Media Authority powers to insist on broadcasting apologies and whether ACMA should consider content sharing in assessing ownership.

A separate Senate hearing will consider the broader package of reforms and will hear evidence from News Limited CEO Kim Williams, Fairfax, Seven West Southern Cross Austereo and Foxtel.

Officials from the Communications Department were probed this morning on media ownership this morning and fielded a range of fiery questions from coalition and independent MPs.

They said it would be a "relatively easy" legislative process to abolish the current 75 per cent reach rule and maintained that regional television newsrooms would not be largely culled if the reform was put in place.

Opposition communications spokesman Malcolm Turnbull said today was another "shambolic" day for Labor.

He said trying to push the reforms through parliament this week and through two committees was a "vain exercise on the part of Stephen Conroy".

He said the reforms would be a "big election issue" for the Coalition.

Liberal MP Paul Neville, who is a member of the joint select committee, said the expedited timeline "demeans parliament".

"To try and do this all in a matter of days is ludicrous."

Senator Conroy wants the package of six bills passed by both houses of parliament by Thursday.

But with all of the crossbench MPs yet to state their support for the bills, the package is unlikely to pass as it stands.

Independent MP Rob Oakeshott this morning said he didn't believe the reforms would hurt free speech, but he still won't support the package as it stands right now.

"If the voting bells went right now I'd probably be on the negative side," he told ABC News 24.

Cabinet minister Tony Burke said he believed the current timeline for the legislation was fair.

I don't think we are going to need extra time although I think some people might want to keep the debate churning on for some time," he told ABC News 24.

In a written submission to the committee, Network Ten hit out at the lack of time given for scrutiny the bills.

"Network Ten is extremely concerned about the timeframe and processes imposed on the parliament, industry stakeholders, and the public to digest, analyse and comment on legislation which will shape the future of our businesses and Australias media landscape" it said.

Ten said it was opposed to a proposed public interest media advocate to oversee standards and provide a check on media mergers and acquisitions.

It is also opposed to the axing of the 75 per cent rule, which it says could allow metropolitan broadcasters to merge with regional affiliates and reach 100 per cent of the population.

"Senator Conroy has stated repeatedly in the last week that anyone opposed to further concentration of media in this country should support this media reform package," the network said.

"But the only guaranteed outcome from removing the audience reach rule - in isolation from other changes - will be less diversity."

- with wires

Originally published as Cricket at risk under media reforms