Turnbull not picking a fight with Murdoch

Malcolm Turnbull denies he is picking a fight with Rupert Murdoch over the rights to broadcast sport.

The communications minister says any move that would allow pay-tv operators like Foxtel - of which Murdoch's News Corp owns half - to determine which sports go to free-to-air would not be welcomed by Australians.

Australia was different to the US because of its stronger sense of a fair go, and making sure people who couldn't afford to pay for subscription TV weren't being locked out, he said.

Besides, such a move would be "poisonously unpopular" and he wouldn't be able to push it through the parliament.

"I'm not picking a fight with Rupert Murdoch," Mr Turnbull told ABC radio on Wednesday.