Broadcast options for Australian Rugby

[The Ghost of Raelene]

Just two Randwick boys hanging out. Special guest Bob Dwyer with Campo to dial in.

 

[Ignoto]

Does this confirm that he was Eddie's secret confidant during RWC23? I would also keep that quiet..

Looks worse for Eddie than Link. Eddie is calling up a bloke who hasn't coached in a decade for advice.

 

[Crashy]

Eddie has been trying to repair his reputation in Australia- which remains in the toilet - as it should be.
This Pembo bloke is on his payroll and has need for years. Think RA had to pay him as part of his bloated contract.
go away please Eddie. You’re a hasbeen who took Australia for an expensive ride.

 

[liquor box]

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/sport/rugby-union/missing-link-returns-as-ewen-mckenzie-confirmed-for-podcast-with-eddie-jones-on-lions-vs-wallabies-series/news-story/9be0fb4db959e8e2f6b01063b6cad6fa

What is the podcast called?

Previously "The Australian" had a podcast called "The breakdown" that looked at how RA wasted money after the last Australian world cup, it was awesome. I hope this one is just as good.

 

[PhilClinton]

Someone with a better memory than me might be able to help - did test matches always kickoff at 8pm?

Our prime time SRP (Super Rugby Pacific) games have a 7.35pm kickoff time.

I know it’s not a problem unique to rugby e.g. SOO kicks off around 8.05pm these days.

Do broadcasters actually get significantly more revenue with the later kickoff time? It’s a shame because I’d love to see a younger generation be able to watch these type of flagship events like a BIL tour but they make it hard for people to stay awake!

 

[The Ghost of Raelene]

Even a heap of adults by the end of it just switch it off at the whistle and watch bugger all post match etc.

 

[Strewthcobber]

Lions test was the number 1 show on FTA last night.

But(!), 772k average really just shows how few people are watching FTA TV anymore. Even just a couple of years ago there would have been a 1 in front of that number.

1,778k is the reach, and can't really be compared with past years

 

[Strewthcobber]

Even a heap of adults by the end of it just switch it off at the whistle and watch bugger all post match etc.

Games just take longer these days as well. 8 pm kickoff used to finish around 9:30, now we are lucky if they are done by 10. At that extra half hour is too much for all of my kids who didn't make it through the game awake last night

 

[Giulia]

Someone with a better memory than me might be able to help - did test matches always kickoff at 8pm?

Our prime time SRP (Super Rugby Pacific) (Super Rugby Pacific) games have a 7.35pm kickoff time.

I know it’s not a problem unique to rugby e.g. SOO kicks off around 8.05pm these days.

Do broadcasters actually get significantly more revenue with the later kickoff time? It’s a shame because I’d love to see a younger generation be able to watch these type of flagship events like a BIL tour but they make it hard for people to stay awake!

UK & Ireland TV could have something to do with it. 11am probably sounds less going-out-of-your-way-to-watch-it than anything earlier.

 

[jason08]

Rugby union’s TV ratings on Channel 9 were a disaster for the opening Test match of the Wallabies v British and Irish Lions series on Saturday night, annihilated by State of Origin.
Despite a full house at Suncorp Stadium, the game attracted an average audience of only 861,000 on Channel Nine’s free to air and streaming service 9Now, while the figures from Stan are unavailable.
This compares to rugby league’s recent State of Origin decider that rated 4.8 million – almost four million more viewers.
The poor rugby union audience was also less than all three women’s State of Origin games rated on Channel 9 this year.
It is a huge setback for Rugby Australia, an organisation that was hoping not just for a financial windfall from the British and Irish Lions tour but that it would be a series to attract record TV eyeballs to support their corporate partners.
It didn’t help that the Wallabies were never in the game.
The British and Irish Lions led 17-5 at halftime and were never under any scoreboard pressure. Ball-in-play times didn’t help the rugby game as a spectacle.
The Wallabies had the football for 19.5 minutes and the Lions 16.5 minutes.
In this year’s men’s State of Origin series, the ball-in-play time averaged 58.1 minutes.
Earlier this year Channel Nine signed a $240 million deal with Rugby Australian through until 2030.
It included all Wallabies and Wallaroos Test matches outside of the Rugby World Cup.
“The future of Australian rugby is bright and our growth trajectory is strong,” said rugby chief executive Phil Waugh when he signed the new broadcast contract.
Yet they are outrated by the women’s State of Origin which got Game 1 – Nine 927k, Game 2 – 1.067m and Game 3 – 995k.
The poor figures give rugby league bosses Peter V’landys (the horse racing guy) and Andrew Abdo more ammunition for their negotiations for the next NRL broadcast deal. V’landys (the horse racing guy) has frequently highlighted the fact rugby union has the ball in play for only around 35 minutes compared to the NRL’s average time of 56.1 minutes per game.

https://archive.is/j6Ex0

Another column attacking rugby by Buzz Rothfield. If the Wallabies ever return to the glory days Rothfield will have a aneurysm.

 

[Sir Arthur Higgins]

Bit of a nothing article in my mind as it doesn’t include Stan.

 

[Major Tom]

Also, it’s never going to rate as good as something on a Wednesday night. Don’t let facts get in the way of a good story though.

 

[Ignoto]

Bit of a nothing article in my mind as it doesn’t include Stan.

Nor does it include stats from where the other team comes from. These stats always skew to a sport who's tv audience comes primarily from one country.

But unlike League our games is mostly an international one. When these comparisons are done it's only with half the audience. They never include the audience from say NZ if we play the All Blacks.

Imagine if in SoO we only used figures from NSW. You miss half the picture.

 

[Wilson]

Nor does it include stats from where the other team comes from. These stats always skew to a sport who's tv audience comes primarily from one country.

But unlike League our games is mostly an international one. When these comparisons are done it's only with half the audience. They never include the audience from say NZ if we play the All Blacks.

Imagine if in SoO we only used figures from NSW. You miss half the picture.

Buzz is an idiot and the article is ridiculous, but foreign numbers are wholly irrelevant to the argument he's trying to make about the health of the game in Australia.

 

[PhilClinton]

Nor does it include stats from where the other team comes from. These stats always skew to a sport who's tv audience comes primarily from one country.

But unlike League our games is mostly an international one. When these comparisons are done it's only with half the audience. They never include the audience from say NZ if we play the All Blacks.

Imagine if in SoO we only used figures from NSW. You miss half the picture.

I know what you're saying - but when do we ever track or care about international viewership numbers? It doesn't assist us with the game of rugby in Australia.

It also goes both way - when the NRL gloat about their success in the USA market, we are all quick to point out that USA viewership figures aren't very good. But the Australian numbers are great and we don't mention that.

I am sure the BIL tour is doing good viewership numbers back in the Northern Hemisphere but it doesn't help change the rugby landscape here in Oz. Many of the BIL touring parties I've talked to have been surprised about how much rugby has dropped off as a mainstream sport here since they were last here in 2013.

 

[JRugby2]

Also, it’s never going to rate as good as something on a Wednesday night. Don’t let facts get in the way of a good story though.

Ball in play without context is a bit shit as well, especially considering we have a real set piece with specialists skills (and time) required to execute these (which will account for the largest amount of time lost) - and more penalties, but again in Rugby, penalties can be won or forced to a significantly greater proportion to which they can in League.

BUT, rugby could do better in this area.

- Time off between scoring kicks and kick offs
- Time off between scrum resets, as two obvious examples that also won't blow out the actual run time of a game

 

[Ignoto]

Buzz is an idiot and the article is ridiculous, but foreign numbers are wholly irrelevant to the argument he's trying to make about the health of the game in Australia.

Ok - so in 2013, we had the following

On free-to-air 869,000 people in the five capital cities watched the series opener on Channel Ten, for a combined audience of 1.266 million. Ten’s pre-match and post-match coverage also rated well, garnering 531,000 and 470,000 viewers respectively.

Surprisingly, the second Wallabies-Lions Test recorded a small decrease on the audience for the first match, with 414,00 watching on Fox Sports and 815,000 on Ten (combined 1.229 million). This was an increase on the pay TV result but a drop on the free-to-air one. However with the series still on the line at 1-1, a big audience for the third and final Test in Sydney is expected.

https://www.theroar.com.au/2013/07/02/ratings-rumble-socceroos-soar-wallabies-work-and-origin-ominous/?utm_source=chatgpt.com

So a slight decrease in FTA over the 12 years which you could fudge some numbers in the smaller population 12 years ago, but I would dare say more watched on Stan?

FTA is a metric that has been close to irrelevant in 10+ years, but its clung to people as its the only published figure and most of the time, the people writing this articles where eligible for the Vietnam war.

 

[Upthemaroon!]

I know what you're saying - but when do we ever track or care about international viewership numbers? It doesn't assist us with the game of rugby in Australia.

It also goes both way - when the NRL gloat about their success in the USA market, we are all quick to point out that USA viewership figures aren't very good. But the Australian numbers are great and we don't mention that.

I am sure the BIL tour is doing good viewership numbers back in the Northern Hemisphere but it doesn't help change the rugby landscape here in Oz. Many of the BIL touring parties I've talked to have been surprised about how much rugby has dropped off as a mainstream sport here since they were last here in 2013.

I think the only valid 'foreign viewership numbers' RA should be concerned about is from NZ. NZ needs to realise that Rugby in Australia is as important for NZ as it is for Australia.

The only real way to solve that is getting all Super rugby teams to have cross equity stakes in the other super rugby teams. That (and allowing Wallabies and All Blacks play for any of the SPR franchises in NZ or AUS plus maybe a draft system) is the only way I can see Rugby in Australia being saved to be honest.

 

[JRugby2]

Ok - so in 2013, we had the following

https://www.theroar.com.au/2013/07/02/ratings-rumble-socceroos-soar-wallabies-work-and-origin-ominous/?utm_source=chatgpt.com

So a slight decrease in FTA over the 12 years which you could fudge some numbers in the smaller population 12 years ago, but I would dare say more watched on Stan?

FTA is a metric that has been close to irrelevant in 10+ years, but its clung to people as its the only published figure and most of the time, the people writing this articles where eligible for the Vietnam war.

Would mostly agree but would caveat that FTA TV numbers for sport are still pretty relevant as that the only genre that's remained stable or grown in that time - with some increasing shifts to BVOD (eg 9now, not STAN).

Major Tom nailed it with their Saturday vs Wednesday comment. While you could argue that the Wallabies vs Lions was the biggest thing to be happening in the country on Saturday - you're less likely to pick up the people who really don't care but are watching anyway as they are probably out doing other things.

It doesn't account for the people who are watching at pubs or rugby clubs - again, way more likely to be happening on a Saturday than Wednesday night (a big reason while we'll probably not see SoO change it's schedule anytime soon).

But then also - rugby league is more popular in the country than rugby union, shocker.

 

[PhilClinton]

Ball in play without context is a bit shit as well, especially considering we have a real set piece with specialists skills (and time) required to execute these (which will account for the largest amount of time lost).

I reckon this is probably one of Buzz's main points though - the scrum resets are probably the biggest complaint of people who find rugby hard to watch. Even the painted-on fans get frustrated when we spend a couple of minutes re-packing scrums.

And it is probably a fair point - when you look at the rule variations that rugby has brought in over the past decade, a lot of them are about lessening the amount of scrums or giving teams the choice to have a scrum or not.