ABC Offsiders - especially rugby coverage

[Wheatman]

After watching the weekend's rugby review by Gerard Whateley, I felt remarkably disappointed. I am a massive fan of Offsiders, however it has always irked me that rugby is only good for short highlights or the occasional special guest (at least Adam Frier is making some appearances now) and is also flogged by regular Roy Masters. The Reds v Brumbies game was only good enough to get slightly more than Channel 9 morning sports section mention, and with no mention of the Tahs win or the Force's near miss I am wondering whether we can get some community support to make some changes. I don't know whether it is because it is a Melbourne based program, or that Aunty has no real interest in rugby. If it doesn't it's a real shame as my first memories are watching games back in 80's on the ABC with Gordan Bray commentating, plus many, many international and local games.

It also doesn't help when they head a video with 'Rugby and AFL highlights' and there is 40s at the end of 5mins of NRL test and AFL. At least they could say AFL, rugby league and rugby.

My view is that we push for Offsiders to be an hour long program so all sports can get more than pure lip service (and this would be good to cover other sports other than AFL and NRL). What do you think and who's with me?!

 

[boyo]

FWIW write to Offsiders.

This occurs in most media outlets e.g. union: league coverage in the Daily Terror is often 1:10.

 

[Tom Ando]

I w

FWIW write to Offsiders.

This occurs in most media outlets e.g. union: league coverage in the Daily Terror is often 1:10.

as reading the SMH the other day and nearly died when i saw how much league was the newspaper! How can rugby get any publicity within your average population when there is two pages on one game of league, for every game that week, and there is two pages discussing 1 game and some articles by coaches filling in the rest of the spots. Joke.

 

[Tom Ando]

It begs the question, how does Rugby in Australia compete with AFL, A league and RL in the media to get enough interest and attention so that Free to air TV broadcast wallabies games live and broadcasts live super rugby games? I think its a must for Rugby to grow in Australia. Sure we have most sports bar Soccer covered internationally, but the issue is domestically. Do we just have to improve results and hope the tv channel comes to us or do we have to try and push for a deal with a channel and hope interest grows from that? Also, is it worth pushing for commercial stations to air rugby, or do they ruin the experience with the amount of ad breaks through the game? Would it be better to go with ABC or SBS to air super rugby games which have limited ad breaks for a better experience, or is it essential for publicity to be on channel 9, 10 or 7?

 

[boyo]

It begs the question, how does Rugby in Australia compete with AFL, A league and RL in the media to get enough interest and attention so that Free to air TV broadcast wallabies games live and broadcasts live super rugby games? I think its a must for Rugby to grow in Australia. Sure we have most sports bar Soccer covered internationally, but the issue is domestically. Do we just have to improve results and hope the tv channel comes to us or do we have to try and push for a deal with a channel and hope interest grows from that? Also, is it worth pushing for commercial stations to air rugby, or do they ruin the experience with the amount of ad breaks through the game? Would it be better to go with ABC or SBS to air super rugby games which have limited ad breaks for a better experience, or is it essential for publicity to be on channel 9, 10 or 7?

I would prefer to have Rugby Union on ABCTV rather than on commercial TV or on SBS, but it won't happen: the lure of the mighty dollar reigns supreme. BTW SBS airs advertisements.

 

[wamberal]

I pointed out in a thread about the incoming CEO that it was very important for the ARU to provide edited match highlights for programmes like Offsiders, also the news programmes.

Not sure whether Fox Sports would cooperate, but surely it is in their interests (as well as the ARU's) for the game's highlights to be shown, rather than a haphazard clip put together by somebody who either knows nothing about rugby, or does not like it. The number of times I have seen a match report that featured three penalty goals.

This would be a good first step. Apart from that, we are at the mercy of the FTA stations. Bear in mind that they all want ratings, and the ABC in particular is strapped for cash. So they will always feature the bigger, more popular, sports.

As for the SMH, they no doubt want to extend their readership, and the only way for them is to go for the lower demographics, AKA, loig supporters. Interestingly, the Daily Telegraph is going in the other direction, and seems to feature more rugby news than previously, trying for the higher demographics.

Widespread coverage of rugby on FTA will not happen in my lifetime.

 

[Tom Ando]

I would prefer to have Rugby Union on ABCTV rather than on commercial TV or on SBS, but it won't happen: the lure of the mighty dollar reigns supreme. BTW SBS airs advertisements.

Would it be better to go with ABC or SBS to air super rugby games which have limited ad breaks for a better experience, or is it essential for publicity to be on channel 9, 10 or 7?

I didn't say there were none at all, but it isn't at every stoppage such as a ball into touch. But I think they have to think about it logically rather then looking short term. Sure the money deals are attractive, but it gets blown anyway. Hopefully Pulver gets our expenditure under straps so unnecessary spending is stopped. Maybe if we start with ABC who already have Shute Shield in NSW, they can grow their number of viewers on TV and then grow the game from there. I know Fox Sports do a pretty good job of rugby coverage but it is a must for it to be accessible to everyone, especially juniors, to watch the game. The amount of kids who have no idea and therefore no interest in Super Rugby, transfers to interest in the Wallabies (which isnt helped by poor performances) and then their interest in the sport dies completely after a while when they see Benji Marshall or Ben Barber playing exciting footy, and then are over promoted by Channel 9 and Fox, and through 10 pages of the SMH. They are smothered by the promotion of the sport. Union needs to deal with this somehow. Even now the A league are doing it. The Western Sydney Wanderers have started to put the nail in the coffin of NSW Rugby with some help from the 9 NRL teams in Sydney and the Swans.

 

[chasmac]

I wonder if the highlights given to other channels from FOX are purposely designed to be frustrating. The highlights of a match seem to show the final act of placing the ball for a try and then the conversion attempt or a penalty kick. The highlights are massively cropped.

 

[Tom Ando]

and are on at a ridiculous time of night when no one is up watching. Agreed Chasmac

 

[Wheatman]

Thanks Gents for your responses so far. I live in country Qld so I don't get to read the capital tabloids outside of the Weekend Aus and Courier Mail. In saying that, there are many good points raised:

- Are the highlights being given to FTA sports updates (or the cuts they use) actually good for the game
- Who controls these
- This is a bigger issue than just Offsiders (both TV and printed press)
- I can always write a letter

I guess I used Offsiders as my yard stick as it is reasonably independent of sports deals. I feel the discussion is generally thoughtful even if the journalist is only known to favour one sport. Roy Masters would be the occasional exception, however he does make some fair points at times. I guess that to give all sports a fair crack, only 30 mins of this is not enough. It would also be a reasonable bell-weather to see any progress rugby is making into other sports market share (ie when it appears to the others, panel members & interviews, number of highlights). Especially with the Lions series coming, it is very important rugby is noticed now by these 'independent' sports shows. With the privately owned media, I don't know how you get around their desire to get a return on tv & print rights/investment - therefore dominating the headlines mostly.

I also note the Australian Sports Commission (?) was looking at perhaps launching a sports channel with those that can't get good tv deals for themselves, I wonder if club rugby could get on this as Brisbane Premier is no longer on ABC.

A couple of further questions:
What other sport shows could be considered independent in coverage of all sports: Back Page? one with Sam Keckovich and other bloke with the timer on ESPN? WWOS??! (I miss 'The Fat'!)
What about in print media?
Could GAGR have the ARU media manager as a podslam guest and we could fire a couple of questions around this at him, plus some more with the Lions series coming up?
Should I write a letter or is this a good enough whinge?!

 

[liquor box]

I get annoyed at Ch9 Brisbane, we get about 30 seconds at most during the week that mentions rugby, and sometimes it does not even make the sport news the night after they play, and this is with a former Wallaby as the sports director!

 

[Tom Ando]

The highlights are no gain to the outside world. I doubt very many people are exposed to the highlights reel and it will never be good enough to get the word out there. Fox Sports creates the highlight reels but I assume channel 9 (and now channel 10) control when they are aired. The talk of a 3rd tier comp which just bolsters up the premier rugby competitions is the best concept yet. The Australian Championships a few years ago was not a bad concept either, just it had no money to sustain it, plus I think it just further complicated the Rugby pathway for players (as it is already complicated). This 3rd tier comp needs to first be well planned and then put to air along with super rugby and international tests. The Super Rugby needs to have the majority of the games each week, say all aussie games plus on or two New Zealand and Saffa matches (possibly top of the conference teams) as the cost for the ratings they are likely to get in the earlier years might not be sustainable. Thats where Fox Sports can say it is still unrivaled and is still the best place to watch Rugby, but doesn't suffocate the supporter base that don't have the money to get Foxtel. I think your idea about GAGR and the podslam is a great idea. Maybe you and I can get a job in the media department at the ARU. Things I would love to change in Australian Rugby!! It's endless!

 

[wamberal]

I sent an email to the ABC complaining about Roy Masters' attitude towards rugby (and everything else, except loig), and got a reply, which said that Adam Freier would be on the programme the following week.

The only way to influence the ABC, or any other media outlet, is to contact them with a reasoned, unemotional, opinion.

 

[Set piece magic]

I think I am going to complain to the ABC as well about offsiders. Pretty ridiculous reds v brumbies didn't get the coverage it deserved

Also why is it that Football essentially have the SBS subsidizing them, putting the A-League on FTA, constantly talking about the world game. I have no problem with Football/Soccer getting better treatment than it does from the rest of the mainstream media as I'm empathetic with the situation, but where is the coverage for Rugby.

We have roughly the same domestic league as Football as well as a Wallabies side that plays more often at home and attracts larger crowds (mainly because everything outside the FIFA WC is a friendly).

So where is our government subsidy?

 

[wamberal]

I contacted SBS a while ago, also, and I asked them why they did not have more rugby. I specifically mentioned "Total Rugby", which would be an ideal programme for them. Their response was that they would love to show "Total Rugby", but that they do not have the rights.

I think we can assume that Fox Sports will play hardball with our game, when it comes to FTA spin-offs, which is short-sighted in my opinion. They need to remember that the game has definitely contracted in some respects (eg, the Sydney selective high schools, which used to be strong on the game, once upon a time), and we need young kids to be able see something on FTA.

 

[Set piece magic]

Everyone needs to write a personalised rational complaint:

http://www.abc.net.au/contact/complain.htm

 

[Tom Ando]

I think the ARU also are needed to get a kick in the head for continuing to go for the short term big dollars. Channel 9 did not respect the Wallabies games at all last year. I'm sure there were some Wallabies games that were delayed. Might have been the Argentina game. This is our national team. I'm sure Big Brother is a little less important and the worst television seen in the history of Aussie TV.

 

[Hugh Jarse]

I contacted SBS a while ago, also, and I asked them why they did not have more rugby. I specifically mentioned "Total Rugby", which would be an ideal programme for them. Their response was that they would love to show "Total Rugby", but that they do not have the rights.

../...snip../.

I'd like to see one of the FTA's pick up School of Hard Knocks
http://www.rugbydump.com/2012/05/2544/school-of-hard-knocks-2012-episode-1

 

[wamberal]

I think the ARU also are needed to get a kick in the head for continuing to go for the short term big dollars.

What is the alternative? Short term small dollars? Short term no dollars?


In case you didn't notice, there is not exactly a stampede of FTA networks trying to get our game onto prime time.

 

[Tom Ando]

What is the alternative? Short term small dollars? Short term no dollars?


In case you didn't notice, there is not exactly a stampede of FTA networks trying to get our game onto prime time.

Potentially yes. Small dollars until we grow our game. Because at the moment FTA isn't really doing Rugby justice is it? You can't just sit back and hope a miracle happens and then all these networks then start running. Doesn't happen like that unfortunately, otherwise the Lions tour would be a promising year. But it is why I suggested SBS as they do have some ads (not an overload) and it could compete with the soccer when the A league. (I believe is getting coverage with SBS next year? Maybe its only the Grand Final.) Either way, small steps need to be made before we jump to the big guns who actually want to show our game prime time.

I mean, we are getting zero dollars from FTA to show super rugby currently at the moment, so whats the harm in little or no rugby to get some games on free to air? I understand your concern with internationals, that does pose an issue. Maybe Super Rugby on one network and Internationals stay on the commercial network?