It's a tough one. I'd be interested to know what other countries have in terms of FTA vs Pay TV coverage. Australia certainly has far less of a Pay TV demographic than many countries do.
Clearly NZ is always going to have the rugby as FTA because it is their number one sport, but sadly that is never likely to be the case in Australia.
*Pedant alert*
'Nein' is the German for 'no' if that's what people are going for. It is pronounced like 'nine' in English.
'Nien' is not a word and would be pronounced like 'neen' if it was.
Sorry, it's been bugging me.
Yes but did you catch any rugby today? I didnt, 3 games I quite would of liked to watch.
Has there been ANY comment from those gutless c_nts at the ARU about the coverage? Do they give a shit in any way? As we rugby supporters are a toothless, quiet and well mannered minority it suits them.
In between looking after the rugrat I caught a fair bit of the 3 games on today. No paytv for me, there are ways and means to watch it in decent quality over the net if you wanted to.
As for the ARU making comment on 9's coverage, why the hell would they come out and heap shit on what was probably the only tv station that was willing to fork out a bit of cash to show the tri nations? Or are you talking about the RWC coverage, and making it clear that you're another one of the stupid c_nts who don't seem able to grasp the simple concept that the ARU didn't sell 9 the RWC rights, the IRB did?
*Pedant alert*
'Nein' is the German for 'no' if that's what people are going for. It is pronounced like 'nine' in English.
'Nien' is not a word and would be pronounced like 'neen' if it was.
Sorry, it's been bugging me.
I don't think it is a case of defending Channel 9's coverage. It is more a case of being rational. I don't think ARU is in a position to publically slam Channel 9 for the lack of coverage. I am sure they have made their feelings felt privately to 9. They simply can't launch a public campaign against the one network that they have managed to sell Test Match rights to this season. That would surely be crazy.
Like it is not, rugby union gets heavily outrated by rugby league in Australia. It's a shame and I'm sure it's something that we'd all like to see change, but it's a fact of life.
I imagine that once the NBN has been completed and fast internet connections are more common place we will start to see more competition in internet based Pay TV in Australia. Potentially then there will be the possibility to subscribe to the RWC without having to have a long term Pay TV contract as you would currently need now.
Does anyone hgave details on the Xbox option? It seems hard to get the details (atleast for someone without an xbox)
9 wasn't the only major network to bid for the rights, and they didn't offer the most money...
I don't know where this naive opinion comes from that we should be grateful to them when all the major commercial networks were interested, and Nine weren't offering the best deal to begin with...
Once again it should be pointed out that the IRB sold the rights not the ARU.So what were the offers and which channels made them? To be honest I find it pretty hard to believe that the ARU would choose an inferior offer just for the sake of it.
Channel Nine makes a $10m move for Wallabies
James Chessell, Media writer From: The Australian April 15, 2010 12:00AM
CHANNEL Nine could soon be the free-to-air home of both rugby codes after the network emerged as frontrunner to broadcast Wallabies matches.
Nine already holds the rights to broadcast the 2011 and 2015 Rugby World Cups alongside Fox Sports but it is understood chief executive David Gyngell has lodged a $10-million bid to broadcast Tri-Nations matches and home Tests featuring the Wallabies as well as a highlights package of Super 15 games in 2011-15.
The offer is less than the $15-$20m rugby wanted for the rights and comes at a critical time for a game that is trying to broaden its appeal to the viewing public. Ratings for Wallabies matches have fallen since Seven is believed to have paid about $17m for the last five-year deal. Bledisloe Cup games that were generating more than 1.5m metropolitan viewers in 2001 were lucky to get half that number in recent years.
Nine appears to be in the box seat given Seven is not involved in the bidding process and Ten remains frustrated that rugby officials and News Limited rejected a $US40m offer that included one live game of Super 15 game each week. News Ltd, publisher of The Australian, owns 50 per cent of Fox Sports.
James Packer's Consolidated Media Holdings owns the other 50 per cent.
Sources close to the bidding process said there was more than one interested party involved. Ten could still bid for the rights in certain circumstances although it is considered an outside chance.
The free-to-air rugby matches are being sold by Fox Sports, which wrapped up the rights to broadcast Super 15 rugby on pay television months ago.
SANZAR, the South African, Australian and New Zealand body that operates southern hemisphere rugby, had delayed the announcement while the free-to-air deal was negotiated.
Nine is the most logical buyer given it owns the free-to-air rights to the next two World Cups. PBL Media owns Nine on the east coast which includes rugby's biggest home markets.
The network also enjoys a good working relationship with Fox Sports, whose dealings with Seven have been tested during negotiations over new anti-siphoning negotiations with the Rudd government.
A revised anti-siphoning list of sports that are protected from direct pay-TV bids is being nutted out by Communications Minister Stephen Conroy and the major media companies.
Gyngell will spend on a Wallabies Test less than half of the $500,000-$700,000 it costs Nine to produce a game of rugby league. The network also believes it can sell rugby sponsorships to high-end banking and insurance companies
Gyngell is a passionate rugby league supporter and is a former board member of the Sydney Roosters. Channel Nine and News executives declined to comment.