The TV Broadcasting of Australian Rugby

[Badger]

The crappest thing for me with c9's replay in Victoria was that they still didn't show the whole game. The ads cut into the restarts. At least have the decency to fix this for the replay that's on a ~3hr delay!

Nien would have probably taped the live broadcast and have the local stations in Victoria, and elsewhere, slot in their own ads. Much easier (and cheaper) than re-doing for the delayed broadcast.

 

[kronic]

This weekend's broadcast will be a repeat.

I encourage everyone to slam the WWOS Facebook page.

It's sad that we have to essentially beg the FTA rights holder each season.

 

[GaffaCHinO]

Nine chipping away at fans

AUSTRALIAN Rugby Union powerbrokers will hold urgent discussions with Channel Nine over their decision to not screen the Bledisloe Cup live in major rugby-playing cities last weekend - and again tomorrow night.
Nine took a worrying page from the book of their free-to-air predeccesors Seven last Saturday when they only played the Wallabies-All Blacks clash live in Sydney, Brisbane and Darwin.

Much to the disgust of rugby fans elsewhere, Nine scheduled the Karate Kid instead in Melbourne, Perth and Adelaide and delayed the rugby until 10.30pm in South Australia and Western Australia.

Melburnians even had to wait for a repeat of Underbelly: Badness before they got the game at 11.30pm.

Unsurprisingly, the delayed screeings dented the free-to-air national ratings significantly, with only 56,000 of a total 396,000 people coming from the three states.

Irate fans took to social media to complain and the ARU responded on Twitter by saying it too was disappointed.

High-level talks will be held over the issue, given the Bledisloe Cup is the jewel in the ARU crown and Victoria and WA are both home to Super Rugby teams and burgeoning supporter bases. Nine have the free-to-air rights until 2015.

Under anti-siphoning laws, Nine is obliged to show the game on its main channel but it now has the ability to apply for exemptions and move to it to digital channel Gem. With many of the network's heavy hitters tied up with the Olympics, it is understood Nine did not leave enough time to apply to the government for a Bledisloe Cup exemption to be processed.

The insult was compounded by the fact it wasn't even original Karate Kid with Ralph Machio, Mr Miyage and the Cobra Kai. It was the Will Smith's kid re-make.

But brace yourself and get in the crane kick pose, because it gets worse. Tomorrow night the Bledisloe Cup will be played at 5.30pm (AEST) but in Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth, Nine will screen the news, Funniest Home Videos and the Alvin and the Chipmunks instead. The Bledisloe Cup will again be delayed until 10.30pm and 11.30pm.

http://www.perthnow.com.au/sport/rug...-1226457028855

 

[jermano]

And come 2015 when the FTA rights come up again C9 will have first and last right of offer as they did with the NRL and Melbourne benefited nothing from that 1 live FTA game a week.

 

[waratahjesus]

And come 2015 when the FTA rights come up again C9 will have first and last right of offer as they did with the NRL and Melbourne benefited nothing from that 1 live FTA game a week.

Qld & NSW only get 1 live NRL game a week.

Channel 9 don't want union. They brought it with the hope of the RWC getting ratings, but thecsaturday night test matche are played as a consequence of needing to invest in order to get the RWC. It was a hard contract for the ARU as with league rights up and a much better ratings winner no one was going to invest in union with a whole heart.

Now the NRl rights are over, the ARU should try to renegotiate and get away from 9. Channel 10 missed out and with a bit of love could be persuaded to put some effort into showing games live everywhere and investing some energy through there news and panel shows into actually trying to get people watching and rugby personalities over.

 

[TOCC]

They can't honestly say that they 'ran out of time' to have the game shifted to GEM... It's not as though this game was only scheduled last week, it's been booked in for 12 months...

CH9 seriously need to sort their shit out

 

[waratahjesus]

They can't honestly say that they 'ran out of time' to have the game shifted to GEM. It's not as though this game was only scheduled last week, it's been booked in for 12 months.

CH9 seriously need to sort their shit out

It's stupid red tape at both ends, 9 just needed to file paperwork. Mr conroy needs to get off his arse and explain why it takes the government a month or more to approve something so simple as a guy in a control room pushing a button to show sport instead of I love Lucy.

 

[Richo]

It's stupid red tape at both ends, 9 just needed to file paperwork. Mr conroy needs to get off his arse and explain why it takes the government a month or more to approve something so simple as a guy in a control room pushing a button to show sport instead of I love Lucy.

Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right, here I am* stuck in the middle with a delayed fucking broadcast.



* Well, not literally 'me', but hey.

 

[Loki74]

Qld & NSW only get 1 live NRL game a week.

Channel 9 don't want union. They brought it with the hope of the RWC getting ratings, but thecsaturday night test matche are played as a consequence of needing to invest in order to get the RWC. It was a hard contract for the ARU as with league rights up and a much better ratings winner no one was going to invest in union with a whole heart.

Now the NRl rights are over, the ARU should try to renegotiate and get away from 9. Channel 10 missed out and with a bit of love could be persuaded to put some effort into showing games live everywhere and investing some energy through there news and panel shows into actually trying to get people watching and rugby personalities over.

I think Channel 9 do want union. But only to ensure that it doesn't compete in any way with its NRL rights. Another poor decision from the ARU - take money over the long term future of the game. Need a channel that wants to promote rugby as the no.1 viewing option. Not saying it is or indeed that it ever will be in Australia. But you want that sort of attitude to put the game's best foot forward. 9 has more bloody codes than it knows what to do with them and it certainly isn't interested in rugby. RWC coverage was pathetic. The promotion for this season has been pathetic. Maybe expectations are low for us, and maybe I have just not been watching as much television as I used to, but haven't really seen any attempt by 9 to plug the game at all.

 

[Braveheart81]

The sad thing is that Channel 9 probably think they get better overall ratings for the night outside of Sydney and Brisbane if they don't compete with the AFL but instead show something for a totally different audience to the AFL on Channel 7 and then show the Rugby Union later in the night.

Unfortunately I think the rugby is going to continue to lose out to the FTA networks overall push for ratings maximisation.

The sooner they remove the barriers to show these games on the secondary channels the better. Digital TV is getting closer and closer to universal and putting rules in place that mean sport is shown delayed rather than live is only hurting the sporting codes and fans the anti-siphoning rules are designed to protect.

 

[The Red Baron]

The sooner they remove the barriers to show these games on the secondary channels the better. Digital TV is getting closer and closer to universal and putting rules in place that mean sport is shown delayed rather than live is only hurting the sporting codes and fans the anti-siphoning rules are designed to protect.

Quite agree. The shambolic coverage of Australian rugby on FTA does nothing but damage the profile of the game currently.

 

[Braveheart81]

If they got rid of the 'must be shown on main channel' rule then the networks would either have to show the games live on the secondary channel or face the wrath of the public/sporting bodies for showing a delayed coverage.

Personally I think the "we couldn't get approval in time" line is a poor excuse that is used to defend what is a conscious decision.

 

[waratahjesus]

Personally I think the "we couldn't get approval in time" line is a poor excuse that is used to defend what is a conscious decision.

It's a very strange line. I emailed a mate in programme financing and asked him what the costs would be in relation to showing an old film vs televising a sport you have actually already payed for. Advertising etc, will be interested if he can get his hands in some comparable figures.

Also might be interesting tomorrow if people watch it on nine, and are able. Write a list of what ads play and at what commercial break. If there different ads then it means nine are actually selling the space without thought to markets outside nsw/Qld in the first place.

 

[MrTimms]

The biggest thing that makes no sense to me is the rules.

They can't put the game live on a second channel because not everyone has a digital TV, so instead they delay it so NO ONE can watch it.

Only a government could come up with something so logically unsound.

 

[Pedrolicus]

Personally I think the "we couldn't get approval in time" line is a poor excuse that is used to defend what is a conscious decision.

Couldn't agree more, it's just a load of crap. They use the anti-siphoning laws as a smokescreen to serve their pro league and pro foxtel agenda.

The fact that the anti-siphoning laws exist is just retarded in itself, from the moment they were announced I have struggled to see how they are anything but detrimental to the broadcasting of live sport.

 

[Badger]

With the growth of internet streaming and IPTV, I reckon it's only a matter of time until the rugby viewing public will be able to bypass the middlemen (Pay TV or FTA) and purchase the viewing rights from the owner.

Hope to see the day when the IRB and the national unions get together and come up with something like the NBA League Pass.

 

[qwerty51]

I've wondering the same thing Badger. TV rights are outdated imo, the new medium is the internet. Competitions like the NRL and AFL should sell game passes like the MLB/NFL/NBA which are hugely popular worldwide. They take the full profits.

 

[Rob42]

I've wondering the same thing Badger. TV rights are outdated imo, the new medium is the internet. Competitions like the NRL and AFL should sell game passes like the MLB/NFL/NBA which are hugely popular worldwide. They take the full profits.

The full profits minus the production costs, which would not be insignificant. But if Foxtel loses its exclusive rights over Super rugby, it will drastically decrease the amount it pays for them, and I very much doubt the direct income from selling games over the 'net would make up for it.

 

[qwerty51]

Yeah it's more applicable to sports which are worldwide, it's not there yet but it's the future. Especially as more TVs get internet apps.

Obvious why they don't but Fox Sports should breakaway from Foxtel and do their own internet streaming, they'd make more money for sure.

 

[Pedrolicus]

The dumb thing is, people are already doing it for free. Network tv will die out while trying to protect their own profits. Everyone needs to evolve, it wasn't long ago that having an internet connection was just for email and assignments.