yet another example of News Ltd’s agenda against AFL

everyone knows this only happens in Rugby League….

Champ really! open your peepers.Every day of the week the DT and to a lesser degree the SMH have a page or a couple of pages on AFL,negative pieces other than a couple on West Sydney(and we have argued that one monotonously )are hard to come by.
Morrissey(Mr Tsunami),Wilson,Tugwell to name journos off my scone,have done and continue to do fluff pieces on the AFL.
The interesting point made in the court case involving ch7 and Fox/9 et al,was a documented claim by 7 and Stokes that News write x number of fluff pieces for the code,as a prerequisite to the Tv contract.
Rest assured if the Swans win,the front page of the sport will show big bad Barry doing something,or another player.
Of course we will have the H-S in Melbourne doing something similar should the Storm win a NRL match.
Yeah right MC.
If the DT has an agenda to push rl in a favourable light,they sure as hell are doing an ordinary job of it the last week.

To make as much money as possible.

To do this with sport in newspapers they:

a)pander to the afl folk in afl dominated areas

b)pander to the nrl folk in nrl dominated areas.

But i will point out something

I buy the Herald Sun every friday, only because they have an excellent motoring section.

Yesterdays edition had the sport section starting back page on page 96.

The storm isn’t mentioned until page 78, even netball is on page 79.

Just saying…..

and all you get in Melb papers on soccer (Age) and rugby (H-S) are ‘fluff’ pieces – effectively advertorials.

any day, just check out the Herald-Sun website sports ‘home’ page -

tell me how often one of the roughly ten thumbnails on the left is AFL related.

tell me how often you see AFL amongst the rotating 2 or 3 main pictures.

Right now – the 2 main pictures are “Tevez double joy” and Ando’s sports quiz.

Not one single AFL thumbnail -

oh, a heap on Matty Johns, and Hernandez, Denver Nuggets, Renault…..etc.

compare the Sports home page of the Daily Telegraph to that of the Herald Sun – - tell me which is ramming the ‘local dominant code’ down peoples throats.

No – seroiusly, just do it.

re TV rights…

NSW and QLD are 57% now eh? – you assume of course no presence of the AFL in NSW or QLD.

1. We are talking about the sports market and the biggest TV ratings for any sport in any captial city are in Melbourne despite the fact it has 10% less population that Sydney. That is neither a boast about AFL or Melbourne but the reality.

eg: 2008 Grand Finals – AFL rated 1.3M in Melbourne, NRL rated 1 million in Sydney.

So the Melbourne TV rights alone are worth the biggest TV Ad dollars.

2. All 3 FTA networks have AFL content and value it very highly. Ch 9 the NRL TV rightsholder has four AFL dedicated TV programs: Footy Show, Sunday Footy Show, TAC Future Stars and Footy Classified. For those who think Ch 9 aren’t interested they’re kidding themselves.

3. The Global Financial Crisis is likely to mean less TV dollars if still having a major impact in 2011 onward. Remember though we are talking about 2012-2017. This is the main reason the dollars may not be able at the same level, however the AFL will offer more product in terms of additional games and possibly a floating fixture. This is the one factor that may mean elss money but could also be used as a ratigns wagon to lift Ad revenue – you would think Ch 9 would be very eager.

4. The Packer myth – nobody can prove it, it was spat out by a disgruntled RL journalist. It ignores the fact that Packer wanted to retain the AFL TV rights, the Nine network has been a ratings loser on a national basis ever since it lost the rights.

So lets just put the NSW and QLD argument to bed, 57% does not mean 57% NRL 43% AFL.

Redb

Using Rebecca Wilson as News Ltd’s only defence is weak she is a part timer only and hardly influences editorial direction at the Telegraph.

The facts are clear for those who pay attention.

Jimbo,

Nah the soccer hooligans are far far worse.

Redb

a. SBS is biased towards football and only people who like football can watch SBS.
b. The majority of SBS viewers prefer watching football and so SBS program more football than other sports.
c. SBS is not biased towards football – it shows a lot of different content including aboriginal programs.
d. None of the above.

SBS is set up by the government and is controlled by an independent board.

As a taxpayer you can write to your local member or other avenues of complaint to the government.

The fact is that the SBS TV audience which is mainly European, Asian or South American prefer to watch football.

http://www.fifa.com/mensolympic/organisation/media/newsid=858088.html As usual football best attended sport at the Olympics and its an U/23 tournament with very few top players! 2 million spectators with Mens comp ave 42,000 per game. If only China had a decent football team.

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0WDP/is_2004_August_16/ai_n6281190/ When their football is half decent they watch in big numbers 300 million for the Asian Cup final 2004.

Big audience when Chinese footballers play in the top Euro leagues http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/s/48/48443_chinese_soccer_star_draws_record_tv_audience.html

interesting to see the NBL is falling over for next ‘season’ largely because sponsors don’t want to touch it without a SYdney side in – - and given that it resides on FOxtel and Foxtel has highest penetration in NSW, that makes sense.

Reality is though, NRL gives much of NSW and QLD, AFL gives most of the rest and parts of NSW and QLD.

When 9 had the AFL TV broadcast rights, they did not give these rights up deliberately. Under a $20 million first and last rights option purchased by Seven in 1995, Seven was able to match the Nine offer and secure the rights on identical terms. Meaning channel 7 always were able to make the last bid and if they matched any other offer they got the rights

Channel 9 willl be bidding for AFL rights next itme it comes up

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,25435810-662,00.html

The SBS chater does not cover, Poms who want to watch soccer.

If it did, I’m sure the tax payer of Australia would be interested to hear that.

yep – re as much soccer as possible,

they really let us down on the lack of basketball and winter olympics, oh, but we get the tour de france and speedweek or whatever….

and lots of soccer.

It’s good to have a mandated sports bias.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/22/sports/olympics/22cctv.html

I was talking about SBS and immigrant to Australia being more interested in other sports other than soccer. And I think you would find that most South African immigrants are more interested in Cricket and Rugby

Wikipedia says there are 400 million players in china

The NBA is also excited about the 400 million kids under 20 in China

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/world/v-print/story/20951.html

ah, News Ltd…..in Sydney were Rebecca Wilson mangled some truths, half truths and opinions.

funny – - we get all these ‘opinion’ pieces from opinion provides and we complain that they have an opinion.

The challenge for anyone these days is to find the facts upon which to build ones own ‘opinion’.

Setanta are in trouble, with a reduction in their access to EPL matches (I think reduced to 23). It may well effect their capacity to continue – - which ironically would be bad for other codes – - – i.e. AFL is seen in the US on Setanta (or via it’s feeds to MHz and One America), likewise NRL.

For once, we might welcome his inopportune and tasteless remarks (which he could unleash on the other Eurotrash hosts).

Why can’t SBS viewers in Australia vote in th Eurovision Song Contest – another global iconspiracy.

“And now weee haave Sam Newman in Mellebooouurne with the Australia votes.

Hellloooo Melllbourne! . . . “

but, SBS WAS given a mandate to cover soccer – - rightly or wrongly, a European bias too.

Which makes SBS and it’s soccer coverage a wolf in sheeps clothing for the local variant of the game – - I’d presume?

Now and then SBS and ABC have curious cross overs where you look at something and figure it to be on the wrong network.

THe Ashes from England was one – - I loved being able to see it,……..but was SBS really the ‘vehicle’ for it?

Obviously if $20mill of my hard earned dollars are going into this ground I want it to be used fully and sensibly and by a cross section of public/sporting interests.

But again good on this for happening and I have no probs with the building of a facility that may be good not only for AFL (and good on it for that) but also for football, league, union, athletics, hockey, and all sorts including – yes – lacrosse.

Simmo, you haven’t been castigating yourself again?

Redb

But I can’t talk now. Meet me in the Blacktown City Council carpark at 9pm tonight. Come alone.