By rugbyfuture -
December 7th 2009 @ 7:51am
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Rugby’s pathway to free to air TV
Many people agree that a stigma to rugby in Australia is the problem of having the super 14 on pay television. The key question is whether it is actually viable for rugby union by taking a lesser amount in return for free to air coverage?
The fact is that when people sell things, they often look at the short term monetary gain. There is no way that any of us can force the super rugby on to free to air; we have to make the people want it.
There is a new era in television in Australia. Where there was once limited opportunity; there is now space to fill.
The digital spectrum has given opportunity to many sports, none as deserving as rugby (bull riding for instance). Eleven channels, with 4 more to come in 2010, must offer a space somewhere for the great game of rugby.
It is the time to look ahead. How can we gain a place on free to air TV to build up demand?
It’s quite easy, and a repeat of my previous article on social media: open up the game, using friendly faces.
Two programs should be destined to free to air, one an adult show and one a kids show.
The adult show can consist of discussion, previews, profiles and news, also for older newbies. Why not clarify rules and laws of the game, even take it to the grassroots level and invite guests from clubs and districts?
The children’s show can similarly present players, news and info on the game, presented in a friendlier format of course. Building on this, give the kids info on team meet ups and, to please the parents, some focus on social issues. There can be mini segments of quizzes with kids and involve kids through player of the week comps.
Involving people in the product of rugby can be a wonderful breakthrough for the game and can lead to popularity and free to air games, as an invitation to be on TV can be all a child needs to get involved.
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(46)
Yikes said | December 7th 2009 @ 8:04am | Report comment
Love the idea, rugbyfuture.
Keep in mind though, that creating new programs locally costs money. It’s far cheaper to buy the bull riding. So that’s what the networks will do, unless there will me a massive ratings difference.
LT80 said | December 7th 2009 @ 8:09am | Report comment
Rugby union is a sport not a product.
Brett McKay said | December 7th 2009 @ 8:27am | Report comment
LT80, tell that to the IRB and ARU – rugby stopped being a sport at the top level years ago…
Rugbyfuture, this is great idea, and I think it could well happen for the S15, IF some or all games get shown on a FTA channel (or multi-channel). Obviously, our big hope is ONE HD, and Ten had the Spring Tour last and this year, and I believe they will have the domestic Tests next year instead of Ch7. We also know that at one stage in the lead-up to the announcement of Melbourne as Team 15, that Ten were said to be in serious talks about showing S15 games from 2011.
Should all this happen, a Monday or Tuesday night analysis and review show would be ideal…
Working Class Rugger said | December 7th 2009 @ 11:24am | Report comment
Brett
How about the name “Rugger Rugrats” for the kids show and “World in Union” for the review show. I’d like to find out if ONEHD were still after some of the S15. Would be great if they managed to get the Australian games.
Brett McKay said | December 7th 2009 @ 12:13pm | Report comment
Ruggerrats, I like it WCR – maybe you could pitch yourself as the host!!
There was definitely reports of Ten being in talks around late Sep, early Oct re. showing some or all of the S15. Initially I recall it being suggested they were looking at the local games, but then I’m sure I recall another report that said they were seriously considering giving Fox a competition for the whole shebang. I’d even take the local games on 30 or 60 minute delay if it meant being able to see them…
Working Class Rugger said | December 7th 2009 @ 2:00pm | Report comment
Brett
Hey, I may just do that. Hell, I have a Ruggerrat. My 9 year old brother. Could work:D
Joh4Canberra said | December 8th 2009 @ 3:42pm | Report comment
“World in Union” would be fine if its coverage wasn’t just Super 15/ SANZAR but actually included the game in other parts of the world. Otherwise the title would be a bit misleading. Sure, there’s nothing wrong with concentrating on the game in your own back yard, but you should probably have a bit of coverage of what’s going on elsewhere on planet rugby.
Working Class Rugger said | December 8th 2009 @ 9:47pm | Report comment
Joh4Canberra
I agree. Not only should it cover Australian Rugby but Rugby elsewhere including the second tier comps like the Championship (ENG), Russian Championship, British and Irish Cup, Pro D2, even some of the emerging nations like the Rugby Bundesliga (GER) and SIR (SPAIN).
Skip said | December 7th 2009 @ 8:44am | Report comment
I love Bull riding and Rugby can we have both??
PastHisBest said | December 7th 2009 @ 9:28am | Report comment
How about bull rugby??
Blinky Bill from Bellingen said | December 7th 2009 @ 8:53am | Report comment
I’ve been crying out for something like this for years. Please let it happen. No stuff that………..please MAKE IT HAPPEN!!!!!!
I’m interested in opinions re channel 10 versus channel 7 presentation of the Rugby. Plus what would be an improved way to present it to the public. There’s got to be something better than the players name getting yelled at us over & over until he finally drops the ball.
I would have thought it was about time for some well known and respected faces to make their way onto our screens that can inform, educate and motivate. Someone who can clarify a scrum penalty, strategies, that sort of thing in an easy to understand manner. We need future Wallabies to watching from their lounge room floor and dreaming of playing for Australia and good clever FTA is the answer.
mitzter said | December 7th 2009 @ 9:40am | Report comment
Yes actual rugby commentators that can call a game rather than ex-players are a must. RL is really lucking with Rabs as he makes that sport so watchable
Timmypig said | December 8th 2009 @ 3:58pm | Report comment
Appealing to our senses of irony, Mitzter? I find listening to Rabs excruciating ….
Otherwise I agree. But where’s the talent? I think The Roar has covered this ground before and come up short. Good analysis by ‘Tugboat’ Kafer, but otherwise – shocking.
The Phantom said | December 7th 2009 @ 12:10pm | Report comment
Not all people get channel 10 and even less get ONEHD. If they give a better coverage that is great, make sure the exposure is as wide as it can be.
Joh4Canberra said | December 8th 2009 @ 3:46pm | Report comment
Back in the early days of the Super 12 channel 7 used to have a highlights show of the Super 12. Then they dropped it because it didn’t rate that well. I was disappointed when they dropped it. I don’t have pay tv and it’s unlikely I ever will.
Sam el Perro said | December 7th 2009 @ 9:18am | Report comment
Priority one should be getting quality rugby shown on free to air television in a quality time slot. Although the ARC made it onto the ABC it was never going to make in impact because it was not the game at the top level. Never mind at this stage gettings kids’ shows, adults’ shows or anything else on there. Just get the game on the box. Regularly.
The ARU should be viewing the expansion in FTA digital channels are an opportunity. Replay rights, although not ideal (given that people will/may know results in advance) are perhaps the perfect place to get Super 1x games shown on something like 7TWO. Given the number of games played in South Africa a replay of a Super 1x game at a decent hour on an FTA (second) channel is going to get more viewers than an early morning Pay TV exclusive. When the next rights are signed with respect to the Australian market I think a good balance would be to get one FTA game (preferably on a primary channel) in a guaranteed time slot (perhaps “Saturday night rugby”) with the residue being televised on Pay TV.
Panel programs are an interesting idea, but ultimately, people engage with a sport because of the actual sport. That is what they need to be watching habitually. To contrast with the telecasting of league (not the sport itself, I do not want to engage in code wars please!) its flagship panel program (The Footy Show) is almost universally derided, especially in Queensland, but people still manage to engage with the game.
If people get to watch rugby and see the players they will develop the habit. The ARU, however, if they want to develop this habit need to get the players off the media leash a little. By over media managing the players all we see are bland automatons in Canterbury jerseys… not real people. They should not be scared of players saying something stupid, or doing something stupid. If nothing else, people like villians in sport, too, and nothing attracts people to a game like a player that we love to hate.
Please excuse the rambling nature of this comment!
Blinky Bill from Bellingen said | December 7th 2009 @ 10:47am | Report comment
God how I agree with your “bland automatons’ comment. It’s the very reason I stopped bothering with the players & skipper being interviewed. You just knew they were never going to say anything informative or even of interest. It’s as if they were reading from a script. Strewth have an opinion….please!!!!!!
Working Class Rugger said | December 7th 2009 @ 11:29am | Report comment
Quade Cooper real enough for you. What the hell was he thinking.
Sam el Perro said | December 7th 2009 @ 2:13pm | Report comment
I’m sure that his defence lawyer will tell us in the fullness of the time.
Spencer said | December 8th 2009 @ 7:46pm | Report comment
Quade…thinking? What the hell were you thinking when you posed that quaestion, WCR?
Midfielder said | December 7th 2009 @ 10:32am | Report comment
I think we are in the last stages of the FTA being King…
I think the future of sports marketing will be to tire down a very loyal band of people willing to watch.
I am writing an artile about it hopfully we get finished over the next week or so have a look for for it…
Redb said | December 7th 2009 @ 10:43am | Report comment
On the contrary i think the introduction of the digital channels with some friendly Fed Govt legislation to encourage digital take-up will be a filip for free to air TV.
Rugby has an excellent chance of getting onto free to air in some form in the near future IMO. The issue is how much dollars it will generate for the game?
Redb.
Midfielder said | December 7th 2009 @ 2:23pm | Report comment
Redb
Your right in terms of the next media deal but keep an eye out for my thread should be some time over the next week..
rugbyfuture said | December 7th 2009 @ 11:55am | Report comment
the best way to reach the masses though is through the mass media, ie. FTA TV. and with 15 channels soon there isnt a real need for pay tv. i also think that the majority of rugby fans, me included are the ones who dont have pay tv, because they’re upper middle class people who don’t see the need to pay for tv. you’ll probably find that its the full upper class and lower demographics that buy pay tv.
Working Class Rugger said | December 7th 2009 @ 11:30am | Report comment
Rugbyfuture
Nice piece. Completely agree. Especially on the kids show. FTA is a must for Rugby in the near future.
The Link said | December 7th 2009 @ 12:01pm | Report comment
What’s the business case for S15 on FTA in Australia? It has to stack up commercially for the networks to want to show it.
Best bet would be some kind of highlights package first up i’d say.
Brett McKay said | December 7th 2009 @ 12:31pm | Report comment
Well Link, greater penetration of the game, and by association, their sponsors, for starters. I think S14 games rate similarly on Fox to A-League games, somewhere in the order of 100K people (on average, and without looking any deeper to confirm), so you’d have to think that on FTA S15 games would do at least that well. Plus with more local games and local derbies from 2011 – there will almost always be at least two games a week in Australia – it will be easier to keep viewers throughout the extended season.
I’d imagine the business case would actually be reasonably strong….
rugbyfuture said | December 7th 2009 @ 1:22pm | Report comment
we’d need on free to air between 400,000-600,000 viewers per game, with two games per week, the point of this article was to point out a path to get games with interest on free to air
Sam el Perro said | December 7th 2009 @ 2:11pm | Report comment
I agree with the sentiment, but think in the short to medium to that the targets are unrealistic. I’m not going to pretend that I have ratings data at my fingertips (I don’t) but that seems to be similar to what is attained by the other two domestic football competitions on FTA in Australia. On the other hand, of course, it is something that can be achieved over time, but it is an incremental process. FTA channels will be reticent to screen two games (presumably in prime time) if the ratings aren’t there.
My idea, and I welcome anyone’s response, would be, as I alluded to before, to find a slot for rugby to own and work with that. The logical one, I think, is Saturday 7.30pm or thereabouts. Wallabies tests are played then, albeit sporadically, over the winter. If Super 1x matches (replaced by Tests when necessary) are played from February onwards every Saturday night on FTA the rugby habit will form. Then the ARU can start looking at negotiating for a second match on FTA.
Trying to get two matches on FTA every week for the next rights deal, however, would also risk reducing the income that is going to be derived from Pay TV in Australia as it would reduce the number of matches they can show. The risk is that FTA may not be able to (in the short term) make up this shortfall if there isn’t already the ratings base.
The Link said | December 7th 2009 @ 4:45pm | Report comment
Brett – 100k might be OK on subscription TV where advertising is gravy on top of the real revenue earner, subscriptions. I doubt it stacks up on a Friday / Sat night for FTA.
The Phantom said | December 7th 2009 @ 12:14pm | Report comment
What about starting with the IRB – Total Rugby show that gets shown on fox at various time usually on a Thursday. No need for the higher production costs just an off the shelf product that already exists.
Bill said | December 7th 2009 @ 1:43pm | Report comment
I’ve given up waiting for Super rugby to be shown on free to air TV. Signed up for Foxtel last week.
Working Class Rugger said | December 7th 2009 @ 2:03pm | Report comment
The Phantom
They could use that too. Total Tugby is a great program.
Sam Taulelei said | December 7th 2009 @ 3:14pm | Report comment
Rugby is not a protected sport by the Federal Fovernment i.e it’s not included on the anti-siphoning list so FTA channels don’t have exclusive rights with regards to bidding for broadcasting.
At the moment there is no bidding war with the ARU between Foxtel and FTA networks to broadcast rugby. It’s to be hoped that with NewsCorp signing off on the new deal with SANZAR an opportunity will exist for FTA to get their foot in the door for the Super 15 compettion in 2011. So even with the availability of additional digital frequencies and the removal of government restrictions for multichanneling, Foxtel have exclusive rights to Super rugby, Tri Nations and domestic Wallaby tests for next year. They can sell those rights on to a FTA network but if you live outside of NSW and QLD then we’re treated like rugby lepers.
The ideal scenario for the ARU would be what happened with the bidding war for rights to broadcast the AFL. That should be the goal however rugby in this country is a long way from seeing that eventuating.
Even with One HD, 7Two and an additional channel for Nine all FTA networks are built on the same business model. Attract as many viewers as possible so you can sell advertising space at a premium price. It’s great for mass exposure for a program or sport, but equally makes it difficult if you’re regarded as a niche sport.
Rugby is both a niche and premium sport in Australia. Domestically it’s a niche product, internationally it’s a premium product for particular teams. This makes it a challenge for networks to gauge how well it rates and then project revenue. A test match between Australia and NZ will always rate well as will Australia v England. They are traditional rivalries. Australia versus anyone else and it’s really only appealing to the core supporters rather than a mass audience, unless the Wallabies are playing an entertaining brand of game and are successful. Everyone loves a winner.
In 1989 there was a late nights sports program that began showing a highlights package of ARL games from the previous weekend in NZ, they also began showing state of origin games live. It became so popular that league got it’s own Monday night show and then the memorable grand final between Canberra and Balmain was broadcast live and NZ was hooked.
That may be the ideal vehicle for the ARU and FTA to promote rugby, highlight the best parts in a Monday night package with no expert analysis so there’s more action and less talk. Build an awareness specifically tailored for a wider audience instead of preaching to the converted. The show can even incorporate social networking technology to expand it’s horizons. Leave the hardcore audience to watch The Rugby Club on Fox and aim for a more relaxed style like the AFL’s Before the Game on channel 10.
Hell maybe Zac and the guys can talk to a network about “Roar TV’ as a concept. We had Andrew Logan doing some web broadcasts via this site a while back.
PastHisBest said | December 7th 2009 @ 3:59pm | Report comment
I’ve heard Loges wanted too much coin to sign on again…
Sam Taulelei said | December 7th 2009 @ 3:36pm | Report comment
Thinking about channel 10’s “Before the Game” a large part of the show’s wider appeal is the absence of former players and coaches on the regular panel. By involving tv performers who have a natural love of the game removes the blokey boofhead mentality that’s normally associated with panel sports shows and focus a bit more on entertainment. I’d hate to see more Greg Clark, Phil Kearns and Greg Martin types on tv.
Bay35Pablo said | December 8th 2009 @ 11:21am | Report comment
Sam T, they could do a lot worse than getting Djuro Sen and Mark Cashman from Ruggamatrix to do that type of show. I love listening to Ruggamatrix, they make it fun but still respectful and informative, and it beats the hell out of what Fox front up with let alone Seven.
Working Class Rugger said | December 8th 2009 @ 12:28pm | Report comment
Bay
Have you listened to the first Ruggamatrix USA episode. Djuro Sen and Bruce McLane (New York Athletic Club). I found that very informative.
JF said | December 8th 2009 @ 8:06pm | Report comment
Ruggamatrix TV would be great, there would be enough content to go all year – reporting on the NH comps, I love to see how the Australians are going in the Top14.
Sam said | December 8th 2009 @ 11:05am | Report comment
Not sure how easy it will be to get FTA coverage, but having something – even just a highlights package is pretty important. The new Super 15 will be something that is more attractive to FTA broadcasters because there will be so many more Australia vs Australia games. As for the adult and kids tv shows, they have one in NZ for kids called smallblacks – http://www.smallblacks.com/ – which seems to do quite well.
Bay35Pablo said | December 8th 2009 @ 11:24am | Report comment
Sam, any renegotiation of the TV deal in Australia for S15 MUST have:
1. At least one game with an Australian team on FTA live. it might be the 5th pick game, but we need to have the game on FTA. Is it any wonder that kids are going to AFL and NRL when that is what they can see all the time on TV?
2. A weekly highlights show on FTA, with them having full access to all coverage and players.
Pay TV ensures a level of revenue that we need, but the FTA is essential to keeping the fans and sport healthy at the grass roots.
it doesn’t matter if you are earning a billion dollars a year with a sport if no one can watch you. You’ll die because you have no expsoure. The Wallabies agmes aren’t enough.
Timmypig said | December 8th 2009 @ 4:10pm | Report comment
I wonder if a FTA model could be based upon Don Lane’s NFL highlights show from the early-mid 1990s. A show like that could run almost year-round, showing Heineken Cup; S14/15; Currie Cup; NPC; 6N; 3N; mid year tours; end of year tours ….
Problems:
- Licensing the content. The FTA broadcaster would have to deal with several rights holders all of whom have the own patch to defend, and some of whom with squabbles with the FTA networks.
- Credible, popular, knowledgable, calm, unbiased host. Kafer comes to mind. Few others 8-(
- Timeslot. Once a week? Twice a week? What gets pushed aside on the FTA station? How long until it gets dropped for something the cretins will watch that is cheaper, eg 2nd tier (and very cheap) cruddy US sitcoms.
Maybe this is in the too hard basket.
damo said | December 8th 2009 @ 8:53pm | Report comment
Rugby needs some hype. Hype needs FTA exposure.
It doesn’t matter how. It needs to find its way onto FTA TV.
Highlight packages are good. All the tries and some big phases are always good. I agree we need some career presenters and not just technical “experts” to present the show. There are a few rugby tragics who work professionally in media. But the essential thing is we need the rucks, lineouts, bombs, tackles and tries on the bloody box EVERY WEEKEND.
What games ? Dunno. What comp? Dunno. What channel? Dunno.
We need the rucks, lineouts, bombs, tackles and tries on the bloody box EVERY WEEKEND.
jacko said | January 4th 2010 @ 12:46pm | Report comment
Only just seen this now after linking from another article.
Never a truer word as been written. Show the kids the game, have people creating a buzz about it and they’ll sign up. To torture and change a well know movie quote ‘ “If you show it, they will come”.
kick,clap,kick said | January 4th 2010 @ 1:04pm | Report comment
i see one problem.. Even top quality RU rates poorly on FTA…The Bledisloes averaged less than a Fri night NRL game..
rugbyfuture said | January 4th 2010 @ 1:36pm | Report comment
when, and exact citings please.