By Steve Kaless
December 18th 2009 @ 4:36am
Related coverage
The Code War will get more precise in 2010
You don’t need to monitor this site for long to realise that its readers take their TV ratings very seriously. You could say they are seen as the most popular ammunition in the code wars.
Rarely has the dust settled on any major game before people are touting its success or failure on its audience numbers, which is why developments over the next few weeks should make 2010 more interesting.
In just over a week, TV ratings will undergo a dramatic change as OzTam will begin the first ratings week of 2010 (which starts on December 27) with a new system that not only records what people watch, but also what they record and watch later.
The new time-shift viewing data is set to reflect the growing number of people who utilize personal digital video recorders such as Tivo and Foxtel IQ.
“It’s designed to better reflect the viewing behaviours of the market,” OzTam cief executive Kate Inglis-Clark told The Australian this week.
It will be interesting to see whether the two giants of TV ratings – rugby league and AFL – experience better figures or if rugby union and football are able to close the gap.
Union fans have often argued that their relatively poor figures are understated due to the fact that large swathes of their fans choose to record the matches and watch them at a more viewer-friendly time.
It looks like we’ll finally get some hard data with which to test that argument.
Sadly won’t we still won’t get are any sort of figures about how many people watch the games in pubs. Any argument about TV ratings always seem to fizzle out as one party claims to have been rammed into some giant pub, at which the crowd was glued to the screen.
Given the poor viewing figures for some matches, there must be some giant pubs I’ve never been to before.
Of course, this extra focus on Pay TV figures remains relevant as OzTam figures show that Australia continues to have a very low penetration of Pay TV when compared to other developed nations, with the vast majority of Australian households still without Pay TV.
It’s easy to see why Fox are so keen to wrap up as much sporting content as possible as this appears to be the best way to drive subscriptions.
Well, certainly if the quality of other content is anything to go by. New Zealand’s Next Top Model anyone?
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Michael C said | December 18th 2009 @ 5:02am | Report comment
Yeah, pubs and departure lounges at airports and……
can’t people just accept the indicative nature of a survey (statistical sample set).
If we want to be uber precise, then, let’s get every single household linked up.
Billo said | December 18th 2009 @ 5:32am | Report comment
Will the OzTam figures include all of Australia in future, or will it still be simply the five capitals?
If the latter, AFL will always have an apparently larger number of viewers than the NRL.
Michael C said | December 18th 2009 @ 8:45am | Report comment
OzTam is separate to the RegTam.
The RegTam is 4 major regional zones, QLD, Nth NSW, Sth NSW and Vic/Tas.
However, outside of the OzTam and RegTam is the ‘Diarised’ areas, where data comes a tad bit later, and includes NT, regional SA and regional WA and parts of regional Qld etc.
ScottWoodward.me said | December 18th 2009 @ 1:32pm | Report comment
I like to have a TimTam while watching.
jus de couchon said | December 18th 2009 @ 6:22am | Report comment
Watching the 6 Nations here is a big pub thing in Britain where even soccer heads can sometimes be interested. I guess T.V ratings dont account for this , or do they?
Mr cheese said | December 18th 2009 @ 9:52am | Report comment
jus, are you English ?
The viewing figures for the 6 N generally show that around 5 or 6 million viewers watch the bigger matches.
That is quite a lot, selon moi.
Ian Noble said | December 18th 2009 @ 10:54pm | Report comment
Bard, the UK viewing research bureau, take their figures from households, pubs, clubs etc are excluded. So for the 6Ns and other major rugby union games the numbers are low as quite alot of people, myself included prefer to watch in a pub as the atmosphere etc is better. No wonder ESPN are so keen to include the GP in their schedules as they have recently agreed to pay £30M (60M Aus $) over three years to show an additional 43 games of the GP per season. Sky still have the rights to 17 games per season in the GP plus the Heinekin and Amlin cups games, IRB 7’s, womens rugby, England’s home games and U20 internationals.
Kurt said | December 18th 2009 @ 6:27am | Report comment
Interesting article Steve, it will be fascinating to see whether this new measurement methodology has any significant impact. My gut feel is probably not a huge amount overall – soccer will probably go up a bit due to people recording EPL games overnight, but Australian football and league may also benefit as I’m sure plenty of people record one game whilst watching another when games are played simultaneously – e.g. – Saturday night for the AFL. Can’t see it changing the relative audience shares in any major way though.
Crashy said | December 18th 2009 @ 7:16am | Report comment
iIf or one record almost all rugby games and watch them the next morning. There were a lot of my mates who got up to watch the November Wallabies tour but most simply recorded the games to watch on the following Sunday mornings.
Now Mr Kaless you point a suspicous finger at rugby in your article ( for a change) but it is no secret that Foxtel viewership is massive in the traditional rugby supporter regions ( i.e uppper North shore). It will be interesting to see how the figures stack up.
One can make gross generalisations of a code based on a sample of viewer numbers – hec the Shute shield outrated the AFL this season on occasion and the odd Toyota Cup game outrated a Super14 game between 2 Kiwi sides in Aus.
Will be interesting
King of the Gorganites said | December 18th 2009 @ 7:30am | Report comment
interesting article. not sure if it will overly help any code. if its going to help any one it will be rugby. super 14 games in SA can get really low figures. who wants to watch the bulls v cheetahs at 3.00am? i know i dont want to, but what i do do is tape it and watch it in the morning. watch the super 14 figures and 6 nations figures go up (though not dramatically). same applies for EPL.
Dogs Of War said | December 18th 2009 @ 8:39am | Report comment
Could help AFL and NRL whose Friday night games get played after midnight most times (and the NRL’s Sunday matches as well). And as they are on free to air, a lot more people have the opportunity to tape them.
Might even provide some good data that will bring forward those telecasts with games starting at 9:30pm on a Friday night into opposing cities?
AndyRoo said | December 18th 2009 @ 9:31am | Report comment
I don’t see any code being a big winner over the others but perhaps all will see slight increases. My first reaction was Soccer and Rugby would win because they have so many games in horrible time zones …… but then the AFL and NRL would also see increases.
When I look back at the events I actually used my IQ for it was mainly Rugby (strange from a football fan but those games in football I really wanted to watch I would try to do so live) but also it was Rugby League too.
Going out on a friday night then I would IQ the Eels game.
I am sure young Victorians would do the same except sub League for AFL.
I also think the pub stats aren’t some mirracle oasis of only Rugby fans, walk into a pub in NSW/QLD and 9 times out of ten their are a few blokes watching the NRL. Which would more than cancel out the the big but fewer rugby events….. also in QLD SOO is a huge pub event. Likewise the FA cup in Sydney. I think all codes would benefit but don’t see any perceived gaps diminishing, even though Football and Rugby are near strict pay tv affairs.
Redb said | December 18th 2009 @ 9:44am | Report comment
Agree, don’t think it will effect things that much re ‘taping’ a game. Except maybe fill up IQ hard rives with desperate code warriors trying to show their game is watched.
Much the same mentality pervades internet polls.
Would like to see Pay TV penetration stats published for various cities so that ratings can be intepreted for % of audience rather than the quantative number.
In the mean time we’ll stick with crowd numbers.
Redb
John Ryan said | December 18th 2009 @ 10:16am | Report comment
You may also find out just how few people view RU as well
King of the Gorganites said | December 18th 2009 @ 2:06pm | Report comment
WRONG.
The man said | December 18th 2009 @ 7:35am | Report comment
I would prefer if Jamie Sowards kicking got more precise in 2010.
katzilla said | December 18th 2009 @ 7:42am | Report comment
‘New Zealand’s Next Top Model anyone?’
I prefer Tool Academy. Rugby Union will get a slight boost from this for sure, I record 4 games every weekend and I’m sure most other rugby fans do too. The South Africa time frame makes it a bit tough to watch all games live.
Mind you I tape 2-3 League games per week also.
If you tune in for one session of the cricket does it count that you watched the whole thing?
If you go away then come back does it count as a seperate viewer?
Cricket is going to own it this summer.
Ill tape one session and watch another and be counted as 2 people!
Brett McKay said | December 18th 2009 @ 8:08am | Report comment
I had the same thought Katz, S14 figures should benefit from this new method, but even still we’re not talking hundreds of thousands of “new” viewers…
Nashi said | December 18th 2009 @ 12:43pm | Report comment
I stream all the S14 games through Running Rugby from Fox. Obviously these games wont be counted at all. I have always resisted Austar (country Fox) because I only every wanted the rugby and refuse to pay an exhorbitant subscription to have my kids become couch potatoes……
The landscape is changing. TV (Free or Pay) will not be a distribution medium for niche markets for very much longer. The mainstream will stay but I tend to think the NBN other technology changes means the convergance of TV/Internet/Computer in the loungeroom with Pay per view options similar to what I do with Running Rugby.
Sam Taulelei said | December 18th 2009 @ 1:09pm | Report comment
My ISP iiNet provides delayed coverage (by 4 hours I think) of Super 14 rugby games but only those games involving Australian teams. They also show all the Currie Cup, Air NZ NPC games and Barclays Premiership football delayed. All this content is unmetered and wouldn’t be captured by OZTam as it’s not recorded and watched later, it’s streamed and constantly available until the following weeks games. From my Popcorn Hour I can connect to my Mac and watch the streaming content from iiNet on my TV.
Television ratings can no longer be the primary metric for gauging the popularity of a show or event. People can obtain content from so many different sources to tv and watch it on devices other than a TV. On any given day on the train there are people watching content on an iPhone, iPod Touch, PSP and laptop. EyeTV and Foxtel have iPhone apps to watch their content. I agree with Nashi, the living room will be software companies, television manufacturers and content providers new battleground when it used to be just the domain of tv networks.
Dogs Of War said | December 18th 2009 @ 2:09pm | Report comment
Bigpond provides the same for NRL and AFL matches. 24hrs after the match has been played, they are available on the site, unmetred for bigpond customers, but available to all (HD as well, looks great on my 50″ plasma)
AndyRoo said | December 18th 2009 @ 2:14pm | Report comment
What???? The internet isn’t exclusive to Rugby Fans!
Learn something every day
Edit: I am a football fan and would love to believe in a fairy tale that millions were watching the A league through internet streaming, unfortunately I am too cynical.
I get the feeling some Rugby fans generally think their game is more popular than League or AFL in Australia.
Dogs Of War said | December 18th 2009 @ 2:19pm | Report comment
I rely on it as I refused to pay for Foxtel. Can wait the 24hrs to watch my team play.
Lazza said | December 18th 2009 @ 2:36pm | Report comment
How do you avoid hearing the score? It’s like watching a movie and knowing how it ends. I want my Football live and am willing to pay but appreciate that not everyone can afford Pay TV. The variety and options on offer are amazing these days. No more waiting till midnight, once a week, for a 1 hour highlights package. My problem these days is to decide which Football I watch.
Dogs Of War said | December 18th 2009 @ 2:43pm | Report comment
Helps that I don’t watch much TV, just download anything I want to watch and when I have time, watch it then. You do get used to knowing the score of a match, but if your team won, it’s great to see how it happened. I suppose many years of workign shift work (not any more), helped me get over little things like having the score spoil the result.
Sam Taulelei said | December 18th 2009 @ 2:23pm | Report comment
Andy if you have been reading the rugby blogs on the Roar then it would quickly clear up that misconception. I am a rugby fan and while I do subscribe to Foxtel I wouldn’t hesitate in cancelling it if I can still watch the rugby I want live through whatever medium. Streaming Barclays premiership is great however as I struggle to stay up to watch them live.
AndyRoo said | December 18th 2009 @ 2:32pm | Report comment
Sam
Don’t take offence I just couldn’t resist the joke.
Streaming is pretty big for all codes I suggest but FTA and Pay TV are still king…. for now. Fox Sports themselves are looking at more streaming and as I didn’t have Setana, streaming was the only way I could guarantee watching the WCQ Bahrain vs NZ.
The reason I don’t really rate the legal streaming yet is that too often it’s delayed coverage. It really has to be live to become a big player.
It does make moving overseas a lot less scary prospect though.
Dogs Of War said | December 18th 2009 @ 2:36pm | Report comment
I’d pay per game, somethign like $10 to view via streaming. Seems fair enough if I want to watch it live.
Corey said | December 19th 2009 @ 5:20pm | Report comment
I think Rugby League in Melbourne will get a slight boost as well- due to it being played after midnight on free-to-air. But Rugby will win that one for sure. The gap won’t close immensely though. And for most international rugby matches there is a replay the following day or week for a more viewer friendly time slot. So that may not help there.
Crashy said | December 18th 2009 @ 8:22am | Report comment
Brett – no it wont give us an extra hundred thousand viewers but it will capture the many of us who record the Super 14 games to watch later. With 2 tinlids under 2 1/2 it is absolute purgatory to get up at 3am.
It will just make the viewer samples a bit more accurate.
Brett McKay said | December 18th 2009 @ 9:12am | Report comment
sorry Crashy, I’ve just re-read what I wrote, and it came across almost the polar opposite of what I meant. No doubt it will boost ratings figures, and you’re quite right, it will more accurately reflect how we watch the games from the Republic. And if that puts an end to snide little underhanded comments in paper articles like “The Bulls-Tahs semi-final from Pretoria could only draw 25,000 viewers in Sydney…” (as an eg), then that’s a good thing…
BigAl said | December 18th 2009 @ 8:55am | Report comment
How can they measure just what ammount of coverage that is recorded is actually watched later ?
Any points gained from multiple watchings ?
Bay35Pablo said | December 18th 2009 @ 1:19pm | Report comment
BigAl, my understanding is the system can check if it is watched within a week, and will regard that as having been watched.
siva samoa said | December 18th 2009 @ 9:04am | Report comment
Alot of rugby fans in Queensland missed out on watching friday night games. I coach a junior rugby side and all the juniors in Brisbane train on friday night so you have many kids and their parents are missing out.
Sometimes the club games are on at the same time in the eveing when the Reds are playing and I can’t understand why the QRU try and work around it.
Crashy said | December 18th 2009 @ 9:16am | Report comment
yep thats what I was trying to get at BM.
A lot of rugby players record the Shute Shield games as well as they are playing at the same time and cant watch – not that it will matter much but simply provide a more accurate figure
Crosscoder said | December 18th 2009 @ 9:26am | Report comment
Very interesting,but worth noting due to the NRL not having fixed seasons schedules,recording games is not therefore unusual for yours truly and for my mates, judging by comments they have made.
I just wish for 2010 the ratings mob,actually includes all regional areas,as the good citizens of these areas are hardly non entities.
As the saying goes”we are one but we are many” and from timbuktu we come.
Chris said | December 18th 2009 @ 12:43pm | Report comment
Yeah I wouldn’t put much stock in any ratings which omit Canberra, Townsville, Gold Coast, Newcastle, Central Coast or Wollongong. The AFL doesn’t have any “non capitals” of this size in their area.
BigAl said | December 18th 2009 @ 1:40pm | Report comment
. . . Geelong !
Chris said | December 20th 2009 @ 10:50am | Report comment
Uh… no – Geelong is smaller than every single city I mentioned.
Brett McKay said | December 18th 2009 @ 1:52pm | Report comment
Port Adelaide!!
The Answer said | December 19th 2009 @ 9:08pm | Report comment
I believe it is known as just Adelaide.
Forgetmenot said | December 18th 2009 @ 9:56am | Report comment
It will mean higher ratings for non-sports programs.
Most sports fans watch their games live, or catch the last 15 min or so. Not many people would record, anda few might delay, but i dont see any figures going up a huge amount.
I cannot stand watching any game where i already know the score. Not even Geelong and football …
Although i can watch an awesome goal 40 m from the sideline from Ablett, over and over and over …
Redb said | December 18th 2009 @ 10:08am | Report comment
I still have the April ANZAC Day game Ess v Coll on Foxtel IQ so I can watch the last Qtr over and over again. Never get tired of it.
They should count great games and how many times they get replayed on IQ? Just kidding 
M1tch said | December 18th 2009 @ 2:54pm | Report comment
NRL Grand final would dominate from my viewings
Brian said | December 18th 2009 @ 10:15am | Report comment
AFL probably the least recorded code, its never played a t a horrible hour and its not very balmy in Melbourne April-Spetember. Having said that I agree there want be major differences emerge. Yes the EPL & Rugby is often played at bad hours but then many AFL/NRL fans tape their favourite teams etc. Many AFL fanatics go to the game and tape their team – not sure how they count that one. The only big improver from recording I suspect maybe the World Cups in both football and rugby. Many football fans go crazy with the recorder at WC time.
AndyRoo said | December 18th 2009 @ 10:21am | Report comment
Maybe the least recorded as a % of AFL fans…but their are a lot of them.
Time will tell
Lazza said | December 18th 2009 @ 10:50am | Report comment
You will still have the problem of ‘out of home’ viewing. When sports fans watch a game in a pub, on large outdoor screens or a whole village in a 3rd world country watches on one TV, then it is very difficult to measure accurately.
Football fans in particular like to watch matches in large groups so their viewing figures will always be underestimated. That’s why World Cup or overseas EPL ratings are always given as an estimate and not an accurate figure. It’s impossible to measure properly and no-one knows for sure.
Chris said | December 18th 2009 @ 12:46pm | Report comment
Yeah – because no one watches Origin, the AFL Grand Final, NRL Grand Final, Wallabies in a pub. I have NEVER seen the A-League on in a pub, except maybe in summer once the cricket is done for the day. Even then no one is actually watching it. Every pub I’ve been to in Origin is standing room only.
Lazza said | December 18th 2009 @ 1:39pm | Report comment
“Football fans in particular” not exclusively Chris. Did you miss that?
MV Dave said | December 18th 2009 @ 2:01pm | Report comment
You see Chris thats where its different with your code and football…football is an international code and whilst you count tv viewers in the millions we count them in the billions
Chris said | December 20th 2009 @ 10:48am | Report comment
doesn’t seem to help the A-Leauge (where ratings are measured in the thousands and crowds in the hundreds).
mattamkII said | December 18th 2009 @ 1:02pm | Report comment
Other thing not considered is the games aired overseas….
I live in Singapore, a tiny place but people watching big games of SH sport (Union and AFL mostly) at pubs is in the thousands, perhaps 10’s of thousands. And that doesnt include those watching it live on the Aussie Network…..
People would be shoked how popular the Bledisloe matches are all across Asia…locals and expats alike. Nothing like the EPL but still very popular.
ScottWoodward.me said | December 18th 2009 @ 1:41pm | Report comment
Given the huge popularity of Rugby League on pay TV, I am amazed that Foxtel do not show Super League especially as they are trying to flog IQ.
SL is actually more entertaining than the NRL as it is not so defensive and most Aussie viewers would know at least 50% of the players especially as each team have players from NZ and Aus.
Springs said | December 18th 2009 @ 1:49pm | Report comment
They don’t because Nine have the rights and usually show both televised ESL games a week. When Foxtel had the rights they only played it on Tuesday. The thing that amazes me is they don’t even report on ESL, even though they report on all major American sports and many major soccer comps. You woulld think that the average League viewer in NSW/QLD would be more interested in ESL than those sports.
Dogs Of War said | December 18th 2009 @ 2:07pm | Report comment
Because Channel 9 bought the rights to it, to show before the 4pm League, though they put the wrestling in between it all (should have run straight after Boots n All)
Midfielder said | December 18th 2009 @ 4:45pm | Report comment
Steve
One aspect in your thread that stands out to me is how important the current and expected future rating are…
I think it is true to say that the expansion by RU to 15 teams, AFL in it’s Gold Coat & Second Sydney team, and Football expansion to 14 teams is driven by expected media revenue from expected TV ratings…
Meaning all three codes better have done their homework well… Also makes you wonder about why RL is so quite on it’s expansion plans…
Steve a question for you wearing your RL hat … given the importance of TV ratings the placement of new teams is I imgaine critical … would you look at new RL teams like the Central Coast Bears (adding little to TV ratings) … or a Perth / NZ team were TV ratings improvements would be much higher.? ? ?
Dogs Of War said | December 18th 2009 @ 7:21pm | Report comment
League is quiet because it needs to get it’s house in order first. Once the next round of TV rights is finished, it will then know exactly what it can do. No use adding 2 more teams if income is going to stay the same.
As for TV ratings, I actually think TV dollars, that a NZ team would actually pay for itself as we would also get an increase in rights in the NZ TV dollars, while a Perth team adds a new market to the game as well.
One of the reasons I can’t see how a Central Coast team can happen other than a team moving from Sydney.
Steve Kaless said | December 19th 2009 @ 9:17pm | Report comment
Midfielder,
For different reasons I’d go with both Perth and Central Coast in 2013. CC should be a no-brainer, and shouldn’t require the hard work of Perth, if anything it would be an enormous god will gesture to bring back the Bears and would be a huge shot in the arm for the game much like the return of the Rabbitohs (Wouldn’t be a dry eye in the house when they first march back out).
Perth would definately take more work, but valuable in order to have a national comp, getting rid of the Reds remains a grave error.
I think RL is quiet because it will be all be down to the IC which is yet to kick off.
Midfielder said | December 20th 2009 @ 10:43am | Report comment
Steve
Not sure the Bears have that same following as Souths … however aside from that and putting my business hat on .. a NZ or PNG team would add a huge potential TC audience..
Ocenia has 11 million people with the big three PNG 5.8 million, NZ 4.2 million and Fiji .8 of a million… given NSW & QLD in total have about 11.6 million to me it is a no brainer where the teams go…I find the push for a CC team is more for a feel good factor… No doubt they will get reasonable crowds and make some people feel better but the CC is already one of RL highest rating TV areas … how much more can they add to the ratings… Perth / PNG / NZ offer between them more than doubling the size of the the RL footprint…maybe as much as 13 million extra people…
M1tch said | December 18th 2009 @ 6:17pm | Report comment
Hey Steve, I thought you said the code war was a myth
Steve Kaless said | December 19th 2009 @ 9:19pm | Report comment
I largely believe it is, but I have noticed many good folk enjoy a ratings dispute so when I heard of this tale I felt it was wrth sharing. I’m just getting into the spirit of the season.
Merry Christmas.
Rod said | December 18th 2009 @ 8:20pm | Report comment
Springs, I’d agree, Fox sports goes out of its way to show scores and highlights of the GP, Top14 and NZ RU and in the last 12 months the SA Curry Cup, heck they are even showing games these days, yet we don’t get anything about the ESL from England, the only time we did was when Andrew Johns played a few games for Warrington and they decided to show the games live and give the scores out, it’s pathetic when you think about it.
Australians hardly watch their own RU comps, yet we are getting all these updates from these other RU comps from all over the joint and then there is RL which rates its backside off on Fox sports and the only time they mention it is when a player decides to leave the NRL for the SL or something bad happens.
If they can find the time to show the score and stuff from all these RU comps, they can find the time to do the same for the Super League.
And before anyone says anything, yes I know 9 now has the SL, but Fox sports should still put the scores across at least once a week, they don’t have the rights to show the French T 14 or the GP from England with it’s magners League yet Fox shows their results and stuff at times.
Nothing for the RL though, couldn’t let anyone know the game is played anywhere outside of Aus huh?
siva samoa said | December 18th 2009 @ 11:09pm | Report comment
Sorry to dissapoint you Rod but why don’t you ask foxtel about it. Its got nothing to do with rugby . It might have something to do with foxtel wanting rights to the next Rugby World Cup . Top 14 on Eurosport. Heineken Cup on ESPN. Magners League, European Challenge Cup and Guiness Premiership on Setanata. Im not complaining.
Crashy said | December 19th 2009 @ 6:19am | Report comment
Rod – Fox show all the foreign rugby comps as funnnily enough there are a lot of saffas and poms that live in Aus!! these shows rate well actually.
Maybe we just need to realise that there is no interest in the ESL good forbid.
Don’t ruin your argument by saying sweeping statements like ‘Australians hardly watch their own RU comps’. People that dont follow rugby don’t watch rugby comps much like where I don’t watch league.
Do you think there is some anti-league conspiracy by the owners of Fox Sports?
wow
Dogs Of War said | December 19th 2009 @ 6:35am | Report comment
C’mon, prove they rate well. Do they rate better than the Super 14? How many houses are tuning into these Rugby shows.
crashy said | December 19th 2009 @ 6:39am | Report comment
Nope – dont need to. How about you prove they don’t rate well.
Shute Shield outrated the AFL this season in NSW on 2 occasions.
what’s your point?
Dogs Of War said | December 19th 2009 @ 6:40am | Report comment
Hahaha, even though I do watch the Shute Shield games, I highly doubt that is the case.
Anyway, I will get your some proof shortly.
Dogs Of War said | December 19th 2009 @ 6:58am | Report comment
http://www.ebroadcast.com.au/e-news/uploads/1/ASTRA-Ratings-for-Week-091129.pdf
Hmm, I see Hanna Montana, I see old re runs of Seinfeld, I even see WWE Raw, yet for the life of me I can’t see any Rugby Union, why is that? There are no other sports really up against it, so why isn’t it making the top 50 programs on pay TV for the week?
rugbyfuture said | December 19th 2009 @ 11:28am | Report comment
because many people who love rugby, arent stupid enough to pay for pay tv
Dogs Of War said | December 19th 2009 @ 11:40am | Report comment
Mate, it’s the only way to see any Rugby. Unless you are content with the odd international that gets shown on Free to air.
Anyway, it’s your Rugby loving mate that is making the claim that it’s quite popular on pay TV, while you make the opposite statement. I think you two need to sit down and get your story’s straight.
rugbyfuture said | December 19th 2009 @ 11:58am | Report comment
yeh i don’t agree with him, but i hold by my statement that the middle class boujour dont actually get pay tv much as other socio economic groups, yet they’re the ones who support rugby
Justin said | December 19th 2009 @ 5:33pm | Report comment
DOW – hate to tell you but the Shute Shield aint on pay tv, its on ABC HD
Dogs Of War said | December 19th 2009 @ 6:04pm | Report comment
Yeah, I watched it while the season was going on, as at that level it can be entertaining. I am one of those middle class people that rugbyfuture rabbits on about that don’t spend money on pay TV. Can’t justify it really when all I use it for is watching the odd sports match.
Sam Taulelei said | December 19th 2009 @ 11:58am | Report comment
hey that’s not fair I have a great love for rugby, if you live outside of NSW and Queensland, Foxtel is the only way you can watch any rugby as it’s rarely broadcast by channel 7 and if it is it’s after midnight. It’s not a case of stupidity but desire and lack of choice.
Rod said | December 19th 2009 @ 10:51am | Report comment
Because RU fans hear something once from their mates and it becomes folk law.
And crashy, if there is no interest in the ESL, why can it get on FTA TV in Australia and all RU bar Wallaby tests can’t?
Please try harder
Southern Waratah said | December 19th 2009 @ 1:40pm | Report comment
They was I see it, League can be the big looser out of all of this, The NRL have been told there will be no substantial increase in the TV rights. Channel 9 is now run but a financial consortium who will do the numbers on what’s the better rating TV sport in Australia. If AFL proves to have a wider viewing audience Channel 9 may well pool all their money together to get the AFL TV rights allowing also that its has a wider national coverage, also given they’ve had them once before and that 7 & 10 had to work together to secure them this time around a single focused bid for AFL could be the catalist & real danger that League could end up with little or no TV rights bedding war.
Where does the money come from then? Certainly not gate takings….
Southern Waratah said | December 19th 2009 @ 1:40pm | Report comment
They was I see it, League can be the big looser out of all of this, The NRL have been told there will be no substantial increase in the TV rights. Channel 9 is now run but a financial consortium who will do the numbers on what’s the better rating TV sport in Australia. If AFL proves to have a wider viewing audience Channel 9 may well pool all their money together to get the AFL TV rights allowing also that its has a wider national coverage, also given they’ve had them once before and that 7 & 10 had to work together to secure them this time around a single focused bid for AFL could be the catalyst & real danger that League could end up with little or no TV rights bedding war.
Where does the money come from then? Certainly not gate takings….
M1tch said | December 19th 2009 @ 2:33pm | Report comment
Channel 7 has already said they are interested in Origin and finals..
The separate packs deals is something we have needed for a long time, and once the game is independently owned there are no conflicts like their currently is with Fox and 9
Dogs Of War said | December 19th 2009 @ 2:56pm | Report comment
Not to mention that if League can deal with Fox sports separately (rather than via whatever channel wins the rights), they will be in a much better position financially. This all depends on the anti-siphoning rules being somewhat relaxed.
sheek said | December 20th 2009 @ 9:52am | Report comment
Rugby union (of which I’m a fan) is clutching at straws if it thinks including pay-TV recorded matches is going to make a significant difference to their figures.
Crowd figures & TV ratings are all relative, IMHO. Whether you include pubs & airport departure lounge figures isn’t going to significantly alter the facts.
Did I ever mention league & union will come together anyway………. ???
Matt S said | December 21st 2009 @ 11:57am | Report comment
Interesting in the SMH today:
http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/league-news/sydney-tunes-in-and-turns-on-to-nrl-as-afl-drops-out-20091220-l7i4.html
http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/league-news/we-will-fight-them-on-the-couches-league-outrates-afl-for-first-time-20091220-l7i3.html
Sportfreak. said | December 22nd 2009 @ 6:56am | Report comment
Rod – I would argue like the League ‘World Cup’ the TV rights are by-and-large given away. Not a lot of competition by tv stations around the world to watch Hull vs Bradfield play a derivation of a world game.
i had a mate who went to the opening game of the ‘world cup’ after being one of the 10,000 who were given free tickets and he left at half time with half the stadium.
stash said | December 22nd 2009 @ 10:27pm | Report comment
How about Australian television feeds going offshore?
I see Rugby union eclipsing AFL and League when it comes to international appeal. I’m pretty sure sponsors are getting more bang for the buck than they realise.
I spend most of the time in Hong Kong – and if its…say a Bledsloie match… then there’s some pretty decent crowds in the pubs. But the real fans are recording off satellite or direct feeds like rugbyzone. Rugby lunch parties and beers in the middle of the afternoon…
An international rugby game gets more viewers than League of AFL… the only games really popular are finals and Sate of Origin. Neither games get any newspaper coverage in Asia…whereas union gets newspaper slots and even occasional CNN commentary.
Isn’t the world cup the second most watched sporting event after the Soccer world cup?
stash said | December 22nd 2009 @ 10:29pm | Report comment
ahem…my mistake…football
(though I’m sure the rules for soccer and football are the same??!!)
captain nemo said | December 28th 2009 @ 9:52am | Report comment
stash, as you would know living mostly in Honky, EPL, 6 nations, Tri-nations and super 14 are the only shows in town that get any attention at all. Australian horse racing gets far more attention in Honky than NRL/AFL. Word was that the NRL wanted to play a Warriors vs Aussie NRL team up here but they couldn’t get their act together. Would be interested to see if a game of NRL would attract much attention like the Bledisloe did. Honky 7’s is a big event here so the Bledisloe had something to work off.