Last Friday’s much-hyped Collingwood and Geelong clash was the highest-rating home and away match since Ben Cousins’ Richmond debut against Carlton in Round 1 of last year. It’s ironic given both games were originally slotted to be shown on delay.
It took people power to have them shown live, but the broadcasters can’t have walked away disappointed.
Despite Seven’s resistance to showing Friday night’s clash live outside of Melbourne, the game averaged over a million viewers nationally. It peaked at 784,000 in Melbourne.
The figures won’t mean we’ll see more live footy from Seven any time soon, of course. They are quite comfortable having Better Homes & Gardens lead in the footy in order to maximise ratings across the evening, and it’s not as though they have a history of moving around their schedule.
Remember when they had the AFL move back the start time for the St Kilda-Geelong clash last year to keep it as a lead in to the 6pm news?
So the only place left for fans to look – other than Channel Ten, who generally look after fans when given the chance – is the next broadcast deal, which may still fetch as much as $1 billion for the AFL.
Since the last deal was signed, a number of changes to the landscape offer hope for aggrieved supporters.
The first we have known all along – Channel Seven will not have the right to bid last this time, which means the AFL will have a little extra power at the negotiating table. If one network is unable to offer live football on Friday nights, it will be easier to then turn to another network who is willing and able to do so.
The possibility of this scenario is increased by the AFL’s indications it may sell individual timeslots to broadcasters, rather than package all timeslots as a whole.
The stumbling block here is how hard the AFL are willing to push for live football on Friday nights. They certainly sympathise with the plight of fans, but will they back it up if it means it could cost them in broadcast dollars?
It remains to be seen.
Another important shift is the relaxing of restrictions on advertising for betting companies. It emerged last year in The Age that live Friday night football could become mandatory in the new deal and that it was included in the prospectus handed to potential rights-holders.
This was because a trade-off to broadcasters came about in the form of increased revenue from advertising “live odds” at the start of each quarter, as Fox Sports already do. It is likely a fierce bidding war would ensue between betting companies to be aligned with the Friday night coverage.
The downside here is that it places gambling fairly prominently during broadcasts, a path the AFL mightn’t be too comfortable going down.
The final shift isn’t as tangible, but it’s one that simply cannot be overlooked. The public push for live football is stronger now than perhaps it has ever been.
At the time the last broadcast deal was being negotiated, Channel Nine went live on Friday nights wherever possible. Interstate games and sell-outs were almost always live on Nine. It wasn’t the best possible scenario, but footy fans were kept happy.
This time around, football fans are suffering through the treatment handed to them by Channel Seven, and it’s having a noticeable effect. The advent of many Facebook groups and live online streams – two other things that weren’t around last time rights were up for grabs – are clear indicators of fans’ unhappiness at Seven’s coverage.
The momentum is shifting towards live football and there are few excuses left for both the league and broadcasters come the next broadcast deal.
The only worry is that coverage outside of Melbourne will be overlooked.
As mentioned above, viewers in other states weren’t as lucky as Victorians on Friday night. Adelaide viewers typically have a one and a half hour delay for games out of Melbourne, and the gap is three hours for those in Perth.
Time zones do make it difficult, but more of an effort needs to be made to look after fans to the west.
Oh, and as for that final concern – that live football affects clubs at the gate – 88,195 turned up on Friday night. It was the biggest home and away crowd Geelong have ever played in front of.
The excuses really are running out.
Follow Michael on twitter @mdifabrizio
Enjoy sports? Enjoy a bargain? All Sports Online has your favourite sporting brands at up to 70% off. Online only, premium quality sporting goods and merchandise at discounted prices. Get a deal now.
Do you have what it takes to become a sports writer? Write for the roar
AFL articles
- More rugby league players to defect to the AFL? (160)
- Mobile madness: Optus decision bad news for codes (153)
- AFL divisions are the way of the future (106)
- Foxtel’s AFL coverage is nirvana for footy fans (89)
- AFL’s most hated club turns 120 years old (78)
- Israel Folau now ready for AFL (76)
- Optus ruling actually a good thing for AFL fans (52)
- Ling holds hope for club loyalty in AFL
- Andrew Krakouer given four weeks leave from Collingwood
- Giants inspired to prove doubters wrong (32)
- Malthouse not fazed by assistant issue
- Richo says look out for the Tigers in AFL
- AFL clubs’ leadership groups getting out of hand (15)
- Who’s to blame for the Majak Daw beat-up? (32)
- AFL clubs’ leadership groups getting out of hand (15)
- AFL divisions are the way of the future (107)
- Crows changing, but will this AFL preview change your life? (2)
- Is Heath Shaw the right leader for Collingwood? (11)
- Could a female coach succeed in the AFL? (36)
- Demons’ two captain Jacks the right leadership choice (5)
- Mobile madness: Optus decision bad news for codes (153)
James said | May 25th 2010 @ 4:09am | Report comment
I’ve given up on Seven. If they go back to 8:30pm, I refuse to watch. Hope my boycott and others hits them in the ratings more and more.
Warren Allen said | May 25th 2010 @ 7:32am | Report comment
Both stations treat viewers outside Victoria like mugs. The AFL spend so much money promoting the game interstate yet the most potent advertisement, the game itself, is telecast 2, 3 or 4 hours after the event or not at all! Thanks to some football fans (worldwide) I am now able to watch any game I choose live on the internet. To both the AFL and the relevant TV stations, the boat has sailed and the horse has bolted, so long!
Michael DiFabrizio said | May 25th 2010 @ 4:42pm | Report comment
Warren, apparently Seven’s coverage of the Carlton-Hawthorn game on Sunday was shown live in the US on ESPN2 – yet was delayed here in Australia. How crazy is that?
http://thebigtip.com.au/afl/44-opinion/480-seven-broadcasts-live-footy
Warren Allen said | May 25th 2010 @ 10:28pm | Report comment
Its a weird set up all right. Sometimes the streams I get are from Euro 2 TV. The other night it was from Romania I think and the picture was crystal.
Redb said | May 25th 2010 @ 8:34am | Report comment
That’s two Fridays in a row that Ch 7 ratings have gone up significantly as a result of live games into some cities. This is 2010, fans have so many options to get scores to follow the game live.
Better Homes & Gardens ratings this year have actually been lower than the delayed telecast of footy each Friday night, also beaten by Masterchef and yet Ch 7 persists.
Nationally CH 7 won Friday night last week due to its live AFL broadcast, wake up!
784,000 peak TV audience in Melbourne with 88,000 at the game – massive result all round for AFL.
Ian said | May 26th 2010 @ 7:58am | Report comment
Yeah, great result for a contest that was beamed into lounge rooms across Melbourne with no comparative or effective competition.
Redb said | May 26th 2010 @ 8:34am | Report comment
Irrevelant, the interest is there regardless of the ‘competition’.. Your kidding yourself, again.
Michael DiFabrizio said | May 26th 2010 @ 9:59am | Report comment
Wait, so MasterChef – pretty much the biggest show in the country – is not considered “effective competition?”
Ian said | May 26th 2010 @ 10:38am | Report comment
Have a look tonight at the rugby league ratings for the State of Origin. The national figure will be double that of last Friday nights Geelong – Collingwood game.
A couple of weeks ago on Friday evening 1.8 Million people watched a rugby league match out of Melbourne (at the same time an AFL game struggled to achieve a third of this)
Just stating the obvious that at the moment, the AFL gets a tidy unchallenged run into the lounge rooms of Melbourne. Such a run is not likely to continue and this will affect the existing monopolistic position of the AFL and hence will suffer to come close to what it seeks (or needs – thanks to expansionist follies).
When the hoarding by Channel Nine of Rugby League into Melbourne ends (and an end is in sight thanks to changes to the anti siphoning legislation) , I seriously doubt the AFL will be able to command its Billion dollar position it so desperately needs and desires.
Do you honestly believe that Masterchef is “effective competition”? Although I have noticed that the comparative Iron Chef on SBS does outrate the AFL in Sydney (where choice exists) so you might be onto something there.
Redb said | May 26th 2010 @ 10:59am | Report comment
“Have a look tonight at the rugby league ratings for the State of Origin. The national figure will be double that of last Friday nights Geelong – Collingwood game.”
Using your logic those numbers will be inflated as their is no competition from other sports tonight!
You talk in ifs and buts and maybes but have little proof that the interest in the Geelong-Collingwood game would be diminished if other sports were on at the same time.
Comparing one off RL events against home and away AFL games is also bordering on ignorance. Good luck with that.
Ian said | May 26th 2010 @ 11:05am | Report comment
I agree with you Redb:
There is no “proof” as there is no competition.
I’m merely pointing out that the current health of AFL against competition is untested other than in markets north of the Barassi Line. There, when the rugby league is on at the same time, the AFL bombs – Simple!
Redb said | May 26th 2010 @ 11:40am | Report comment
Ian,
All things being equal, you are still ignoring the historical fan base of each code in Melbourne/Adelaide/Perth and Sydney/Brisbane.
People might watch an event game or even a game involving the designated parochial town’s team (when successful) but could not care less about a neutral game between say Penrith and Parramatta, reverse in Sydney for a Geelong v Collingwood.
The classic example of the parochial factor is found in soccer. Massive difference between support for Socceroos and the A League, plus historical fanbase issues for the A League,.
People who arent soccer fanatics will watch a game featuring ‘Australia’ as they would in swimming (hardly a great spectaror sport), etc.
Event games like RL SOO will also be watched for a bit of biff, but a regular RL game featuring two non Melb club sides would bomb in Melbourne on TV.
The test is at club level for the pure game itself.
AFL at the ground in real D is a proven winner, even in Sydney and Brisbane where interest is at niche level the crowds are decent.
Ian said | May 26th 2010 @ 11:49am | Report comment
Redb
Fair enough and no argument there. Not for the first time, agree with pretty much all of what you have to say here.
Although I do believe a bit of competition is healthy otherwise we’d all be drinking VB, Fosters or XXXX dependent on which state we originate from.
Allan said | May 27th 2010 @ 4:31pm | Report comment
Ian – The crowd for the game last night was only 67,000 which is not good – given there was no competition on TV and any other sports that figure should be a concern even if it was wet game. In any case, a investigation will need to be done on NRL general crowds, they need to be related to gate receipts so proof of actual figures are obtained. At the moment, on how I understand it, the NRL counts players, umpires, security guards and cooks as part of their final crowd’s figure- can someone out there please correct me on this. This issue was published sometime last year in the media.
Ian said | May 27th 2010 @ 4:56pm | Report comment
Allan
I thought this article and posts were concerning Live Football on the TV rather than attendees at a mid week game. I think even the Mighty MCG would struggle to get 67000 on a cool, wet midweek game.
TV Ratings Game 1 National (Incl Regionals)
Match Average 3.6M
Match Peak 4.2M
http://www.nrl.com/news/news/newsarticle/tabid/10874/newsid/58826/record-audience-watches-origin-i/default.aspx
Or roughly about 3 times as many people that watched the great AFL Blockbuster last Friday!
Talking of empty seats, have you noticed the seating at many of the AFL games recently which appears to have little gaps all over the place, providing the illusion that the ground is fuller than it may be!
Michael C said | May 25th 2010 @ 8:47am | Report comment
I had such a relaxed weekend, starting from Friday night where I was able to hit the hay at about 10:15 instead of 11:30……….splendid!!!
oh, but Ch.7 will be annoyed that their post 10:15 ratings slumped!!!
Brett McKay said | May 25th 2010 @ 8:49am | Report comment
Michael, another factor I’m sure the networks are sweating on before lodging their bids is the mooted relaxation in the anti-syphoning laws that would allow a network to show a game (possibly live) on a digital multi-channel before showing it on their main channel. For Seven and Ten, especially in the interstate markets, it would mean they could run regular Fri and Sat night scheduling on their main channels, while showing the footy on 7Two and ONE HD. They argue it would in fact further encourage the lingering conversion to digital TV in Australian homes, and it’s probably hard to argue with them…
Michael C said | May 25th 2010 @ 11:54am | Report comment
it’d be brilliant to get this digital platform going properly…..and given it’s so cheap to get even just a SD set top box – - the Govt could employ ‘installers’ to run around the country and install them free of charge for the elderly!!!! (surely they couldn’t stuff that up).
It’s cheaper than Pay TV with ongoing costs.
And Geel vs Coll live into NSW and QLD (both metro and regional) on Seven2 would’ve been fantastic.
Brett McKay said | May 25th 2010 @ 1:37pm | Report comment
absolutely MC, especially given there was only one NRL game last Friday night. Prime in Wagga showed it from 8:30, like they do, and likewise Prime Canberra stuck with their normal 9:30 replay…
Brett McKay said | May 25th 2010 @ 1:52pm | Report comment
just to clarify, Prime was obviously showing the Collingwood-Geelong game, not the NRL…
M1tch said | May 25th 2010 @ 2:02pm | Report comment
does canberra get the syd nrl feed on 9/win?
Brett McKay said | May 25th 2010 @ 2:13pm | Report comment
yep, there’s a WIN station in town too. The local SCTen/ONE channels all come from Canberra too…
Michael DiFabrizio said | May 25th 2010 @ 4:50pm | Report comment
Cheers for the comment, Brett. Any word on how far away any changes to the anti-syphoning laws are? It seems like this has been talked about for ages. Would love to see networks able to fully utilise their secondary channels, especially when it comes to showing big games in NSW and Queensland.
Ian said | May 26th 2010 @ 10:44am | Report comment
As well as getting some rugby league south of the Barassi Line. LOL
Interesting to note Soccer Tragic, Senator Conroy made concessions to the World Cup recently so multi channeling will be starting on SBS next month. Apparently all it took was a letter. http://player.sbs.com.au/theworldgame#/twg_08/ExpertView/WorldCupExtras/playlist/World-Cup-broadcast-announcement
Conroy went onto say; “………………………………….With the new technology having a law drafted years ago that said you couldn’t show the matches, just shouldn’t be allowed to stand in the way of anyone who supported France, or Nigeria or Algeria Germany Ghana they should be able to see those these matches live….”
Maybe Seven, Ten and Nine could do likewise and assist sports fans closer to home?
Brett McKay said | May 26th 2010 @ 11:57am | Report comment
Ian, as I understand this WC move, Sen. Conroy agreed to remove 8 or 9 games off the ASL, which in effect then allowed SBS to show them on SBS2 at the same time as other games are being shown on SBS1. With those games no longer on the ASL, it meant SBS didn’t have to show them on their main channel first…
(edit) found the link I’ve been looking for: http://theworldgame.sbs.com.au/news/1001032/All-World-Cup-games-live-and-free-to-air-on-SBS
Brett McKay said | May 26th 2010 @ 10:49am | Report comment
no word of substance Michael, no. Unfortunately, all we seem to be getting in relation to the ASL is the odd tidbit from time to time, like what I mentioned above about the multi-channels, and that otherwise “negotiations are continuing”.
Unfortunately, Senator Conroy seems to chop and change on his to-do list at the moment. A few weeks ago it was the ASL, last week it was RuddNet and the NBN argument with Telstra, and this week he’s picked fights with Facebook and Google….
Galloping Guru said | May 25th 2010 @ 8:53am | Report comment
150,000 in Perth for Collingwood V Geelong.
315,000 in Perth for Fremantle V Collingwood , 2 obvious differences,
A— It was Fremantles biggest game for some time and,
B— the Fremantle Collingwood game was shown nearly live in Perth not on a 3 hour delay.
JamesP said | May 25th 2010 @ 10:51am | Report comment
Surely Perth has a strong case for football at 7.30pm….on a 2 hour Delay and ditch Better Homes & Gardens. With an 8.30pm start in Perth…the game is already over before their telecast begins!
The strength of the AFL is its national footprint…what good is that if you can’t get near live AFL into a booming city like Perth?
Michael DiFabrizio said | May 25th 2010 @ 4:46pm | Report comment
The situation in Perth is just madness, having the game start after its finished. Those figures – even accounting for Freo’s involvement in the first game – illustrate the impact delaying it so much has. Most people in this day and age would really struggle to avoid seeing the result for that long. And the bigger the game is the bigger the temptation to listen to the radio or get the scores online.
Galloping Guru said | May 26th 2010 @ 12:28am | Report comment
Actually was talking to mate about this today and he mentioned that he and his kids are in fantasy/dreamtime football so are always on the computer for updates on friday night to see how their team is going.
These updates also give the score, another reason to not watch Friday night footy in Perth.
Michael C said | May 26th 2010 @ 8:48am | Report comment
There’s over 600,000 registered teams (participants) combined between the AFL and Herald Sun ‘fantasy’ leagues. It’s big numbers. Lot’s of people on their iphones checking their AFL live stats app.
JamesP said | May 26th 2010 @ 1:05pm | Report comment
And how many on Fox Sports fantasy league?
Forgetmenot said | May 25th 2010 @ 9:22am | Report comment
Very nice article Michael.
The AFL do seem to be chasing the TV rights dollars for the next round of deals. Im hoping that they have not forgotten one of their key vision statements is to maximise attendances and everything else follows.
That said, the TV broadcast rights also needs to focus on the non-Victorian states. Coverage in the rest of Australia is pretty poor still. Some matches i cant see on foxtel/fta until 3 hours later.
There needs to be a clause stating that all games must be shown no more than one hour delayed around Australia. This is very easy to do these days with the advent of the new digital channels.
Several other things which need to be addressed:
– If channel nine get the rights, insert a clause ensuring that the AFL Footy Show is shown on the digital channel in Sydney and QLD. Ensure that the NT shows the AFL Footy Show, not the NRL Footy Show. I would love it if the Marngrook Footy Show was picked up by one of the commericial channels.
- Ensure that some games are not being broadcast on two channels at the same time while another game played at same time is not broadcast at all.
Mark Young said | May 25th 2010 @ 9:33am | Report comment
Those were some fantastic ratings for Friday night. Isn’t live Friday night football the best! When Channel 9 stopped delaying the League in Sydney for Burkes Backyard (what is it about lifestyle Friday night?) everyone just LOVED IT!
A few thoughts.
Firstly – The article talks a lot about how the game will have more freedom and better broadcasting when the new TV deal is done. I would argue to complete opposite! The more money you get from the TV networks, the more power they get. Big deals involve trade offs, we all laugh at how the NFL has TV timeouts etc but this is what happens who you want the big money. Union and Football both have zero exposure on free to air because of their TV deals and League can’t even finalise their schedule until the TV guys check it a month or so beforehand. You can’t expect to not give when you are taking a billion.
Secondly – The only thing better then one game on friday night is two games on friday night! Maybe this adds some support to AFL shortening the length of the game so you can have a 7:30 and 9:30 game on Fridays?
And Thirdly, in terms of coverage outside of the Southern States, you really can’t underestimate how little care there is for AFL in the Northern States. Think of how much people you know talk about League, increase it by %5 and there you are. The ratings I saw for Friday night game didn’t even mention NSW and QLD viewers! Even the innocous live broadcast of Sunday afternoon AFLF gets low ratings and vitriol from motorsports fans (Ah Car racing, my true love). Look at the comments on this story about 3D broadcast of Bathurst V8s http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/motor/seven-bosses-eye-3d-for-supercars/story-e6frey5r-1225869411517. And the dedicated motorsports forums are even worse!
Redb said | May 25th 2010 @ 9:50am | Report comment
Just on your 3rd point Mark. I think you’ll find the TV ratings for AFL in the ‘northern’ markets are not as low or straight forward in intepretation as some like to beleive. For example: virtually all Sydney or Brisbane games shown on free to air in those markets are also broadcast on Foxtel live with no advert breaks. Most games on Ch 10 are also on ONEHD and need to be added.
AFL ratings would not be expected to match the NRL in those markets, but at times particularly in Brisbane they show a good result which adds to the overall pie.
Friday Night AFL is not shown until quite late in Sydney/Brisbane.
AFL games not featuring Sydney or Brisbane would not be expected to get a large TV audience, although some games get 70-90K in Sydney.
The main issue is to get the broadcast times right in the AFL’s core markets, Melbourne Perth and Adelaide, net alone Sydney and Brisbane.
As you can see from the Melbourne. Perth TV ratings, when they get it right the TV audience is massive.
AndyRoo said | May 25th 2010 @ 9:59am | Report comment
We didn’t get the Friday night game (at least not before 10:30 pm).
So we missed out on Collingwood vs Geelong (and last year we missed out on Geelong vs St Kilda) because those matches weren’t shown at the time the networks are obligated to show them.
They need to change the anti siphoning laws to reduce what content is on their (chuck FOX a bone) and in return let networks use their digital channel for the first run of an event.
I don’t think Friday night AFL would generally bring in much ratings in QLD but games with as much hype as last fridays would do fine.
Mark Young said | May 25th 2010 @ 10:45am | Report comment
Hiya Redb and Andyroo
“The main issue is to get the broadcast times right in the AFL’s core markets, Melbourne Perth and Adelaide, net alone Sydney and Brisbane.”
Spot on, as i said above, when Channel 9 got Friday Night Football right for League, it was manna from heavan.
I get my rating info from here http://www.tvtonight.com.au/category/ratings and for Friday Night’s game http://www.tvtonight.com.au/2010/05/week-21-3.html Do you have a better source?
And I totally agree with you that “I don’t think Friday night AFL would generally bring in much ratings in QLD but games with as much hype as last fridays would do fine.” More freedom for the networks to shuffle sport and show it on the digital channels would be fantastic.
Channel 10 has the Grand Prix’s which are on the anti-siph list and they show all of them delayed by about an hour or so but they are all live on ONE. Surely the ball sports can get onboard that little rort.
Regards to you both
Redb said | May 25th 2010 @ 11:23am | Report comment
http://www.talkingfooty.com/tv_ratings_2010.php
cheers
Mark Young said | May 25th 2010 @ 12:21pm | Report comment
That’s a fabulous website! One for the favourites.
Thanks Mate
Michael DiFabrizio said | May 25th 2010 @ 4:55pm | Report comment
Hi Mark – on the second point, two games on a Friday night, there’s a slight chance it will happen with the extra game each round from 2012 onwards, although there’s a few other options there. The main issue is that unlike rugby league, games go for longer than two hours. The typical broadcast is three, meaning going back-to-back would see games screen from 7.30-10.30, then 10.30-1.30, which obviously is a bit late.
You might be able to cut a bit of time out by crossing straight from the first game to the second and starting earlier than 7.30 is an option, too. But it does get difficult.
Would be good to see a trial of it though, see how it works.
Mark Young said | May 25th 2010 @ 10:02pm | Report comment
Gday Michael
I hope they do it, it is just terrific!
Regards
Baz35 said | May 27th 2010 @ 10:17am | Report comment
I have an idea for the two Friday night games
Play one at 7 30 and one at 830
A commercial network gets first pick of games and then foxtel gets the other one
All games are live.
manny said | May 25th 2010 @ 11:53am | Report comment
In Perth, the footy should no longer commence on TV when it is actually over, complete, finished, final siren, goooone in Melbourne. Thats ridiculous! gotta change that.
JamesP said | May 26th 2010 @ 1:09pm | Report comment
I reckon start telecast at 7pm in Perth for Fridays – you cant shift the news and TT, but maybe Home and Away can shift for the night.
That way its a 1.5 hour delay and a reasonable compromise that will be appreciated by the peope in perth as they can clearly see that live Frinday night football would require a 5.30pm start and is clearly unworkable.
Jay said | May 25th 2010 @ 1:24pm | Report comment
Any word on the AFL negoitation for the new tv rights in respect of Astro TV (the Malay paytv operator apparently wanting to offer tv via broadband).
Redb said | May 25th 2010 @ 1:34pm | Report comment
Jay,
Nothing at this stage. I think the Malyasian interest was from Fetch.
No doubt the last two Friday Night games shown live in some cities would only be encourgaging for the AFL, if the host broadcaster gets its right the opportunities are there. Fans wont put up with one hour delayed telecasts, in some cases 3 hours on delay in the future.