How Channel Nine has failed all sports fans
Roar Pro By code 13, 27 Aug 2011 code 13 is a Roar Pro
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I don’t care what code you follow and I don’t care what part of the country you come from. For years we’ve been sold a story by the free-to-air networks.
They’ve lobbied governments, spent millions on advertising and preached from the hilltops that access to high quality sports coverage should be available to all Australians.
Yet it seems they are indeed just words. For when the push has come to shove, Channel Nine has failed its sporting audience time and time again.
Firstly, Nine has failed to fulfill its promise of High Definition coverage of all major sporting events.
When GEM was announced, the promise made to fans was to cater for women’s programming and high quality sporting coverage – a fact it still advertises on its frequent TV spots and website.
Furthermore, Nine were the main network driving the push behind 3D technology. Yet like HD sports coverage, Nine has left fans in static once again.
Could it be that this was just a push, organised in conjunction with a major electronics retailer in order to flog their stock of expensive 3D TVs?
It is officially recognised under the Wide World of Sports flagship that cricket and rugby league are the network’s regular recurring priority sports. Yet this year, Nine’s inconsistent programming policy has seen rugby league fans left in the wilderness.
Times for State of Origin games outside of New South Wales and Queensland altered with every match. The Rabbitohs versus Broncos game was denied coverage in Perth.
When quizzed, Nine officially announced that the Federal Government had turned down their request for digital coverage – a request Senator Conroy’s office later denied receiving.
Nine’s retort? It was the fault of their subsidiary, Win TV.
Again though this still doesn’t explain why Win TV Perth would falsely claim to have made an official request.
The coverage of the Storm games in Melbourne this year has also been substandard.
When a handful of Sunday matches have been aired, they have seemed as a last minute decision (or made to appear as such) with only a few days notice and little to no advertising. In addition, last week’s Storm versus Dragons match-up was also denied live coverage.
Nine’s official response: it affects the home gate, so the game was shunted to 12:30 am (despite promises for Friday games to be played before midnight).
Now this week’s game has also been blocked by Nine. And there’s the rub, for this game shapes up to be a potential grand final preview, a top of the table clash and a Storm away game to boot.
Seemingly having run out of their litany of excuses, Nine has taken the religious route and is maintaining a vow of silence.
However the fans are no longer silent. Having come out of the woodwork, the Channel Nine and Wide World of Sports Facebook and Twitter accounts have taken a major hammering.
Whilst it seems that messages are being deleted and users have been banned from posting, it also appears the growing tide of anger is unmanageable from a public relations’ perspective.
Nine’s plan, at the moment, seems to be to simply let time pass, let this round pass and pray that the anger subsides.
But the fact remains that this has been an ongoing problem with Channel Nine and it won’t be long before the fans are duped once more.
Perhaps they should spend less money on anti-subscription fear campaigns and more on providing access to high quality sports coverage for all Australians.
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August 27th 2011 @ 4:00am
Johnno said | August 27th 2011 @ 4:00am | Report comment
Pay tv is the only way of the future in Australia if pro sports want to meaningfully compete in the global capatlaiast money is everything and profit, profit for business investors, media networks, players (don’t think players don’t think money talks players are all about money and are annoyed by any government form any country that anti spooning restrictions that resrict them making big money $$$$ eg SBW , micheal Jordan, Jonah lomu, aussy soccer players, all soccer players in the world, golf players, F1 drivers, tennis players , cricket players players are all about $$$$ does that make players unethical or disloyal or greedy by allowing money to influence them and talk at the negation table , perhaps but will it stop them form playing overseas when otherwise they would not want to mover overseas but the lure of the big $$$$ is to great, they will be annoyed at any anti siphoning restrictions).
And Australia if the NRL and rugby union and soccer want to compete with the Euro rugby and soccer leagues and Japan rugby better make some changes to bring in more revenue by allowing pay to bid for total control rights of any pro sorts orginaztion or have any legal right to set up a pro sports orginaztion of there choice with out restrictions eg ICL cricket before the establishment in India countered and set up IPL).
The EPL soccer is now the top soccer league it is today because pay tv was able to bid for the exclusive rights.
iIn returns the fans got, better stadiums, players higher wages $$$$$, better trained athletes, coaches begin paid high swages and top coaches, top sports medicine doctors, lots of jobs in multiple sports that the pro sport industry offers (architects to design stadiums, builders , plumbers,electricians,travel and tourism industry, food and catering industry).
Pro Sport is not for free like movies if you want to see a movie you have to pay for it in a free market capatilist industry and fans are willing to pay to buy a movie if they want it badly enough, and same in sport if they want to watch sport badly enough they will pay for it. in return the fan gets all the benefits i said above.
And Australia in my opinion better loosen it’s pay tv laws regarding Rugby league especially or more and more rugby league players will leave to play in english super league which is totally accessible to basically pay tv only, and Euro rugby , and Japan rugby. It is a contrast on trade to force an orginaizsion who implicate a version of game no one owns a game just different oginastions interpret a version of that game or sport.
Australia has already lost so much rugby league talent to ruby union in Europe and Japan and english super league and will only get higher numbers if pay tv is restricted in Australia. players ar sonly interested int he money and rightly so and odes that make players greedy , maybe but it is there right if they want to be greedy and gets the best deal for r the,selves as individuals and for there families.
If i was a media network i would invest in countries with less government interference in sport than AUSTRALIA, and a country that would allow me to run it on pay tv if i wanted to with out constraints of trade and favouring free to air coverage, talk about unfair constraint of trade and restricting the natural market economics and market forces , totally unfair.
ANd pay tv also offers the bonus of exclusive sports channels bigger budget soften if they have exclusive rights and no annoying thins as the channels are exclusive like having to go to the news at tom in the cricket for example. Totally devoted channels just to sport.
Government if does not in my opinion loosen anti siphoning laws in this country to allow pay tv more control in australia will lose more players to the sport leagues in Japan and europe in all codes, as 95% of players want to chase the big bucks even if it means not living locally playing for there local club where they were born, or missing out on the chance to play for there coutnry long term.
We ares eeing it now in cricket players chasing T20 riches in favour of playing longer versions of the game test cricket. Are cricket players now becoming unethical and greedy chasing big bucks fro themselves and putting themselves no1 ahead of country , if they are do you think they care if T20 makes them rich. Money task to players and players love the money does that make players greedy and should they have there greed restricted in por sports no. And pro sport the more popular the pro sport orginzation is not the game in other words more fans it gets it also create multiple levels of employment for more people than free to air eg EPL soccer, . And in Ausralia now with soccer getting moor popular a-leauge and soccer’s fixtures may now be forced to be on free to air or free to air gets fist access to rights, in im not even sure the FFA are happy about this as less tv rights will be given to there coffers, and same with super 15 rugby may have to be forced to give access to bids by free to air. So where is the incentive to invest in Australian sport if government,net restrictions will restrict your chance to make as much profit as you can as an investor or a player. Stuff that if i was rugby player or soccer player i would play in europe or Japan where whey have less anti siphoning laws and will pay me bigger $$$$ even if it means not representing my country or playing for the local club where i was born. ANd for most pro sport players money$$$$ is no 1 and that is not a bad thing money is part of life rightly or wrongly and you need it to survive so cash and maybe ,make quite a lot or even be rich at set for life during your carer which pro sport is a relatively short career lifespan. Nothing wrong with players or media networks chasing the $$$$, and fans win to becos by paying a bit in pay tv subscription you get what you pay for in life, you get higher quality of player and nicer stadiums. Fans rule the show an dif they want it badly enough they will pay. Big time sport simply can not compete with countries that allow pay tv to have total control, so players go to those leagues or countries that have the least anti siphoning laws and support the concept the most of allowing unrestrtied pay tv access , that is where the $$$ money is, and the players follow the money $$$ no 1, loyalty to junior club no 2, or now increasingly country of broth to N0 2, and is that a good or bad thing, i think it is a good thing that money talks more now as you get what you pay for and i want as high a quality an athletes as possible and all those sports medicine doctors and exercise science trainers and top coaches all cost money you get what you pay for in life. Want to watch players loyal to there local clubs and playing purely fo the loved of the game watch amateur sport then like subbbies rugby or country footy. Want to watch the best athletes then let pay tv access to controlling sports in my opinion as they will be able to invest the most money into them and provided a higher standard than free to air coverage as free to airs has lees money to invest. pay tv is a win for the players, media network investors and the fans as they get a better more entertaining higher quality produce of whatever the specific sport is they watch.
August 27th 2011 @ 8:36am
Ian Whitchurch said | August 27th 2011 @ 8:36am | Report comment
Note this was such a success in the Super League War.
August 27th 2011 @ 12:27pm
code 13 said | August 27th 2011 @ 12:27pm | Report comment
Given that subscription television take up is only at around 30% of the population, any sport that is restricted to it also automatically restricts its appeal and interest. You need only look at Super 15 & A-League for proof.
At the moment we have a market place where the pay-TV sector is dominated by one company. Until there is stronger competition, beit with other cable providers or internet broadcasters, then the best growth scenario for any sports league remains a combination of pay and free to air.
A side effect of that at the moment is the free to air network’s growing hubris that they can get away with murder, despite the impact it has on the fans.
August 27th 2011 @ 2:46pm
Football United said | August 27th 2011 @ 2:46pm | Report comment
if you make the big sports (NRL and AFL) exclusive on pay tv people will switch. they may not like it but they won’t give up their weekend viewing.
August 27th 2011 @ 6:47am
Intentcity said | August 27th 2011 @ 6:47am | Report comment
“Could it be that this was just a push, organised in conjunction with a major electronics retailer in order to flog their stock of expensive 3D TVs?”
Of course it was.
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August 27th 2011 @ 7:47am
Boomshanka said | August 27th 2011 @ 7:47am | Report comment
All the action in glorious HD!
August 27th 2011 @ 7:32am
Bondy said | August 27th 2011 @ 7:32am | Report comment
Iv’e had cable T.V. for years now because of the A League and European football , but even away from my first sport of choice you cant watch a proper golf tournament on commercial T.V. ” British Open ” anymore or major tennis tournaments as most would witness with the complaints rolling in to channel 7 through the summer .
I try to watch the N..R.L. on friday nights but feel bombarded by commercials and almost forget what im watching,im not use to all these commercials being a football/soccer supporter .
It’s great subject matter this i was just thinking the other day what residual worth does commercial T.V have in todays sporting landscape, the A.F.L. , N.R.L. grand finals and State Of O and thats it .
Cable T.V. is clearly saying, get in our way if you dare or you will be crushed .
August 27th 2011 @ 12:33pm
code 13 said | August 27th 2011 @ 12:33pm | Report comment
In terms of broadcasting, given the competition with cinema, DVDs, internet and other forms of live entertainment, there’s only 2 types of programming that can secure viewership (almost everything else is just filler):
1) Original Content – that is content that hasn’t been seen before. However because it’s untested, there’s no guarantee of success. You only have to look at Australia’s history of failed dramas…
2) Live Sports – because it occurs week in week out and you already know it has an audience.
And in Australia the two ratings season juggernauts are Rugby League and AFL, and will remain so for the forseeable future.
August 27th 2011 @ 7:54am
Boomshanka said | August 27th 2011 @ 7:54am | Report comment
Eddie McGuire was on Triple M yesterday spouting off that everything he does is “in the interest of the Collingwood football club”. That is the real reason why Nine hoarded the game last night.
Whilst Channel Nine have been deleting posts, I’ve been flat out electronically recording these (ie print to pdf). There are thousands on the Channel Nine facebook site alone with respect to last night debacle. Will collate and forward to ACMA.
from: http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/television/nine-penalised-after-persistent-breaches/story-e6frfmyi-1226061516101
CHANNEL 9 has been put on a short leash by the media watchdog after consistently mishandling viewer complaints.
Under a strict new ruling, Nine must provide ACMA with a monthly report of audience gripes received and how the network has addressed them – or face tough penalties.
Nine has also agreed to provide the industry body with quarterly reports on compliance prepared by an independent auditor.
August 27th 2011 @ 12:37pm
code 13 said | August 27th 2011 @ 12:37pm | Report comment
Indeed. You would be sound to record and forward those complaints to the ACMA as Nine are currently facing a rather large fine at the end of the year. The more, the merrier.
I would advise anyone who has felt let down by Nine’s coverage to forward their complaints in writing to both Nine & the ACMA as a general rule.
There’s no doubt that there’s a serious conflict of interest at Nine’s Melbourne studio. Decisions are made to serve outside endeavours to the network’s own detriment.
August 27th 2011 @ 8:10am
oikee said | August 27th 2011 @ 8:10am | Report comment
Glad the game was not shown live into Melbourne last nite, the thugfest and response from those veiwers would be hard to argue. Any figthing is not a good look these days, and last nite would have allowed the Melbourne public a good reason not to show games live.
This game is going to the dogs. The commentators would bring back the biff if they had they way, they have no idea, the game is a thugsfest, and Gallop cant see the damage it is causing. They lost 5 veiwers from my house last nite in one hit, and tonite the union test from suncorp is on, i think i might sit down and enjoy a game where women and kids feel comfitable.
This is what it is all about, hearts and minds, and league is losing big time, but as i keep saying, we have dinosaurs running the game, they cant see this, and wonder why other codes are making millage. I give up.
August 27th 2011 @ 9:32am
ChrusC101 said | August 27th 2011 @ 9:32am | Report comment
So based on your assumption being correct please explain the growth UFC? You may of turned off but I can assure you most people would have been glued to their TV’s. Now this is not to say that the appropriate punishment shouldn’t be dealt out, of course it should. With regards to other codes, personally I think AFL has gone way too far in their search to make their sport ‘soccer mom friendly’.
August 27th 2011 @ 12:08pm
pike64 said | August 27th 2011 @ 12:08pm | Report comment
as a melbournian AFL was losing me as it was slowly becoming a keepings off, running game where contact is purely incidental. then the NRL (ARL ?) brought the SOO to the MCG and i felt the grumblings of defection. When the storm came into the picture, i was absolutely sold. i love watching football for the skill, tactical play and thinking on the run. i love league for it’s toughness, physicallity and courage. to me, AFL is caught in a no man’s land. in its bid for the almighty dollar it has sold its soul to become more attractive to ‘families’.it is a false success as the essence of the sport has changed. hopefully rugby league never loses its soul and reamains the toughest game going.
August 27th 2011 @ 12:41pm
code 13 said | August 27th 2011 @ 12:41pm | Report comment
Sports should be played with passion and sometimes that emotion is louder than the self control factor. This was an isolated incident and should be treated as such.
The fact remains though that Rugby League is a game of hard collisions, a gladiatorial war of attrition – and so shall it always be.
August 27th 2011 @ 12:49pm
ClipperWithChipsOnBoth said | August 27th 2011 @ 12:49pm | Report comment
100% correct Code 13.
August 29th 2011 @ 4:27pm
Siva Samoa said | August 29th 2011 @ 4:27pm | Report comment
Maybe you can tell us why you started a thread about every roar articals on leagueunlimited forum and making fun of it with your rugby league friends?
August 27th 2011 @ 6:15pm
Tony said | August 27th 2011 @ 6:15pm | Report comment
Sydney Swans win today was real passion. Give me that over biffo any day
August 27th 2011 @ 7:41pm
code 13 said | August 27th 2011 @ 7:41pm | Report comment
Hatracks don’t know how to fight.
Troll elsewhere.
August 27th 2011 @ 12:45pm
oikee said | August 27th 2011 @ 12:45pm | Report comment
Yes, i agree, it is a tough game, which does not need the biff to make it any tougher, the players need to keep their emotions in check, this also is part of the game i like. It is tough, and yes things happen where others might take offence, but i like the way they can hold their nerve.
The Eels Rosters game was as tough, and i seemed to enjoy it more than the blockbuster, a tough game with no fights.
Code 13, yes your right, but this incident has been coming all year, as i mentioned somewhere, like a simmering stew.
It should have been put out earlier in the year, Gallop let it stew.
August 27th 2011 @ 4:47pm
code 13 said | August 27th 2011 @ 4:47pm | Report comment
In all this talk about the biff, I find it interesting that most people seem to have forgotten that when Manly’s David Williams was injured, three Storm players stayed by his side.
We hold these players up and search for their flaws, but we so easily forget such honourable sportsmanship.
August 27th 2011 @ 12:40pm
ClipperWithChipsOnBoth said | August 27th 2011 @ 12:40pm | Report comment
Anyone else want to chuck in 5 bucks so we can buy oikee a dress?
Harden up mate, it happens. If you don’t like it, watch something else.
August 27th 2011 @ 8:38am
Matt S said | August 27th 2011 @ 8:38am | Report comment
Oikee, surely last night’s fight was not the norm? I can’t remember a brawl like that since the 80′s. Bet channel nine Melbourne are kicking themselves now as they would loved to have painted league in a bad light. Sure it will now get a run on their news bulletins
August 27th 2011 @ 9:07am
clipper said | August 27th 2011 @ 9:07am | Report comment
They’ve got the Bledisoe cup on Gem tonight, so they must think there will be a few people watching that. Will be interesting to see the ratings to see how rugby is going in Melbourne. Strange choice to market Gem as women’s programming and high quality sporting coverage. You could understand if they showed tennis, netball or golf, but they should’ve used GO and made that HD.
As for showing programming, I remember when channel Nine showed ‘The Wire,’ one of the best TV shows ever. They shunted it around all time slots and different days, so you didn’t know when it was going to turn up. They had many complaints, but the fact was it never rated well, and they are in the business of making money, even though sometimes they should ‘subsidise’ shows to gain goodwill from the viewers.
August 27th 2011 @ 12:49pm
code 13 said | August 27th 2011 @ 12:49pm | Report comment
Nine’s network strategy with its digital channels is flawed. The main network is skewed to an older audience, with Go skewed to a younger audience. However GEM is skewed to women which just eats out of the other two.
The combination of women’s programming and HD sports programming was never going to gel and as such GEM is probably the worst of the new channels.
For an example, here’s a beautiful Channel 7 venn diagram that explains how it should be done:
http://www.encoremagazine.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/seven-share.png
GO is the perfect format for the NRL given the game’s 60% youth demographic. Nine would be wise to make GO the HD flagship.
August 27th 2011 @ 9:53am
Vic said | August 27th 2011 @ 9:53am | Report comment
Used to work at Nine. It is now a front business to get you to hook up to Foxtel. Then you get the in depth sporting coverage.
They are in the profit making business and the Howard government altered the laws so they could self regulate. So if you are a Liberal voter, have a look at yourself in the mirror. There is the culprit.
August 28th 2011 @ 10:08am
Chris said | August 28th 2011 @ 10:08am | Report comment
The anti-siphoning list is the culprit here mate. That was a Labor idea.
August 28th 2011 @ 12:02pm
Vic said | August 28th 2011 @ 12:02pm | Report comment
Nope, you are incorrect my friend. Howard put in those laws to protect his friend Packer, in order to keep sporting product prices low and so they could maximise profits by allowing the networks, such as Nine to advertise as often as they chose.
In return the commercial networks, in particular Packer’s Nine lent their support to the Howard regime. (As if it wasn’t haldfobvious and still to this day)
It always surprises me how people who are employees and not their own bosses and not exactly that well off vote Liberal. What did Churchill say about the greatest argument against democracy. There is plenty of evidence in Oz.
August 27th 2011 @ 10:20am
turbodewd said | August 27th 2011 @ 10:20am | Report comment
The NRL/IC shud copy the NFL and offer its own internet TV service.
The european method for administering sports is terrible! IOC – joke. FIFA – joke. IRB – joke.
NFL – amazing. The reason the AFL kicks the NRL’s arse is because they have largely copied the NFL’s MO.
August 28th 2011 @ 12:47am
Bakkies said | August 28th 2011 @ 12:47am | Report comment
It’s easy to run a sport and league comp when it’s only played in one country. The NFL is more communist in how talent is distributed across the league. The AFL refuses to admit that it doesn’t have enough quality talent to fill 18 sides.
August 27th 2011 @ 10:21am
Timmuh said | August 27th 2011 @ 10:21am | Report comment
As far as NRL goes, there is one reason and one reason only that the AFL gets shown on Seven at better times than NRL is on Nine. The AFL wrote it into the contract, the NRL didn’t.
None tried, about a decade ago, to show Storm games in Melbourne at midday. They struggled to beat home shopping on Ten. Unless its out into the next contract, it won’t improve no matter who the FTA provider is. (That said, Nine was marginally worse than Seven in NSW/Qld/ACT when they did have AFL rights, with games being shifted between 11:30pm but never actually starting at that time, 12:30am, 3am, 5am or not shown at all when there was golf on.)
August 27th 2011 @ 12:57pm
code 13 said | August 27th 2011 @ 12:57pm | Report comment
The fact remains that with some warning i.e. more than 2 days and some advertising, Nine could have beaten the pathetic 173,000 it pulled in Melbourne for its Two & A Half Men repeat.
Internal forces conspired to prevent this however, hence why Nine is no longer the one.
August 27th 2011 @ 9:06pm
Xman said | August 27th 2011 @ 9:06pm | Report comment
“fact”?
What fact?
Where is your evidence? Other than finals there is no evidence NRL rates well in Melbourne.
August 27th 2011 @ 10:50pm
code 13 said | August 27th 2011 @ 10:50pm | Report comment
The fact being that Nine has never bothered to try. Of the Sunday games the Storm has received this year, they were only announced on the Thursday prior and received no significant advertising.
Very few supporters actually knew there was a match on, yet these scheduling decisions are made weeks in advance.
As for disregarding finals matches, well that’s just nonsense. A dicto secundum quid ad dictum simpliciter
August 28th 2011 @ 12:20am
Mike said | August 28th 2011 @ 12:20am | Report comment
That’s not true code 13. The ANZAC test was advertised quite well and only received 80,000 or so viewers in the Friday night timeslot. Given that the Sunday Storm games have rated around the same, you would argue that supporters were watching in full force – it’s the casual fans who didn’t see the games.
August 28th 2011 @ 9:50am
code 13 said | August 28th 2011 @ 9:50am | Report comment
The games were announced on The Footy Shows on the Thursday prior to the Sunday kickoff despite being selected weeks prior. That’s two and a half days with next to no promotion.
Storm fans were livid after missing out on the first game. Why should sports fans be forced to be pleased with the meagre scraps Nine dishes out?
August 28th 2011 @ 7:48am
Xman said | August 28th 2011 @ 7:48am | Report comment
You said the fact is with warning the NRL would have beaten 176k in Melbourne on FN.
The only fact is you have absolutely no proof or precedent for that statement at all for any home and away NRL game in Melbourne. Why would this one have been any different?
Wishful thinking?
Some of you NRL fans are carrying on about how poorly the Storm are treated by the media in Melbourne. But living here you see they actually get decent radio and written media coverage every day, even better than many individual AFL sides. They are definitely the medias favorite at the moment, and rightly so given their excellent season. But you are jumping the gun with your TV rating ‘ guesses’.
The fact is they have never rated well on TV. No wonder nine won’t show Them.
August 28th 2011 @ 10:20am
code 13 said | August 28th 2011 @ 10:20am | Report comment
On the rare occassions they have been granted boon by the gracious masters at GTV9, they have likewise suffered the cursed Two Day Turnaround. It is a rare occassion indeed when a Friday night Storm game has been promoted well in advance and you have to look to the era of former programming managers back in the heady days of 2006-2009. As you’ve admitted, there’s an interest for the Storm. They’re in the spotlight, breaking social media records, membership records, starting to build decent crowds and consistently polled as amongst the most largest (if not the largest) supported teams in Victoria. It’s time for Nine to realise this.
August 28th 2011 @ 1:42pm
ClipperWithChipsOnBoth said | August 28th 2011 @ 1:42pm | Report comment
Proof Xman?
How about the proof that the last time the Storm had a Friday night game shown in Vic, it rated 203k, isn’t that more than 176?
August 28th 2011 @ 2:04pm
Xman said | August 28th 2011 @ 2:04pm | Report comment
37k for a live game on Sunday afternoon would suggest different.
9k for a number of home games this year would suggest different.
The storm are getting massive media coverage in Melbourne now, but are still not going to get enough support to justify live prime time coverage on FN.
Live with it, nine are.
August 28th 2011 @ 3:27pm
code 13 said | August 28th 2011 @ 3:27pm | Report comment
Again 37k with a game with little to no promotion. They also drew 86k to a similar game this year, a number that doesn’t fit in with your trolling agenda.
If the Storm can draw 86k with only 2 days notice, what does that say about the vast majority of Swans & Lions matches scheduled months in advance.
August 27th 2011 @ 9:13pm
Ken said | August 27th 2011 @ 9:13pm | Report comment
You’re wrong, it’s in the current contract that Friday games would be played before midnight. Nine simply ignores it because they have no fear of the NRL coming after them due to the conflict of interest in the ownership structures.
‘The one reason and one reason only’ that AFL gets a better run than the NRL on their respective TV stations is the NRL’s heavily compromised position. I don’t believe that the IC is a magic bullet – but all the messing about and posturing will be worth it if they can start to stand up for themselves.
August 27th 2011 @ 9:28pm
code 13 said | August 27th 2011 @ 9:28pm | Report comment
Of course it’s in the contract. Nine chooses to ignore it and instead screens games at 12:30am and the NRL have failed to pursue the matter.
What has occured in the last two weeks however is that Nine has purposefully chosen two games that are Top 8 clashes that just happen to have a Melbourne team involved and still schemed to deny coverage to Victorians.
Both of those games could have cracked the 1,000,000 metro mark which would have been great press for the NRL but internal forces at Nine with other interests at heart conspired against it.
August 28th 2011 @ 7:54am
Xman said | August 28th 2011 @ 7:54am | Report comment
So nine are more concerned about down playing the NRL than with winning ratings in Melbourne?
Dream on. They’re a business! They are interested in getting as many viewers watching as possible, and showing the Storm in prime time will not achieve that.
The storm have had an amazing season on field, yet for many home games they couldn’t even crack 10k crowds. They have a very small following in Melbourne. Why would they rate well on TV?
August 28th 2011 @ 10:34am
code 13 said | August 28th 2011 @ 10:34am | Report comment
682,000 people in Melbourne watched the 2009 grand final. Nobody would have thought that was possible 20 years ago.
But keep trolling. We all need a good laugh.
August 28th 2011 @ 2:07pm
Xman said | August 28th 2011 @ 2:07pm | Report comment
Trolling? It’s the truth. A GF will always rate well when the home team is involved, especially when aired on Sunday evening.
That is totally different to a home and away game, and you know it!
37k for a live game this year. Hmmmm, support!
August 28th 2011 @ 3:30pm
code 13 said | August 28th 2011 @ 3:30pm | Report comment
I guess you don’t think much of the Lions then considering they couldn’t even get that last night…
August 28th 2011 @ 11:21am
Crosscoder said | August 28th 2011 @ 11:21am | Report comment
Xman.Then perhaps you can explain why why ratings are so important in Sydney as the Swans can’t crack 100,000 live anytime.
Actually 3 Storm homegames not many,and as stated the crowds against higher profile teams such as the Broncos,Warriors and st george more than make up for it.As I predicted.The crowd average is now 14,246,after a salary cap debacle.
And the following for the Swans in Sydney after 30 years,hardly equates to good Tv ratings in Sydney.The TV ratings are abysmal no wonder ch10 pulled out.
August 28th 2011 @ 2:16pm
Xman said | August 28th 2011 @ 2:16pm | Report comment
The swans don’t get decent ratings either. BUT the AFL clearly compromised on potentially higher deals to ensure their games are shown at a decent hour in SYD/BRIS. Did the NRL? Why would they? After all, we’re all Victards down here anyway.
The cheating scandal only served to create an “us vs them” mentality for Storm fans. It definitely didn’t hurt them. Their crowd sizes last year where comparable to previous years.
The storm have had year after year of huge success yet are still struggling to get decent crowds in a city where sports attendance is the biggest in Australia by a fair way.
You need to face facts guys. NRL is years off any decent support in AFL states.
August 28th 2011 @ 3:38pm
code 13 said | August 28th 2011 @ 3:38pm | Report comment
They were only 5,000 fans short of breaking their home average record. They will get at least one home final, mostl likely two. If they do they stand a chance of breaking the record for the highest aggregate attendance in Melbourne during a season.
August 28th 2011 @ 5:54pm
Crosscoder said | August 28th 2011 @ 5:54pm | Report comment
Xman.
No they get abysmal ratings .
Yet they still can’t get the rating’s interest over 30 years and with all the promotion and hype.They may well have compromised yet they still can’t grow the ratings.Similarly one would suggest AFL has plateaued in this city,regardless of the huge sums spent.The team is hardly down the ladder FHS.
If you believe the salary cap didn’t hurt the Storm,you are living in la la land.
The new TV deal has not yet been negotiated,so we don’t know how it will pan out.
Your last line,time is on our side.
Tell us in when 30 years are up and you may have something..
August 28th 2011 @ 8:52pm
Xman said | August 28th 2011 @ 8:52pm | Report comment
Crosscoder,
The majority of AFL fans attend games over watching TV, hence the swans higher attendance average than any Sydney RL team.