Barbarian game not good enough for TV?

If the ARU had any brains and a bit of money they would have made a bid for their own Free to Air TV licence on the digital spectrum. That way they would have a dedicated platform for showing rugby on FTA television in Australia as well as a source of revenue from advertising. If none of the existing FTA stations wants to show RU then I say go out and create your own FTA station! If they did this it wouldn't be a dedicated rugby channel but just another FTA channel on the digital spectrum showing a wide range of programmes but with a commitment to showing rugby as well.

I'm not exactly defending Foxtel but ... bear in mind that if they were going to show it on TV they would have to get a whole camera crew and live broadcast unit together in Perth. You can't just do a TV broadcast with a single camera. So maybe they meant that the match was confirmed too late to do *this* and not that it was confirmed too late to make some room in their programming schedule to show the match on TV. Then again maybe Foxtel was just spouting BS to try to cover its own backside. On a related note, what's the sitch with the mid-week match from Gosford? Will Foxtel be broadcasting this on TV?

Hear hear. Not really a fan of Rabs but he couldn't be any worse at RU commentating than Phil Kearns and co. The current fox sports commentators are a disgrace to the game and a disgrace to the Australian nation. Of the current wired world of sports RL crew, I think Sterlo would make a half decent RU commentator.

Sledge I thoroughly agree. Some league and afl -philes will claim that their games get such saturation coverage because they are just so exquisitely popular. Yeh right. Would James O'C and rugby not be popular with the younger demographic if he got the hype that Billy Slater has had from a young age? Yesterday we had afl and league and soccer NON news before the item on the Baas game and this was on 7, the 'rugby channel'. If ONeal is such a genius then why don't we have access, any significant regular access to our game on free to air TV? Soccer after his leadership has managed all sorts of in-roads into popular culture including changing the Australian vernacular to it's own marketing purposes..'world' sic game, 'real' sic football and other pretensions. Why hasn't John been able to build the basic media structure for the mere survival let alone growth of the game in the public arena? What are these administrators getting paid for? Where are the old school tie contacts? The political prowess in media circles that the game needs? I fear the answer has something to do with getting into bed with Murdoch (Super14) in the first place. But still - where is our free to air rugby John?

Oh I don't know. The current Foxtel RU commentators are worse than useless so I doubt that Rabbits, Fatty and co would bring any more disgrace on the Australian nation. Phil Kearns might have been a good player but he has absolutely no gravitas whatsoever as a commentator. Somebody shut the man up.

N'a, We could & we can, if we really, really want to. We watch sport for the big bang it gives us. if a particular sport gives a big enough bang often enough, we'll end up following it. Sometimes, playing rugby is like asking the players to run out with one arm tied behind their backs (with respect to the suffocating laws at times). But develop exceptional athletes through vigorous recruiting & they'll turn the laws on their heads, no matter what they are. Guys like Ella & Campese refused to be muddled by restraining laws. It comes back to the players & coaches.....

I don't have foxtel, but I do have a computer connected to my telly, so I thought it was supercool to have the live stream. My only complaint was that the refs mike was fed into the stream, would have been much better than listening to the usual tubby boofheads!

Fox can't show the Baabaa-England games yet this Saturday they will be showing the Maori-NZ BaaBaa game live!

the argument that rugby isn't popular enough to warrant coverage is wrong in my view. League has become popular on the back of huge media promotion, not popularity. In other words, by showing games and promoting them, you get more popular. This coverage wasn't given due to the overwhelming popularity of the code, back in the 80s when I started following the bears the crowds were abysmal. Last weekend the crowds were abysmal, but apparently the ratings are high. So in my view leagues popularity came second, the saturation coverage came first! That's no disrespect to the 'greatest game of all', I hope it continues to get lots of coverage, but there is room for rugby too. And there is room for covering less popular sports, and pushing them up the food chain..

Guys, I hate to say it but this the way of the future, it may not be pretty but it is 100% inevitable. There is a change happening in broadcasting, that's why Packer bailed, that's why you shouldn't buy a video shop with your retirement savings. That's why your Playstation and your media centre is plugged into your TV. The internet is in its infancy and Australia is just catching on, we are and have always been early adopters of new technology. That's why investing $43billion in an NBN is happening. So unless you want to be permanently peeved get your pc connected to your ADSL and your TV and start surfing from the recliner rocker! You know it makes sense.....

buggah!!

What was the crowd attd like?

If you're watching the Shute Shield on ABC HD in Adelaide you won't have it for much longer, unfortunately. The ABC is using the HD channel nationwide for its ABC News 24 service when it starts up in a few months.

Melon, see below, I don't actually disagree with you...

As an aged pensioner who can't afford to pay for Fox, it was great to be able to watch the match. Fox also said that it was an "experiment", so you should expect it to be less than perfect. And the quality of the picture would depend on so many things (isp, phone line, etc) that Fox can't be blamed for that. Bloody wingersl, be grateful for small mercies.

Frustrating to see Swedish Tractor pulling and The World Series of Roller Blading takes precidence over an Interesting game of Rugga in Perth. Perhaps the Monopolies Commision should Investigate.

that's interesting Decs, 'cos they started advertising it last week on the site...

I totally agree with the article. I wrote to Fox complaining about not being able to view it after paying good money each month for Fox. All I got told was that the match was confirmed too late to be scheduled. Rubbish. You cannot tell me as pointed out, a League or AFL or Darts replay can't be dumped for the Baa Baa game. The least they could do is show a replay of it.

I'd rather that was sterlo than rabbits - at least he makes the occassional intelligent comment!

or Fatty - another complete gibberer!