Could free-to-air moves be good for NRL?

figures figures figures. now give us the precentages of each population that follow each code Sydney 10% = 450k Melbourne 30% = 1.500k etc etc etc.

Unfortunately if you live outside of NSW or QLD the English super league games do not appear on any TV (FTA or Subscription) thanks to fantastic hoarding by the nine network.

With ch 10 having a ch dedicated to sport and two web sites dedicated to sport you cant question there commitment to sport.

They do show a couple of Super league games. Around Midnite on Monday and Tuesday morning, if they bother. Look, we can talk about t/v deals until we are black and blue, but the simple senario, the NRL needs a better deal so they can grow the game, something the AFL has been able to do, now let us have a go. Rugby league is a good sport to play and watch nowadays. No two games are the same, they all have a different way of winning or losing the game. I never seem to get bored. Am i alone here.

What if he is actually close to the mark.How do you know he is dreaming it all up.You have inside info? Look the Roy being lambasted by AFL fans is the norm,so is Caroline Wilson and Patrick Smith and the offsiders being lamabsted by league fans the norm.They dislike rl with a passion,but apparently they have all the answers ,so long as it conforms to the AFL standard. It is not just Roy the Boy pushing the $1b for rl,but News Ltd reporters,such as Dean Ritchie on 28th February.Why push something,that your employers are going to bid on and pay good money for it. I repeat last time ch10 and 7 expressed little interest in rugby league.This time all FTA networks are prepared to bid. Now we can all sit down and blast Roy and Caroline calling them all the names under the sun,but the next TV contracts for both codes,will have interest from all the commercial FTA networks. We don't need Roy or the fawning Caroline to advise us. What the issue really boils down to, is Tv ratings,additional slots with extra teams,the Northern markets and the advtg dollar and pay Tv ratings and subs,and finally what the financiers behind ch10 and 9 are prepared to pay.Ch7 has money to splash around. It apparently is all crap,except the AFL will probably get $1b is spot on.Oh to be selective,when it suits.

But wait ,it is in the Fairfax stable and not News Ltd.in fact Roy has the ear of a lot more people within the media ,than he gets credit for.he is pretty well close to the mark more than 90% of the time. He lives in Melbourne .Of course no one wants to hear possible bad news.the response is:hateful,paranoia.The poor old messenger ,gets hung drawn and quartered every time.Keep telling it like it is Roy. His Age counterpart Caroline Wilson is of course never wrong. if the AFL rated highly in Brisbane and Sydney,I see no problems for the AFL getting the $1b.But you cannot hide from the fact,it rates like a dog. Notice Leckie from ch7 was at the NRL launch. Both codes deserve big bikkies for their next Tv contracts,that is unquestioned.The question is ,how much,and what is ,if there is one,the disparity. Both codes would no doubt get an audience of course unknown ATM for live FTA in their non homeland states.The NRL has not achieved any of this to date.They have not received full value for their ratings on pay TV.Make of that what you will,but they are the nitty gritty facts.

That's great to hear, you have a good day too mate!

Channel 9, about 1am on A Monday morning I believe. Don't know why they don't show it at 2-4 on a Sunday arvo, surely it would rate better than ....um....I have no idea what they show at this time of the day/week but I assume its some made for tv movie or world around us or something equally naff. Be nice to have some sport other than watching footy players making fools of themselves on Rexonas Greatest Athlete

Is anyone aware of whether The English RL games are being shown over here, if so, what channel? and what timeslot??.

Aaaah Roy Masters. Who else. The bottom line in this atricle is that the AFL will get to 1 billion or there abouts (thanks mostly to Pay TV), and the NRL will significantly make up the gap. I think that has been pretty much the speculation all along... I found this line interesting: "The best thing about Lachlan now being in charge at Ten is that he hates AFL.'' Dunno how true this is. Kerry Packer certainly preferred Rugby League to AFL...doesn't mean he wanted to pay top dollar for it? Business comes before pleasure it seems....

Fair enough, i dont seek him out, but when linked in a thread such as this , i have a gander, the man has seriously lost the plot. I have had a enjoyable morning, and i hope it stays that way, have a good day.

On the plus side Koops the Season is only a few weeks away! Cmon Man, smile for once! Stop fretting about what some guy from Sydney thinks about your Sport, I don't care what Sam Newman, Eddie McGuire, Patrick Smith, etc think about League, I don't know why Roy hits such a raw nerve with you! If you let Roy's thoughts on AFL effect your enjoyment of life you are going to end up one miserable dude.

His articles just repeat the same thing every time ...... ''We're going for rugby league,'' the network boss said ''The best thing about Lachlan now being in charge at Ten is that he hates AFL.'' ''Rugby league is ours to lose but we won't lose it,'' ''They love what they know and will treat NRL as a loss leader,'' etc etc etc The guy dreams all this crap up, then after all that, he states that the AFL will still probably get the billion.

It is fascinating what is happening with the TV world at the moment. Regardless of what you think of Roy's conclusions (spoiler alert, he is pro NRL and anti AFL) this article really illustrates the huge number of variables that could influence these two TV deals.

FFS Roy is full of it, can he ever write a decent article about anything ...... fullstop, the hate and paranoia ooze out of him.

Do I sense a little cynicism here?

Finally people are getting it - 54% percent of people live in two states and they are NRL states. Geography isnt what this is all about its where the people are. The AFL knows it has a issue - it doesnt rate on TV in Sydney or Brisbane at all. The saturday night AFL game on TEN is dead like dead last. People who like AFL in Sydney go to the game to see it live. Which is what i did a few years ago and loved it. The AFL is overpaid i think for what they deliver in the two big Sydney and Brisbane markets. Plus NSW and QLD are more decentralised (regional viewers) than the other states. So thats where the people are. AFL INC better gets its deal done quick. I believe the changes at TEN are very interesting indeed with Murdoch coming on board who loves the NRL and isnt so passionate about AFL. Tho he will go with who delivers what of course. But, its time NINE lost the NRL. Ten has always been the best in delivery of sport i think. Go TEN and go NRL. What a partnership for the future of a great game. This is NRL's big year. Tho i hope the AFL does well too it is a great game. Speaking to a chap on a plane recently who was visiting north and he spoke about the Australian game (AFL) with such passion it was good to see but he was fair in his appraisal of other things too.

Channel 9 runs the NRL, which gets weaker and weaker as TV rights become due for negotiation, where exposure of the game is concerned.

The NRL administration is capable of making a mess of just about anything. For example, as an Aussie living in London, I watched a superb game on Sunday night for the World Club Challenge between St George and Wigan. A great win for the Dragons in a wonderful contest. But how does this game rate with the NRL? Absolutely zilch! The NRL does absolutely nothing to promote the WCC, despite it being NRL champs against the Euro equivalents. Can you imagine how big this game would be if it were a rugby match between the Super Rugby Champs and the Heineken Cup winners? The respective rugby bodies would make it into a massive occasion, because they understand how to market their sport. In comparison the leaguies haven't a clue.