- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
Last week Channel 10 announced that it would be discontinuing its flagship sports news program Sports Tonight at the end of the AFL and NRL seasons. I greeted this news with a mixture of sadness and offhand resignation. It was kind of like finding out a former girlfriend was off the market because she got married.
Yes, we used to see each other everyday, shared some truly special times, and at one stage I probably thought we would be together forever.
Ultimately, we both grew up, became too different, broke up and moved on.
It was never meant to be. Besides, we hadn’t seen each other in years.
For those of you that are a tad more manly than that, I would imagine it was akin to being a Hawthorn supporter and hearing the great Michael Tuck had retired.
You felt like he might always be there and probably took him for granted, but in the end you realised Father Time had caught up with him.
It’s easy to forget, but pre-1993, daily sports news and results in Australia were limited to the nightly news on TV, radio news reports and the newspaper.
The internet was barely existent, mobile phones were rare and there was certainly no Twitter or Bookface.
In the late 80s and through the 90s I placed great importance on watching the nightly news on TV.
This was not because I was overly interested in what country had been overthrown, how many people had been murdered that day or how many cats had got stuck up trees (I lived in Perth, so the last one made the news more often than you might think).
I watched the nightly news because I was always desperate to find out what the day’s sports stories were. Those five or ten minutes were like the needle hidden in the nightly TV haystack.
Only in my case it was like that needle was made of chocolate, gave a nicotine rush, and was more addictive than heroin (yes, I like sports).
There must have been a fair amount of Australians that felt the same way and Channel 10 saw a gap in the market. The market was there for extended nightly sports news and views. Sports Tonight was born.
I distinctly remember the feeling I had upon hearing about Sports Tonight in 1993. Though I don’t remember my exact words I am positive that it would have been something along the lines of: “A half an hour of sports news every night? This is a gift from God!”
Yes, there were other sports magazine programs such as Channel 9’s Wide World of Sports or Channel 7’s Sportsworld, but those were only ever on at the weekend. This was going to be on every night!
So it came to be that I would endeavour to watch Sports Tonight throughout the next 13 or so years. The dulcet tones of Tim Webster, Matthew White and Bill Woods sent me to sleep with the latest ins, outs and news of the AFL and NRL, Anthony Mundine’s latest foot-in-mouth escapade and the Play of the Day.
Of particular interest to me were the latest NBA scores and highlights. Prior to Sports Tonight, I would have to scour the sports section’s fine print just to get the previous day’s scores.
This was the NBA heyday of Jordan, Barkley, Olajuwon, Shaq, Malone and more. Each day, Sports Tonight showed me their latest results, highlights and bloopers, as well as Dennis Rodman’s latest hair colour.
And so our relationship blossomed. Sports Tonight and I living in a loving relationship. We had some great times.
There were lots of premierships, plenty of one-sided Ashes results, the Socceroos qualifying for the World Cup, and of course my beloved NBA.
However, over the years I have drifted away from Sports Tonight. The major contributing factors being the growth and accessibility of the Internet, the introduction of ESPN to Foxtel in 2002, and the advent of Fox Sports News in 2006.
My insatiable want for the latest sports news and results is more easily satisfied with these instantly accessible services that I can view at my own leisure. There is no longer a need to be tied to a nightly sports bulletin.
There are now a whole stack of needles and they certainly aren’t hidden.
If I need the latest NBA results I can go to the league’s website. If I want the latest AFL stories I choose to pay for Foxtel and I can always watch Fox Sports News.
If I feel the compulsion to keep abreast of the latest results for the Mississippi Regional Semi-Finals of the American National Spelling Bee I’m sure there is a Twitter account to follow.
The issue for Sports Tonight, as well as more general nightly news services for that matter, is that breaking stories are no longer that by the time a nightly bulletin rolls around.
The future of sports news, results and opinion appears to be in cyberspace and Channel 10 management have seen the writing on the wall.
Additionally, the new Channel 10 ownership has stated on several occasions that they wish to reposition their formerly sports-only station One.
The removal of Sports Tonight from One and Channel 10 is simply another step in the plan of that repositioning.
Sports Tonight is definitely not the future but it did lead the way. Unfortunately, just like any good veteran sportsman, its days are numbered.
Once it’s gone, just like an old girlfriend, I won’t miss Sports Tonight. I’ve moved on to the next phase of this sporting life but I will always look back fondly on our time together.
Cue the inevitable montage of the best of Sports Tonight that will be the last episode’s Play of the Day. Green Day’s ‘Time of Your Life’ is the odds-on favourite to be the soundtrack.
What’s your best bet? For great odds on all your favourite sports check out PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.