Following the announcement in November that the A-League would finally be screened on free-to-air television, there was nothing but goodwill among football fans in this country.
SBS – who the late Johnny Warren once described as “Australia’s best coach” – have always been the obvious partner to the A-League and the Socceroos.
I grew up with SBS. Monday nights meant English Premier League, Saturday mornings Serie A, Sundays a mammoth wrap up of all the week’s action. When Johnny cried, my Dad cried, and I quickly realised what football meant.
The game, for many of us, remains synonymous with SBS.
CURRENT SPORTS EVENTS ON THE FULL AUSTRALIAN ANTI-SIPHONING LIST: BROADCASTING LAWS EXPLAINED
At the time of the recent television deal, however, I wrote here that the relationship between Foxtel and SBS may take some time to develop as both stations try to provide a “home” for football. All parties clearly love the game, but it’s still a competitive marketplace.
Indeed, there has been a real sense of excitement at SBS, with the station going as far as saying that “football has come home”.
Of course, this polyamorous relationship now has two homes for the game, and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. It’s all very modern.
Surprisingly, SBS managing director Michael Ebeid yesterday announced that Friday night football would be screened on their digital station, SBS2. With digital television almost completely rolled out in Australian homes, this should be of little concern to most A-League fans.
But it is odd that SBS haven’t taken the chance to push football on their main channel. You would expect that, after so much anticipation and excitement to have football back on free-to-air television, it would be given centre stage.
Especially considering that the main channels still consistently out-rate their digital offsprings.
Still, perhaps there is more to it than just football.
The public broadcaster is evidently trying to sell the revamped SBS2 as the channel for the so-called “thinking thirty somethings.”
For those confused, a “thinking thirty something” is someone “toying with the wild experimentation of youth while thinking about embracing responsibility for the first time.”
With programs about refugees, obscure comedies, angsty British dramas and the world game, SBS2 looks well on its way to becoming the new hipster channel. It’s even going to be in high definition.
But I digress. This A-League season has undoubtedly been the best in the competition’s short history. On and off the field, football seems to be getting it’s house in order. The new SBS – Foxtel partnership is just one of many important developments.
SBS now has a crucial role to play in continuing to provide a shopfront for football. It’s a thankless task that they’ve done tremendously well over the years. Some would argue that having football as the “defining piece” of their “edgy, adventurous and fun” content on SBS2 is, in fact, a good thing and a ringing endorsement.
Speaking to The Roar, Michael Ebeid explained that Friday night football would be simulcast on SBS2, SBSHD and online, but not on SBS1. For Ebeid it’s all about utilising the “flexibility” of the digital channel.
Having the A-League on SBS2 will allow more extensive coverage, and there are promises of magazine shows and highlights packages to complement the live telecast. According to Ebeid, The World Game show is likely to be redesigned to reflect the change in content.
Ebeid stressed that football would be used to define the digital channel’s “new identity and character.” Still, with the Champions League on SBS1 for the moment, and all Socceroos games still on SBS1 due to anti-siphoning laws, this will have to be a gradual process.
There is no doubt that the team at The World Game – given the opportunity – would turn SBS into a 24 hour football station.
But will they be given all the resources they need by SBS management to truly push the A-League into Australian living rooms, like the commercial stations do with rugby league and Australian rules? Ebeid is counting on the digital switchover to benefit rather than limit the reach of the A-League.
Let’s hope it’s not only the “thinking thirty somethings”, though, who tune in. Free-to-air coverage for football should be about feeding the masses, not filling the niche markets.
bryan
Guest
Rex rules!
bryan
Guest
Fuss,at my age it's "soccer instead of sex" :)
Marcus
Guest
Good point
Atawhai Drive
Guest
Oi! Say anything you like, but don't even imply criticism of the great Inspector Rex.
Paul
Guest
What's so important that SBS1 is tied up? Reruns of Inspector Rex?
Marcus
Guest
Fuss, I'm shocked that the mods have allowed you to say what most of us free thinking individuals have believed for years that the OzTam Ratings which are 100% owned and operated by the 3 commercial fta networks themselves, are effectively just a sham spewing out dodgy figures to de-fraud the advertising industry.
Marcus
Guest
"If Fox arent going to screen more of it to help AFC build the profile of the broader tournament in Oz" - Let me clue you in on an open secret buddy-boy, Fox/Murdoch are NOT interested in promoting Football of ANY kind in Australia! You ONLY have to look at the value of Fox/Murdoch's own investments in each Australian sport and then look at the overall value of the investments that Fox/Murdoch have personally negotiated on behalf of each Australian sport with other media companies, to see for yourself which sports they promote and which sports they ONLY make a small financially insignificant investment in, in order to place themselves into a position whereby they can effectively interfere and impede that particular sport's progress.
Marcus
Guest
MIchael Obied? I hope he's not related to Eddie.
Mick
Guest
I hope Foxtel do not show a-league on Fox Sports 2 or 3 otherwise people will not know it is on.
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
@TC Heck, The Iron Chef rates higher than AFL on Saturday nights in SYD ... but, when those Iron Chefs get going, I guess it's a much more exciting competition!! :-) "It would be a very, very long time since SBS2 has managed to get an audience of 83k – nationally" NONSENSE. SBS2 pulled ratings over 100k for their brilliant drama series: "The Bridge", which aired weekly on a Wednesday night. I'm pretty sure "The Killing: Series 2" was also on the SBS2 & it also pulled 100k+ ratings during the week.
TC
Guest
85k for Sydney on a Saturday on a multi is actually very good. Last Saturday, the hightest rating show in Sydney on a multi was Fireman Sam: 69k. The highest rating show in Brisbane on a multi was Charlie and Lola: 83k. Charlie and Lola is the A-League's benchmark program, that's what they will be trying to beat - as a national figure that is. It would be a very, very long time since SBS2 has managed to get an audience of 83k - nationally.
TC
Guest
Digital images often have more allure than the real thing.
Ian Whitchurch
Guest
Evan Doing that also cripples the chances of smaller clubs getting exposure for their sponsors, which hits their bottom line, and possibly their viability. Now, theres ways you can compensate for that, and sometimes you do what you need to do - but its something to be aware of.
Ian Whitchurch
Guest
Pete4, And Im not happy about that, either. "This should have been contractually locked down, as it should have been pay TV for the money, free to air to grow the code."
Evan Askew
Guest
I hope they focus on showing the best match of the round not and not just making sure every team gets an equal number of showing on fta. I believe that creating a perception that the competition is high quality is more important. So if showing Adelaide v Melbourne Victory at the expense of Perth v Wellington means that Perth or Wellington get less games on fta then so be it as Adelaide v Melbourne Victory will create a better impression.
Evan Askew
Guest
Marriana Rudan won't make you change your viewing habits?
Titus
Guest
It's true Fuss.....A Swans game on C7 will get 60-70 000 viewers in Sydney, while that same game on 7mate will get 30-40 000.
nordster
Guest
ah thats where it starts, before u know it...its love ;)
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
"It’s the way it is now, and it’s likely to continue that way for at least the next 10 years" Sorry, but that's not what the market research is telling us. Market research consistently demonstrates intelligent consumers will cherry-picking the content they want to watch. Commercial FTA Tv in AUS is almost dead - apart from LIVE sport & mind-numbing reality TV. Consumers are increasingly accessing entertainment content online. In fact, it's getting so bad that FTA network have found their ratings for "blockbuster series" have been cannibalized by people downloading the content from overseas & bypassing TV. The reason Ch71 outrates Ch72 & 73 is because SevenNetwork puts the high-ratings shows on 71. If all the programs on 71 were moved to 73; & all the programs from 73 were moved to 71 people would simply swap. Even the most daft people are capable of pressing 2 buttons. A-League is perfectly poised on SBS - the High Definition channel is more important than whether it's on SBS1 or SBS2. The SBS audience already knows to press SBS2 to watch "The Bridge" but SBS1 to watch "Inspector Rex". If people can't work this out, they're really not very smart.
Jack Russell
Roar Guru
You might want to check the ratings Fuss. Channel 7's main channel easily outrates their HD channel. Channel 9's main channel easily outrates their HD channel. Channel 10's.....you get the picture. If it's about expanding your audience, the game would be much better off on SBS1 than SBS2. I know logically there is no reason why people are more likely to watch a game on one channel and not another if they have exactly the same access to both, but that's the way it is now, and it's likely to continue that way for at least the next 10 years. Possibly more. Out of interest, is this game exclusive to SBS? Or are Fox simulcasting it?