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The NRL looks set to capitalise on the intense public interest in the judiciary hearing for Titans captain Kevin Proctor’s biting charge.
NRL boss Peter V’Landys has now formally signed off on the first ever televised judiciary hearing, with the outcome to be determined by live voting by viewers.
The brainchild of a sports marketing agency, V’Landys said he knew the newest legal-sports reality show, to be simply called “The Judiciary”, was going to be a ratings winner as soon as he heard the pitch.
The bizarre incident that is the subject of the hearing involved the Titans captain becoming the first ever NRL player to be sent from the field for (literally) biting a Shark (Cronulla playmaker Shaun Johnson). Since the controversy at Netstrata Jubilee Stadium on Saturday evening, debate has raged over what really happened, with as many theories as there are accounts in the Twitterverse.
In addition to members of the public, NRL heavyweights like big Mal Meninga, Peter Sterling, Laurie Daley, Paul Gallen, Gorden Tallis, Gus Gould and Phil Rothfield have all expressed their views.
On observing the massive public reaction, V’landys admitted the chance to reap a ratings bonanza was too attractive to ignore for the league in difficult financial times, despite his initial reservations.
Said the NRL boss, “look, at first I was a little concerned that televising the event might detract from the integrity of the Judiciary process. But then it was pointed out to me that they televised the impeachment hearings for President Trump in the United States and it drew over 12 million viewers for the each of the first three days.”
“That is ratings gold, and in our market at prime time, this is $25,000 for a 30-second ad slot! And if live telecasting doesn’t demean hearings to impeach the President of the United States, I ask why should it take away from a rugby league judiciary hearing?”
According to the NRL’s head of marketing, significant advertising revenue has already been tendered for the event: “We’ve had intense interest from a wide range of advertisers, particularly from snack food manufacturers like Sunrice (“Mini Bites with sea salt”) and Nestle Milky Bar (“Cookie Bites”). We’ve also had interest from dental care product suppliers like Colgate, Oral-B and Listerine”.
Regarding the decision to allow viewers’ votes to determine the judicial outcome, V’Landy had no reservations.
“The NRL Commission will always do what is in the best interests of rugby league. How can democracy not be in the best interests of the game? I mean, we decide who will lead our country by giving everyone a vote, you can’t get more fair than that.
“There are so many opinions about Kevin’s charge that we decided this was the best way to reach a decision everyone is happy with! Just like in voting for politicians, no one complains about the President or Prime Minister as long as they all got to vote, do they?”
Viewers will also have the opportunity to rate the performances of the key judiciary players in real-time, including the NRL Prosecutor, counsel for the defence and even Proctor himself, by turning a dial on their tablet or smartphone. A live ‘worm’ will show viewers reactions on screen, using the latest technology from Roy Morgan research.
A spokesman for the NRL’s marketing agency has said depending on how successful the hearing is from a ratings perspective, it may provide a template for more quasi-judicial reality TV spin offs for the NRL. There are unconfirmed rumours that the expensive white elephant known as “the Bunker” might be replaced by a similar ‘viewer live voting’ platform to make on-field decisions and decide captain’s challenges.
The spokesman went on to reveal that “we are even looking at giving individual viewers the paid opportunity to press a “Try” or “No Try” button via their smartphone. Let’s be honest, who wouldn’t pay $100 to do that?”
Not everyone is supportive of the NRL’s latest innovation. A senior partner of large city law firm Hartless and Calliss said: “The NRL has really “jumped the Shark” this time, excuse the pun. They’re cheapening the judicial process and commercialising the administration of the law”.
When pressed for further comment, the senior partner declined to elaborate, abruptly ending the interview on the basis that “I’m not billing for this interview, so I’m afraid our time is up”.
The Judiciary screens on Tuesday night at 730 pm.
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