Dude writes an article saying no province will accept centralisation on the same day of breaking news NSW is about to jump on board (even the chairman has written to people to say it’s about to be announced) while Melbourne, WA and even QLD (to a degree) are about to agree or are likely to.

Dude also thinks Twiggy will just give out money willy-nilly, no strings attached. Rich people don’t get rich by giving away money, just saying.

Great article, Geoff.

I was at the event and the lack of things for kids to do and the lack of merchandise were mind boggling. I had 4 mates with me and they each wanted a guernsey and a few for the kids.

Funny you talk about SANZAAR and needing to take control because that conversation came up a few times in different forms but mainly about NZ being highly protectionist. I think they all need to realise Super Rugby is the product to sell, and steer away from this notion it is to build the International game. That comes with building a really strong competition. If you play SR, you should be eligible for your nation, regardless of country you are playing in. Japan needs 2 teams ASAP with a long-term growth strategy to build the number of franchises. Players should be allowed more choice to move within the comp and there should be a view to build the lowest ranked team each year.

Effectively, if this protectionist view continues, regardless of country, they’ll end up losing it all.

In datasets, there are things called outliers. If you measure things, generally things will fall within an acceptable range. They will generally follow a rule where they are parametric (as described) or non-parametric, where they are skewed or have poor kurtosis etc. Generally, you can just get rid of outliers because they don’t add to the data (there are tests for this but they are not always necessary).

In other words, one game with poor viewership would likely be cut from the data set.

For example, the first game of last year’s NRL comp had a huge spike in viewership then it went down after that and sat around an average (within a band). This was probably due to it being the first sport to be played during the pandemic. It is an outlier and cannot be taken as the rule for the year. The same can be said for the first round this year of the Rugby this year. There are claims that over 150k tuned into it via SVOD, free to air and adding regional viewers. After this, and only using the available data of metro viewers, fell to an average.

Genuinely interested in how you would do a comparison so please don’t take my comment as facetious. If you say you cannot use Foxtel’s average and cannot use the data available for comparison, how would you make a comparison?

Round 1 Metro audiences were about 123k (no regional coverage and without Stan). That was Waratahs v Reds. Then the Waratahs sucked so people were all, yeah, nah.

Overall, numbers are up compared to Foxtel. Even before COVID (if you can believe the ratings in the papers in pre-covid times).

I won’t go into why I think the way they capture TV ratings is poor in a world of SVOD but I do note that the regional viewership is not taken into account with many of the ratings captures. And as you say, it would be good if Stan would release the numbers.

Yep. You’ll see it here: https://www.google.com.au/amp/s/amp.smh.com.au/sport/stan-sport-eye-smart-televisions-as-solution-to-rugby-s-pub-blackout-20210221-p574gt.html

Round 1, no sport to compete with, two largest states. Was a good tune in. If ratio holds true, it should be averaging about 120 000 a week on FTA. That’s double the Foxtel average. Get NSW to be more competitive and you should be able to grow that further. Mind you, let’s hope Tahs improvement is not at the cost of other states’ competitiveness.

My sister has satellite as well. Works perfectly for her. Perhaps your plan needs upgrading.

You can find viewership on FTA by simply Googling it. Try “Super Rugby TV ratings (insert date)”. For example: https://www.mediaweek.com.au/tv-ratings-saturday-march-6-2021/

Now the way in which they collect TV ratings is, in my opinion, out of date and needs a rework. Here is an explanation: https://thinktv.com.au/how-tos-resources/how-do-tv-ratings-work/

Essentially they really only capture 5000 homes from capital cities and use this cohort sample size to estimate the whole population. They have regional panels as well but these don’t often rate a mention. Viewership and means to access TV have changed and so too should this reporting service. Overall, it seems more people are watching Super Rugby now than they used to. Quite a few more if you can believe the combination of regional viewership to metro and the subscription access (said to be approx. 50 000 if you can believe Stan Sport – see Round 1 reporting news articles). Towards the end of the old agreement approx 60 000 people were watching on Foxtel. That’s total. Foxtel would not release their Kayo numbers – or I haven’t found them.

Why is FTA good? Because advertising. The Reds have picked up a new sponsor due to FTA coverage. The company CEO who has become a sponsor is even quoted as saying: “There’s no doubt the Reds are on the rise and importantly now feature regularly on free-to-air television in Australia, which will allow us to introduce our brand and products to the Australian and Asia Pacific market.” This kind of exposure has paid dividends for the Reds only 1 month after being in place. Channel 9 will try to make most of the money paid for the rights from sponsorship and advertising. The Stan Sports subscription is gravy.

I had Foxtel for many years. I will admit I miss the satellite but I do not miss the price. The internet (which should have been done correctly in the first place but let’s not go there) is being upgraded in Australia because this technophobic-and-lacking-of-vision-let’s-spend-double-what-we-should-have-paid-for-crappy-internet government (bugger, I went there) realised the world has changed and they may need to get with the times. I have FTTP and have found no issues with the streaming barring week 1 where Rugby Heaven had lip synching issues but that was a broadcast issue, not a streaming one. My father has Fixed Wireless. He has no issues and his internet is awful compared with mine. More of my friends are paying for the content than what they used to, usually mooching off other friend’s Foxtel Go accounts beforehand.

Foxtel is dying, losing a lot of money last financial year and requiring a bailout from the parent company. Telstra looks set to bail on it as well. People can get more content when they want, without exorbitant pricing, with better on demand features than Foxtel. The Stan Library is really good. I would not have got it without Stan Sport as I didn’t see the point. Now I don’t regret it.

The pubs issue is an issue. I can’t see why Stan wouldn’t buy all the pubs in Australia an AppleTV and get them to pay the normal Stan + Sport subscription. But hey, I’m just an internet random, what would I know… but the game on FTA is free so there would be no issue showing it.

In terms of news, SMH, owned by Channel 9, is doing a great job. Towards the end of the News Corp days, the coverage was borderline abusive because it was about securing the product as cheaply as possible. When Stan and 9 jumped in, the offer from Fox Sport went up and the reporting softened, only for RA to take the new deal, at which time the News Corp tantrums began.

Ultimately I think some people need to change their habits a bit and update the hate. Looking for things to be negative about makes people continually negative and that’s not good for anyone. I love a good ‘let’s yell at clouds’ moment as well. But I also take the time to do a bit of research and think about things to see if it’s justified. From this I don’t necessarily agree with your article and think, especially if RA take this opportunity to reshape Rugby Australia’s constitution and board representation, the future has a glimmer of hope. Doing the same thing again would have likely yielded the same result, which would have been an insane thing to do.

I kept Foxtel until I got a free three months Kayo subscription from SportsBet. Trialled Kayo, was fine, got rid of Foxtel. Will probably get rid of Kayo as well. In thanks to Channel 9, I even used the money saved to get my SMH subscription back.

Everything except movies. All of it. I still walked. Not worth it. I have FTTP internet so no connection issue. I would love the feed of satellite because it is definitely clearer when there’s movement but I can handle that for a $28 a month reduction in cost. Hit them up. But make sure you threaten to walk to Kayo and other streaming services. And be vigilant/adamant when they offer you movies for free for three months etc. Tell them you want it cheaper, none of those other extras.

In an SMH article mate:

“Sources with knowledge of Stan’s pricing discussions say the streaming company will charge a supplementary fee of about $10 a month for access to its sports package, which includes every Wallabies Test, Super Rugby, Shute Shield, the Hospital Cup, Mitre 10 and the Currie Cup, as well as tennis grand slams Wimbledon and the French Open.”

Super Rugby Aotearoa is included in Super Rugby.

a) you get those on Kayo ($15/month through Telstra and the picture quality is fine).
b) just ring up and threaten to cancel Foxtel. They’ll throw the kitchen sink at you to stay (they offered me $53 a month for everything except movies, including HD/4K sport – still cancelled it), take the saving and get a Stan and Stan Sport subscription for the duration of Super Rugby, get rid of it once internationals start and watch on FTA. That way you’re only paying $12/month for Super Rugby if you spread the cost out over the year.
c) Amazon prime + Netflix, Disney+ + Stan + Stan Sport + Kayo + Binge + AppleTV+ is cheaper than full Foxtel package. Foxtel pay TV is a dead strategy in Australia. It just doesn’t know it yet.

If you’re a Telstra customer, you can get Kayo for $15 a month.

I read a thing the yesterday that said both first round games will be on FTA then the following week one Saturday game will be on FTA and the other on Stan.

I can only guess because I’ve not read anything official but I’d say it will be tiered pricing depending on your base service price. My thinking is they’ll charge $5 for the Stan Sport add-on. So the max price will be $24 (top tier $19 + $5). The middle tier would be $19 and the bottom $15. That being said, they could charge $10, $20 or more, which they might see as reasonable because it’s movies and sport. That would price it higher than Kayo but with diversified content. Still, even with my guesses, it’s cheaper than Foxtel so I’ll be getting rid of my subscription to get Stan.

NSW country wouldn’t have it because it would commercialise their amateur brand which is why the Eagles were created and Cockatoos weren’t used.
Agree on the star player, I have always said they should allow every team to have one international star from any country playing for them (imagine Dan Carter rocking around for Queensland Country or luring Johnny Wilkinson out of retirement for a stint with the Rising). And adding Wallabies to that mix.
Agree again. Just maybe not on the real teams thing. Go the Eagles!

When you live in the country, you have a certain pragmatism that is not as anchored to geography as city folk. Simple things like going for surgery or to see a specialist requires us to travel many, many kms. I have heard city (Sydney) people complain about travelling out to ANZ because they might have to catch two trains. For me to see the Tahs play, it takes a six hour trip by car or two sets of plane flights at a cost of $200 each way. The Eagles give me a chance to see some really good talent play in or around my region. We will travel to Tamworth or Dubbo (or Newcastle, the most un-country of the country) to have have a look and meet some of the country kids who play for the Tahs (or Super Rugby – there are quite a few in there). More than me it gives the kids a chance to meet and watch some quality Rugby players. So to me, a person living in the country and an avid supporter of Rugby, only talking about about the country as a concept is somewhat disheartening. I am proud to be from the country and I will support a country side because of who I am not on the direct geography of where I live.

Waratahs

Fair Point: They’ve been turning up. Haven’t yet lost to a bye. Thrashed the Lions (for 30 minutes).

Counter point: I don’t think they have another bye. They don’t play the Lions again. It seems there’ll be no more games to turn up to.

All good mate. Just be careful with the Murdoch media articles. They have history when it comes to bullying negotiations through the media; Rugby League copped it with their negotiations a few years back. Look up an article by the AFR which explains the process quite well (while taking a humorous swipe at the Daily Telegraph’s illiterate editor hiring policies).

I saw the title, I was interested, I was keen to learn.

Then I get an article that seems to be written by someone from the Daily Telegraph; off topic, devoid of fact and understanding about bidding processes. Now, I’m also no expert but as far as I understand, the situation is this:

The fact is, there have been signing by companies to join in the bidding process which has not yet begun and was extended by a week for parties to get their bids in order. Once it starts, it will be negotiation time. Foxtel, or more to the point, the Murdoch press, have been telling everyone it’s not working and no-one is bidding. That’s because it would be silly to bid before the process and show your hand to the competition who would be able to wait until the process starts and could trump you if they were keen.

Foxtel says they will not sign the NDA tables by Rugby Australia. All I can say to this is: we’ll see.

Skirting the topic of the article, what if Optus win? Well, for people like me, I’ll be going to Fetch TV. I am one of the lucky recipient of the Labor government’s FTTP NBN. Streaming anything is of no issue to me. I also live in the bush, so Foxtel has been a mainstay for a number of years. But I am young enough to evolve with the times and as far as I can see it, unless something drastic changes, Foxtel is dying. They, or once again the Murdoch press, fought against the NBN because it would disrupt their profitable business model, decided not to evolve, and were disrupted anyway. It seems inevitable that streaming services will take over. So what if Optus win? Well, you’ll get a streaming service for the Rugby, specifically the Rugby, and a game a week on Free-to-Air, as this was one of the commitments from the Rugby Australia board. Is this bad? I cannot tell you, but it will be interesting to see if the subscription base grows for Optus by a substantial margin because if it does, we will be able to link it to the acquisition of Rugby. And that will tell you the value of Rugby.

Play the game somewhere cooler then. Only 30 degrees where I live.

Great article. The only person I’ve seen, thus far, to actually hit the nail in the head.

A thought has occurred to me after reading it: if the ACL really thought it was a freedom of religion showdown, they would have funded RA to make it go to court. Proves their spine, sincerity and Christianity, really.

Hang on. I thought Foxtel offered $25 mill, the same as last broadcast deal. The extra in that deal came from the pay TV rights war in the UK plus broadcast deals with SANZAAR partners. Foxtel didn’t offer $55 million this time, they offered a roll over deal. So if Optus offered $30 mill, isn’t there that rise? Let me know if I’m wrong.

I tell you though, if Optus offers Rugby for $5 per month, my Foxtel subscription will be goooooooone!

Old mate found the replace feature in Microsoft Word, searched for ‘Pulver’ and changed it to ‘Castle’.

Assuming this article will be kept as a template for the next CEO.