Friday Night AFL

Just so you know, the AFL’s “contact us” page/box/suggestion thingy is here: http://www.afl.com.au/Default.aspx?tabid=10302

I write them angry letters, since there’s really not much else I CAN do about it. If we’re going to get angry on the internet, we may as well get angry directly to them, right? (Once I got a reply, so, SOMEONE must read them. It’s too late for this game, but not too late for round 19 when cats play pies again.)

Growling Ferret said :

Magoo

Come on over and watch it L I V E with me. You are more than welcome (so long as you wear a Collingwood jumper for the evening). You know you want to.

Mate you know full well I’d not taint my own soul in such a way.

Don’t stop there Buggles. Channel 7’s coverage will continue to suck massively until they get rid of Bruce McAveney and David Schwartz at an absolute minimum.

Hear, hear on your Foxtel comments.

But even Fox’s Friday night scheduling took time to get right and was forced into being on account of the AFL, in their wisdom, awarding Friday night games to Channel 9 in the previous rights agreement. The obvious NRL clash here needn’t be highlighted further.

It was one thing for the AFL to do this while Channel 10 was theoretically free to host those games. However, the levels of incomprehension at taking such a decision while simultaneously banging on about the AFL’s efforts to grow the game in ts emerging NSW/QLD markets merely highlights their levels of inadequacy and lust for the almighty dollar.

Prime’s commitment to live AFL in this town sucks.

Over the 15 years I’ve been in Canberra, they’ve gone from live broadcasts, to at the very worst 11.30pm replays.

When the last AFL contract was announced and Seven won the rights over Nine, I strongly remember Prime committing to an 8.30pm telecast each week. Of course that never happened, and although Wagga continues to get games at that time, Canberra has been relegated to a 9,30pm timeslot.

Thanks heavens from Foxtel’s Main Event Channel…

Just go watch a stream live online at somewhere like http://atdhe.net/

or if you’re a league fan http://nrlfeed.tk

Legendary

Magoo

Come on over and watch it L I V E with me. You are more than welcome (so long as you wear a Collingwood jumper for the evening). You know you want to.

J Dawg said :

That’s because the Raiders aren’t considered “good enough” to have their games shown on Free-To-Air TV

Nah, all to do with who Channel Nein thinks will rate best. St George, Parra, the Broncos and Bulldogs all have the biggest followings and that is why they are inevitably shown on FTA. Teams like the Panthers, Raiders, Warriors and Sea Eagles rarely get a look in, regardless of how they are playing.

Further to the OP, the current AFL TV rights deal has been a real let-down. The first year was great – Seven and Ten used to show 5-6 games on FTA every weekend. More and more seem to have been siphoned off to Foxtel as time has gone on. 🙁

pretty sure i made a thread along these lines around this time last year. as now, most of the advice was to go to the pub or get foxtel. i bit the bullet and got foxtel, and couldnt be happier. it is definitely worth the $100 a month to be able to kick back on my own couch with my own beer on Friday night and watch the footy live.

slightly OT, but a piece of advice for the Keep Sport Free group or whatever it is who advertises on TV – if the FTA channels had some respect for the sports they have paid to have on their channels and showed the sport LIVE, then you may get some support for your cause. until that happens, i couldnt give a stuff if Fox pays for all the sports and shows them exclusively, because at least it will be shown live.

Holden Caulfield said :

shanefos said :

And I still can’t understand why the games at Manuka are telecast live into Canberra. Raiders and Brumbies games in Canberra aren’t broadcast live in Canberra and this is supposedly a “rugby town”. Seems illogical to me.

The Swans can take their negative game style and GAGF as far as I am concerned.

I agree with your other points, but as for the above, what game have you been following this year? I’d much rather watch the Swans than St. Kilda this year!
Only thing negative about the Swans’ “game style” this year has been their shockingly poor disposal!

shanefos said :

And I still can’t understand why the games at Manuka are telecast live into Canberra. Raiders and Brumbies games in Canberra aren’t broadcast live in Canberra and this is supposedly a “rugby town”. Seems illogical to me.

Because it is part of the broadcast agreement that Swans games MUST be televised live into NSW/ACT (or by no more than a one hour delay in the case of a Friday night match).

The knuckleheads at AFL house obviously didn’t have the foresight to recognise that they would be televising games live against the gate in Canberra from time to time. It’s even better when the match is nominally a Foxtel game. In the past this has meant Swans matches have been televised live against the gate into Canberra on two channels. You can’t make this stuff up!

The Swans can take their negative game style and GAGF as far as I am concerned.

Sadly, it’s Foxtel or bust for AFL fans in this town.