Fox Footy (mega merged thread)

[JF_Bay22_SCG]

Originally posted by hammo
I don't know of too many people who'd be rushing out to sign up for Foxtel on the basis of watching the A-league or Sydney FC playing some Kuwaiti club side.

AFL was a driver for subscriptions in WA, SA, VIC and TAS so they will probably see a lot of cancellations.

NRL is the main driver for subscriptions in NSW & QLD but hardly going to interest those AFL states.

True. This was one of the reasons the Western Reds & Adelaide Rams were done away with so ruthlessly; because there was little return for News Limited in terms of increased Foxtel subscriptions in both SA & WA as a result of them being in existance.

The A League apparently has rated very well. Fox were surprised at its ratings & have beefed up its coverage. Let's face it, if you don't like cricket & basketball the A League is it in summer. And football of all the world sports has a huge latent audience (especially on Fox due to its EPL coverage).

JF

[cruiser]

Originally posted by Woodsy
It makes perfect sense - you have stated that we will not get 8 livbe games next year (as a result of losing Fox Footy I assume). I have stated that with Fox Footy Channel this year the service to NSW was still appalling.

So..... why are you slitting your wrists re Fox Footy?

Adding Fox Footy to the FTA broadcasts I dont think its appalling at all. Actually, I think its almost brilliant, my only gripe being that Friday night is still delayed, although only til 9.30 rather than 11.30. What makes you think its appalling?

[cruiser]

Originally posted by Woodsy
Exactly what you have said Peanuthead , that the Friday night game is delayed until 11.30......

Excuse me, I said it starts on Foxtel at 9.30 on a Friday. That's better than 11.30. Its also repeated again on Saturday morning. What is it you dont understand here? Do you actually have any idea what is broadcast when on Fox Footy?

[Damien]

Originally posted by hammo

7 and 10 will have rocks in their heads if they go head to head on Saturday arvo, night and Sundays as it splits the audience. Hence why they both NEED Foxtel. The disaster this would mean for their ratings in Sydney (if shown live in prime time) would be astronomical.
.

There would be an audience for both though - or there is no point Foxtel getting the games anyway.

I don't think head to head games on FTA are the way to go, but it may prove to be a success, the ratings on Fox Footy are quite good, so if you open that particular game up to the greater FTA audience you could get very interesting results in the AFL states.

The issues for the networks will obviously be what games go head to head. 10 might have Freo V Crows which will rate the house down in WA/SA and 7 might have Essendon V Sydney which would win Victoria and likely the neutral states also.

What it might be great for if this scenario plays out is a lot more attention to detail in terms of production and commentary. Competition often does wonders!

[peterh_oz]

Originally posted by Woodsy
It makes perfect sense - you have stated that we will not get 8 livbe games next year (as a result of losing Fox Footy I assume). I have stated that with Fox Footy Channel this year the service to NSW was still appalling.

The service was good - every possible game was live. 9 & 10 didn't allow ALL games to be live, but FFC did as many as they could.

Don't blame them for 9.30 Fridays - blame 9. Or blame the AFL for signing the original contract!

The only problem with FFC is/was he crap commentary - especially on Sat nights. Mathew. Campbell. Can't. Create. A. Sentence. He. Commentates. One. Word. At. A. Time.

[peterh_oz]

Originally posted by goswannie14
Wouldn't you when you had just signed a 12 month contract for 24/7 footy and Foxtel then cancel the station that you signed up to watch?

I'd be cancelling because they are not offering the service you signed for. I reckon you WOULD have a leg to stand on in court too!

[peterh_oz]

Originally posted by hammo
I'll join you on the walk, cruiser.

If anyone in Sydney is rejoicing over this then they have no idea about how badly we are about to get screwed.

Currently we get 3 live games on Fox plus Friday night a bit earlier than on 9.

Next year we know Friday night will be live somewhere. If it's free to air it will be on SBS by the sounds of it. Otherwise it would have been on Foxtel.

7 & 10 may decide to go head to head on a Saturday afternoon and both kill off their ratings - this is dumb business but I guess they have no choice.

They WON'T do this on Saturday night (unless the Swans are playing). The earliest we could expect the Sat night games being shown is 10.30. So Sat night becomes an AFL blackout in Sydney once again.

The Sunday afternoon games - who knows. I'd expect we'd get one live but doesn't 10 show motorsport??

The Sunday twilight game (intended for live on pay) we'd be lucky to get before midnight considering it runs into the biggest TV night of the week.

Plus we miss out on the replays, talk shows, AFL news.

So we get 4 live (5 if Swans play) MAX next year (Fri night, Sat arvo x2, poss Sat night, Sunday arvo) compared to the 5 we get currently.

If Foxtel still has some matches next year we would get 8 live in Sydney.

As I said in the other thread, Kerry Packer would be laughing.

For all that to happen, the AFL would have to back down on their contact. It says EVERY game LIVE. A delay is allowed in the home market (and also in Perth due to the time difference) but that is all.

7.30pm Fridays.
2pm or 4pm Sat (depending on location of game)
7pm Sat
2pm Sunday
ALL LIVE ON 7

2pm Sat
7pm Sat
1pm Sun
4.30pm Sun
ALL LIVE ON 10

If I was the V8's I'd be very worried about all this. And its their fault for jumping to 7 in the first place.

[giant]

Beg to differ Peter - nowhere has there been any confirmation that 7 and 10 are obliged to show all 8 games live into Sydney & Brisbane.

And frankly for the various reasons noted it won't happen.

[hammo]

Originally posted by giant
Beg to differ Peter - nowhere has there been any confirmation that 7 and 10 are obliged to show all 8 games live into Sydney & Brisbane.

And frankly for the various reasons noted it won't happen.

I am sure you are right giant. There is an obligation to show all 8 games but not necessarily live.

[liz]

Originally posted by Woodsy
It makes perfect sense - you have stated that we will not get 8 livbe games next year (as a result of losing Fox Footy I assume). I have stated that with Fox Footy Channel this year the service to NSW was still appalling.

So..... why are you slitting your wrists re Fox Footy?

In what way do you think the service was appalling.

We received high quality "chat shows" dedicated to football (far better than anything I've ever watched on 7,9 or 10), some excellent documentaries, night time football at a reasonable hour, the chance to watch every game of a round at some stage during the week due to the multiple replays of every game, plus usually an alternative to the Saturday or Sunday FTA game.

I was very very happy with what Fox Footy provided and am extremely disappointed that it won't be around next year.

[wheels27]

Does anyone know how the digital channels operate?

If ABC can broadcast netball and state league footy on ABC2 why not seven do the same - would still be FTA wouldn't it?

[goswannie14]

Originally posted by wheels27
Does anyone know how the digital channels operate?

If ABC can broadcast netball and state league footy on ABC2 why not seven do the same - would still be FTA wouldn't it?

I'm not sure, but IIRC there would still only be one license whether analogue or digital. I don't remember there being a decision by any of the commercials to go to two channels on digital, although there was some talk about it at one stage.

[Dave]

Originally posted by goswannie14
I'm not sure, but IIRC there would still only be one license whether analogue or digital. I don't remember there being a decision by any of the commercials to go to two channels on digital, although there was some talk about it at one stage.

I think it's all to do with the multicasting laws which have been announced recently by Coonan and I can't remember what the restrictions were for the commercial channels. No doubt something in there to keep the Packers happy...

As it stands now these are the extra channels you get with digital:

http://www.dba.org.au/index.asp?sectionID=13

Apart from ABC2 and SBS World News it's pretty ordinary stuff.

[Captain]

Originally posted by liz
In what way do you think the service was appalling.

We received high quality "chat shows" dedicated to football (far better than anything I've ever watched on 7,9 or 10), some excellent documentaries, night time football at a reasonable hour, the chance to watch every game of a round at some stage during the week due to the multiple replays of every game, plus usually an alternative to the Saturday or Sunday FTA game.

I was very very happy with what Fox Footy provided and am extremely disappointed that it won't be around next year.

Couldn't agree any more.

[wheels27]

From that page (at the bottom):

" Digital television legislation prohibits the commercial television stations offering additional program channels "

Answers my question - thanks Dave