Will Channel 9 in Melbourne show Storm semi live?

[Surandy]

I disagree that nobody will watch NRL finals in Melbourne. Melburnians are sports-crazy. So they'll generally watch anything. Did they get pretty decent ratings for the NRL Grand Final a couple of years ago when it was live on a Sunday night?

JF

Last year the ratings for the NRL grand final in Melbourne was better than the ratings for the AFL grand final in Sydney.

This was in spite of the fact that the NRL grand final got little advertising or publicity and involved only NSW teams.

 

[Thunderstruck]

live games on channnel 9 against the gate was detrimental to ground attendance, effects of which we're still reeling from after two seasons. We had really good average crowds (upwards of 12 thousand) up until we moved to Colonial and people dropped off but the 3:00pm saturday games really pushed it further.

 

[Man_of_Steel_1982]

live games on channnel 9 against the gate was detrimental to ground attendance, effects of which we're still reeling from after two seasons. We had really good average crowds (upwards of 12 thousand) up until we moved to Colonial and people dropped off but the 3:00pm saturday games really pushed it further.

I think you need live games and plenty of coverage of other games as well to generate awareness and interest.

Most of all, you really need a decent ground where people can sit in comfort, be close to the action (something that would blow Vics away) and be able to fit a proper size field (the playing area at Olympic is only 60m across, all other grounds are 68m!)

It also wouldn't hurt if there were some internationals or origin games in Melbourne.

The NRL has to actually put some effort in, Melbourne isn't going to succeed on it's own without plenty of planning and assistance.

 

[iggy plop]

Nine will say it doesn't rate as they have said before.

You'll probably be surprised to find out that I really do feel for you Storm fans down there.

I disagree that nobody will watch NRL finals in Melbourne. Melburnians are sports-crazy. So they'll generally watch anything. Did they get pretty decent ratings for the NRL Grand Final a couple of years ago when it was live on a Sunday night?

You had success with your campaign to get that match live. Why not do it again?

Even if the ratings for Swans matches ain't brilliant, in Sydney we are very very lucky to have Channel 10, a station genuinely willing to show the Swans live.

JF

The TV contract the AFL signed made sure Channel 10 showed the games at a good hour in Sydney. They are forced to really because of the deal.