Channel Nine needs to shape up
* Andrew Webster
* From: The Daily Telegraph
* April 12, 2010 12:00AM
Rabs, I love him. No disrespect to the other commentators, but the game is not the same unless Rabs is calling it.
I love Gus, too. I love him waiting 10 minutes to say a word, before making one remark that nails where the match is heading. I love it when he says "How good is rugby league on a Sunday" and Rabs can be heard muttering "Oh, here we go" in the background. Love it.
And I love it when they banter with Joey and Freddy. I love Sterlo's analysis, because I've been listening to it for so long it's as comfortable as that old pair of Reg Grundies that are full of holes but I can't fathom throwing out. It's great to hear Fatty back on the box, too.
Just repeating the news: I love Channel 9. I love its coverage of rugby league.
But I also hate Channel 9. I hate its coverage of rugby league.
I hate how Sunday footy comes on at 4pm, an hour after kick-off, so it's set up perfectly for Rabs to say at the end: "National Nine News is next."
And I hate Friday nights - nay, loathe Friday nights - when the second game comes on and they bombard us with so many commercials during the coverage.
I hate how Johnathan Thurston can score with 11 minutes remaining against the Broncos in the first round, start to line up the crucial conversion to keep them in the match, and Nine jams in seven ads or more before returning for the kick, with all suspense lost.
It's like you're watching A Few Good Men on another free-to-air network. The difference is you've heard Jack Nicholson say "You can't handle the truth!" so many times you can give up and go to bed. You know he ordered the Code Red. Not so with the second match of Friday night footy.
I hate how on Good Friday the match of the round between the Dragons and Storm was on a two-hour delay for no bloody Good Friday reason at all. I hate how the Broncos-Roosters match kicked off at 8.30pm because of daylight savings.
I hate how rugby league is held to ransom over when and where the games are held, and only know weeks in advance, so fans are made to sort out their lives to fit around Channel 9 and its ratings and what it deems to be a good match and what is not.
While we're at it, I want a 3pm kick-off for the grand final. And matches shown at better hours in Melbourne. And I want a go in the Bundy Skycouch.
Just repeating the news: I love Channel 9 - but I also hate it.
I may have a love-hate relationship with Nine, but I am also angry that the NRL allowed this insanity in the first place when it signed the last television broadcast deal.
Let's hope they get it right from 2013 until eternity, and this time when NRL boss David Gallop sits down to negotiate a new broadcast deal he should be gunning for more live coverage.
Channel 7 and Channel 10 hardly showed interest when the last six-year deal was struck, when Nine snapped up the rights for the bargain basement price of $50 million. If the big suits of Seven and Ten are to be believed, they are peachy keen this time.
Nine has been very good to league for a long time, but it's not like it doesn't get bang for its buck. Media analyst Steve Allen of Fusion Strategy says Nine makes approximately $45 million per annum in advertising revenue from its coverage of rugby league. That's fair coin.
Of course, Nine isn't the only network to botch coverage of live sport. Seven's broadcast of the Australian Open was deplorable, and not just when it brushed Sam Stosur's match against Serena Williams. So, too, Ten's coverage of the last Rugby World Cup was appalling.
Personally, I want rugby league to stay on Nine. Because I love Rabs and Gus and Sterlo etc.
But they can't keep taking the viewer/fan for granted.
There is no better television product than rugby league. It would be nice to watch some of the product live and ad-free.
