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Apologies if this is old news!
http://www.smh.com.au/news/league/delays-to-restarts-for-more-ads/2006/07/06/1152175720265.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1
Delays to restarts for more ads
Jacquelin Magnay
July 7, 2006
RUGBY league rules will be changed at the request of broadcasters so there is a 30-second delayed restart to slot in an advertisement.
As part of the $100 million-a-year contract signed off by Channel Nine and pay TV operators for the rights to NRL matches, a deal has been struck allowing a guaranteed time between any try conversion kick attempts and the re-start of play. The rule change will be introduced for the start of next season.
It is understood Channel Nine and Fox Sports were keen to have a green and yellow light system - similar to that which has been in operation in AFL - that would tell the referee when it was OK to restart the game. As well as offering a time slot for an advertisement, it would also allow a small window of opportunity to show replays of the try.
However NRL chief operating officer Graham Annesley said the referee would control the restarts, not a television director.
"It will not be done with lights," Annesley said. "We have agreed to at least 30 seconds' break between a conversion taken and a game restarting so that they can fit in one television commercial. It will prevent quick restarts."
Annesley said the change to the rules was "negligible". He said a survey of restart times had shown there was an average break of 25 to 40 seconds.
"The change, if any will be negligible and it is not a big deal at all, it will be completely invisible to people watching the game," he said.
In last night's Origin decider in Melbourne, there was criticism of Channel Nine's quick switch to an ad break before a replay of a crucial match-winning try by Darren Lockyer was shown. The critical pass thrown by Blues fullback Brett Hodgson which was scooped up by Lockyer was replayed just once - from a wide angle - after the conversion attempt and an ad.
"It would be unacceptable to miss the quick kick-off, and we did show the replay, but we wanted to show the ecstasy of Lockyer and the agony of Hodgson because sport is about theatre and we had to go to the celebration," said Channel Nine's director of sport, Steve Crawley.
More than 400,000 viewers in Melbourne tuned in to watch the riveting decider live on Channel Nine on Wednesday night.
But it hasn't taken long for normal transmission to resume. Any new league converts keen to watch Friday night's blockbuster match between premiership leaders Melbourne Storm and second-placed Brisbane Broncos will have to get up at 5.30am on Saturday morning - or go to the game at Olympic Park.
Storm chief executive Brian Waldron is expecting the Storm's best crowd of the season at the game, with the corporate areas all sold out, the premium seating nearly all gone but lots of standing room still available.
For a club that has struggled to get more than 10,000 to a game all year, organisers are privately hoping for about 15,000 as a direct spin-off of the big-spending Origin promotion. But clearly any chance to build television
viewing momentum for club games off Origin has been lost.
"Our biggest crowd this year has been over 11,000 for the Cowboys match and we are hoping to top that," Waldron said.
In NSW and Queensland the television ratings showed Origin viewing habits have changed slightly. Across Australia a peak of 2.4 million viewers tuned in to the game and the average audience was 2,224,000.
Viewing numbers were up in Brisbane by 16 per cent on the same match last year, and regional viewing figures also improved, but figures were down 3 per cent in Sydney.
But most interest surrounded the Melbourne audience of the match, which was shown live from 7.30pm. Viewing figures lagged behind Seven's Beyond Tomorrow (501,000), but were still dramatically higher - 49 per cent - than last year's late night telecast. Nearly 390,000 tuned in from kick-off to full-time.
Interestingly, callers to Melbourne's talkback radio were disappointed there wasn't more physical confrontation.
"It was a great result all round and a really encouraging one in Melbourne," ARL chief executive Geoff Carr said. "The Melbourne Storm continue to go well and we've had a lot of positive interest in the fact we have a Tri-Nations match there later this year and further matches in the years ahead."
http://www.smh.com.au/news/league/delays-to-restarts-for-more-ads/2006/07/06/1152175720265.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1
Delays to restarts for more ads
Jacquelin Magnay
July 7, 2006
RUGBY league rules will be changed at the request of broadcasters so there is a 30-second delayed restart to slot in an advertisement.
As part of the $100 million-a-year contract signed off by Channel Nine and pay TV operators for the rights to NRL matches, a deal has been struck allowing a guaranteed time between any try conversion kick attempts and the re-start of play. The rule change will be introduced for the start of next season.
It is understood Channel Nine and Fox Sports were keen to have a green and yellow light system - similar to that which has been in operation in AFL - that would tell the referee when it was OK to restart the game. As well as offering a time slot for an advertisement, it would also allow a small window of opportunity to show replays of the try.
However NRL chief operating officer Graham Annesley said the referee would control the restarts, not a television director.
"It will not be done with lights," Annesley said. "We have agreed to at least 30 seconds' break between a conversion taken and a game restarting so that they can fit in one television commercial. It will prevent quick restarts."
Annesley said the change to the rules was "negligible". He said a survey of restart times had shown there was an average break of 25 to 40 seconds.
"The change, if any will be negligible and it is not a big deal at all, it will be completely invisible to people watching the game," he said.
In last night's Origin decider in Melbourne, there was criticism of Channel Nine's quick switch to an ad break before a replay of a crucial match-winning try by Darren Lockyer was shown. The critical pass thrown by Blues fullback Brett Hodgson which was scooped up by Lockyer was replayed just once - from a wide angle - after the conversion attempt and an ad.
"It would be unacceptable to miss the quick kick-off, and we did show the replay, but we wanted to show the ecstasy of Lockyer and the agony of Hodgson because sport is about theatre and we had to go to the celebration," said Channel Nine's director of sport, Steve Crawley.
More than 400,000 viewers in Melbourne tuned in to watch the riveting decider live on Channel Nine on Wednesday night.
But it hasn't taken long for normal transmission to resume. Any new league converts keen to watch Friday night's blockbuster match between premiership leaders Melbourne Storm and second-placed Brisbane Broncos will have to get up at 5.30am on Saturday morning - or go to the game at Olympic Park.
Storm chief executive Brian Waldron is expecting the Storm's best crowd of the season at the game, with the corporate areas all sold out, the premium seating nearly all gone but lots of standing room still available.
For a club that has struggled to get more than 10,000 to a game all year, organisers are privately hoping for about 15,000 as a direct spin-off of the big-spending Origin promotion. But clearly any chance to build television
viewing momentum for club games off Origin has been lost.
"Our biggest crowd this year has been over 11,000 for the Cowboys match and we are hoping to top that," Waldron said.
In NSW and Queensland the television ratings showed Origin viewing habits have changed slightly. Across Australia a peak of 2.4 million viewers tuned in to the game and the average audience was 2,224,000.
Viewing numbers were up in Brisbane by 16 per cent on the same match last year, and regional viewing figures also improved, but figures were down 3 per cent in Sydney.
But most interest surrounded the Melbourne audience of the match, which was shown live from 7.30pm. Viewing figures lagged behind Seven's Beyond Tomorrow (501,000), but were still dramatically higher - 49 per cent - than last year's late night telecast. Nearly 390,000 tuned in from kick-off to full-time.
Interestingly, callers to Melbourne's talkback radio were disappointed there wasn't more physical confrontation.
"It was a great result all round and a really encouraging one in Melbourne," ARL chief executive Geoff Carr said. "The Melbourne Storm continue to go well and we've had a lot of positive interest in the fact we have a Tri-Nations match there later this year and further matches in the years ahead."
