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NRL encourages television broadcasters to do things differently for 2014 after big ratings drop
THE NRL has urged television broadcasters to think outside the square when scheduling matches for 2014 after ratings suffered alarming drops across all eight timeslots this season.
It is also endeavouring to engineer a draw that will see all Sydney teams play each other twice in a bid to arrest an equally distressing slump in crowds, which were down 2.9 per cent this year.
The Daily Telegraph has obtained the NRLs final television ratings spread sheet for the 2013 premiership, which exposes significant decreases for both Channel Nine and Fox Sports.
Nines average audience was down 3.8 per cent - a loss of almost 900,000 viewers across the 26-week competition.
Fox Sports ratings suffered even more bloodshed, plummeting 8.5 per cent after being down just 2.6 per cent at the seasons halfway point.
The ugly results have been registered in the worst possible year - the first of the NRLs record $1.025 billion broadcast deal with Nine and Fox Sports.
Theyve also coincided with the codes first-ever fixed schedule draw, which television executives have primarily blamed for the disaster.
But NRL football operations boss Todd Greenberg on Thursday night said the fixed draw would be given a second chance, with 2014 shaping as the litmus test to determine whether it survives for the length of the five-year broadcasting contract.
Forced to lock in the entire schedule a year in advance, the networks hedged their bets on proven ratings winners such as Parramatta, St George Illawarra, Brisbane and Wests Tigers.
But the failure of those teams to make the finals led to enormous inroads into their traditional following.
Condemned to back-to-back wooden spoons, the Eels were shown on Nine four times in the final six weeks.
Parramattas final free-to-air appearance against Newcastle two Sundays ago demonstrates just how badly the safe play backfired.
In Sydney, Channel Nines ratings were down a gobsmacking 39.7 per cent on the corresponding game last year. Brisbanes audience was almost halved, down 47.7 per cent.
Committing to a fixed schedule in 2014, Greenberg said the NRL would work more closely with the networks to identify and prioritise the teams most likely to be contending for the premiership, rather than relying on conservative selections.
Theres no doubt that in the first year of a fixed schedule, the broadcasters and the game were conservative in our decision making, he said.
Weve got to push hard to get the right answers. Crowds and ratings are at the forefront of our thinking.
Something we might have to do is sit down and look through all the teams; their rosters and coaching staff, to determine who will most likely be in the mix.
Challenged to explain why the fixed schedule should survive after such a terrible debut, Greenberg said: We are not going to get rid of it after one year.
It was something the clubs and a lot of fans wanted for a long time. It delivers certainty and we have to find ways to work off that. But we will definitely be looking closely at how it works in 2014.
The drop in crowds is even more concerning, given attendance records for a Sydney premiership game (Souths v Canterbury R4) and any premiership game (Souths v Roosters R26) were set at ANZ Stadium this year.
Some ARLC commissioners blamed poor off field player behaviour for the turn-off, but rugby league has recorded superior crowds and ratings amid more severe salary cap and sex scandals in the past.
Furthermore, the decline in ratings and crowds steepened over the second half of 2013, indicating an element of fatigue among fans.
At the halfway point of the season, crowds were up 1.1 per cent.
Both Nine and Fox ratings were in decline at that point (3 per cent and 2.6 per cent respectively), but fell away more sharply over the final 13 weeks.
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sp...big-ratings-drop/story-fni3fbgz-1226723104988
THE NRL has urged television broadcasters to think outside the square when scheduling matches for 2014 after ratings suffered alarming drops across all eight timeslots this season.
It is also endeavouring to engineer a draw that will see all Sydney teams play each other twice in a bid to arrest an equally distressing slump in crowds, which were down 2.9 per cent this year.
The Daily Telegraph has obtained the NRLs final television ratings spread sheet for the 2013 premiership, which exposes significant decreases for both Channel Nine and Fox Sports.
Nines average audience was down 3.8 per cent - a loss of almost 900,000 viewers across the 26-week competition.
Fox Sports ratings suffered even more bloodshed, plummeting 8.5 per cent after being down just 2.6 per cent at the seasons halfway point.
The ugly results have been registered in the worst possible year - the first of the NRLs record $1.025 billion broadcast deal with Nine and Fox Sports.
Theyve also coincided with the codes first-ever fixed schedule draw, which television executives have primarily blamed for the disaster.
But NRL football operations boss Todd Greenberg on Thursday night said the fixed draw would be given a second chance, with 2014 shaping as the litmus test to determine whether it survives for the length of the five-year broadcasting contract.
Forced to lock in the entire schedule a year in advance, the networks hedged their bets on proven ratings winners such as Parramatta, St George Illawarra, Brisbane and Wests Tigers.
But the failure of those teams to make the finals led to enormous inroads into their traditional following.
Condemned to back-to-back wooden spoons, the Eels were shown on Nine four times in the final six weeks.
Parramattas final free-to-air appearance against Newcastle two Sundays ago demonstrates just how badly the safe play backfired.
In Sydney, Channel Nines ratings were down a gobsmacking 39.7 per cent on the corresponding game last year. Brisbanes audience was almost halved, down 47.7 per cent.
Committing to a fixed schedule in 2014, Greenberg said the NRL would work more closely with the networks to identify and prioritise the teams most likely to be contending for the premiership, rather than relying on conservative selections.
Theres no doubt that in the first year of a fixed schedule, the broadcasters and the game were conservative in our decision making, he said.
Weve got to push hard to get the right answers. Crowds and ratings are at the forefront of our thinking.
Something we might have to do is sit down and look through all the teams; their rosters and coaching staff, to determine who will most likely be in the mix.
Challenged to explain why the fixed schedule should survive after such a terrible debut, Greenberg said: We are not going to get rid of it after one year.
It was something the clubs and a lot of fans wanted for a long time. It delivers certainty and we have to find ways to work off that. But we will definitely be looking closely at how it works in 2014.
The drop in crowds is even more concerning, given attendance records for a Sydney premiership game (Souths v Canterbury R4) and any premiership game (Souths v Roosters R26) were set at ANZ Stadium this year.
Some ARLC commissioners blamed poor off field player behaviour for the turn-off, but rugby league has recorded superior crowds and ratings amid more severe salary cap and sex scandals in the past.
Furthermore, the decline in ratings and crowds steepened over the second half of 2013, indicating an element of fatigue among fans.
At the halfway point of the season, crowds were up 1.1 per cent.
Both Nine and Fox ratings were in decline at that point (3 per cent and 2.6 per cent respectively), but fell away more sharply over the final 13 weeks.
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sp...big-ratings-drop/story-fni3fbgz-1226723104988
