From what I remember in 1997, in regards to FTA coverage:
For ARL matches:
Ch9 televised two ARL matches: One Friday Night at 9:30pm (on 2 hr delay) as match of the round for ARL comp, and one Saturday afternoon match at 4pm (1 hr delay)
For SL matches:
Ch9 (although theyinitially didn't want to have any involvement with SL, were forced to showed SL matches) televised one SL match: Monday Night at 9:30pm (2 hr delay), which was the match of the round for SL comp. ABC, showed a Sunday game at 5pm (on 2 1/2 hr delay, using Foxtels coverage and commentary in the beginning, but ended up using their coverage, but ABC provided their own commentary). IIRC, the 2 1/2 hr show at 5pm was hosted by Debbie Spillaine. Also, during the period when they had the infamous World Club Challenge, they televised a WCC match (in Australia) in place of a SL match and occasionally, they televised SL matches from the UK.
Friday Night and Saturday Night WCC matches were televised on Ch9 (and all the finals).
For PayTV, Foxtel covered the remaining 4 SL matches (with Ch9 covering the MNF games) per round, and Optus Vision televised one Sat Night and one Sunday afternoon game for ARL.
