Seven delays tennis in Qld, SA and WA

It isn’t enough that Seven isn’t giving viewers the Australian Open in high definition, now it’s come under fire for delaying match broadcasts interstate.

Daytime matches are live around the country as they occur (11am Mel/Syd, 10:30am SA, 10am Qld, 9am WA).

But the evening session begins live at 7:30pm in Melbourne and Sydney, while viewers in Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia are expected to wait until 7:30pm in their home states.

That’s a one hour delay for Queensland and two hours for Western Australia.

The Courier Mail notes that while Channel Nine, which has been screening the recent one-day and Twenty20 matches genuinely “live” in Queensland, Seven has stuck with their delay policy.

“The problem is a delayed match can be interrupted with a news bulletin which can sometimes report the final result,” says media analyst Ian Warner, of Universal McCann.

Seven’s official excuse for airing the delayed broadcast: “Because our viewers want to watch the entire match. That’s the reason why we do it like that. That’s what the feedback tells us,” a Seven PR representative said.

Yes people are clearly incapable of watching an entire match when it starts at 6.30 or 5.30, obviously…

Seven copped a hiding from viewers for its Olympic programming last year, but appears to have learnt little.

If it can adjust state schedules for daytime matches, what’s the problem with doing so for evenings?

Source: couriermail.com.au