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Seven delays tennis in Qld, SA and WA

Viewers in Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia are getting the evening sessions delayed by Seven.

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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

26 Responses

  2. I think Bob’s idea is a better one but I am sure they would complain they are not getting as good a ratings at 5pm for Home and Away. I mean seriously 2 weeks to put off Today Tonight and Home and Away.

  4. Why didn’t they just leave H&A until after the tennis, like they have with all the other programs that are returning? They insist on insulting their viewers’ intelligence by showing tennis matches that are already over and done with. The tennis match that started on GWN about 10 minutes ago, actually finished about 15 minutes ago. Why can’t they have a shortened news bulletin of, say, 15 minutes then go straight back to the tennis? Don’t get me started on the ads that they insist on running until after the first point of every game has been played.

  7. it was worse in wa before daylight saving we were getting it 3 hrs after it was shown in the east .as long has i can remember night coverage in perth has always been delayed not just with the tennis the cricket is the same all one day games played during the week were delayed to start the same time like 2.30m .tv stations want exclusive but most cases if you don’t live in Sydney or Melbourne you miss out on live coverage

  8. Home & Away can’t be shown before 7pm due to its PG classification. Personally, I would’ve just held off starting Home & Away till after the Australian Open which would also save some money so they could then have some money for series such as The Great Outdoors and this way they could show How I Met Your Mother in Syd & Melb at 7 followed by the Tennis at 7.30 meanwhile in other time zones they could show the Tennis from 7pm and show How I Met Your Mother only on 7HD followed by a tennis simulcast or even other High Definition programming from 7.30.

  9. In Qld why can’t t ‘7’ broadcast news from 5pm local time? It’s been done before.

    In the past if I want to see what the current score is I log onto the web and get the score in real time. That’s cheaper than buying cable subscription on top of internet cost.

    And like Fred says…run other shows on other digital channels. That’s what they’re there for surely.

  11. 7 should run crap shows like TT and Home and Away on one of their other digital channels when the Tennis is on. You’d only beupsetting teenage girls and those with the intellect of a fence post by taking them off the main channel.

  12. I agree with you jaxmachine, if they don’t want ot broadcast it live everywhere, regardless then they should lose the rights for it in that state. It should be the same with all sports. You show it live or the rights get moved to someone who will.

  13. If I remember rightly 7 showed 2 or three Home and Away episodes in one night to make way for A.F.L finals the next night last year.
    Pretty sure they did this a couple of times too.

  14. no way, home and away would neverrr move to 5:00, first of all it rates better than the tennis most nights. but gee if people think not-live tennis causes a stir then putting H&A at 5:00 (where shows like m*a*s*h* belong) would cause an uproar from all the fans.

    the best solution would be to start home and away in feburary

  15. Bob’s solution would be better than repeats of Deal. It would also serve as a test case for 7 replacing DoNd with local programming against Extra. Today Tonight with Jillian Whiting sounds like a winner…

  18. Channel 7 has always shown a delayed telecast in WA. I think it was last year with Casey Delaqua (sorry not sure on the speilling of her surname) there was a huge uproar here to show her game live and Channel 7 had to give in. I’m sure we can miss an episode of TT for an evening.

  19. well i watch the tennis for enjoyment of the game not just to see who wins so yes i prefer to see the whole match and am not driven to check who won on the internet.

    but yes some people only care for it live.

  20. Channel 7 should just show it live in Queensland straight after the news. Who cares about TT and Home and Away? This is supposedly one of the worlds major sporting events yet 7 do not treat it that way. Just like they did with the Olympics.

  21. well i live in melbourne, but i guess it comes down to the decision whether people would rather see a live match with an hour cut out of it, or a whole match with delays.

    i personally would prefer live because you can just check the score to see what you missed. but i guess ch7 has chosen otherwise.

  22. 7 have done it for years. Luckily living where I live on the Gold Coast I can pick up Prime Lismore and watch it live. 7 should be banned from covering all sports!

  23. I know it doesnt make it right but seven have been doing this with the Tennis for years…I live in Queensland and frankly, stuff like this is our own bloody fault for being stuck in the dark ages with no Daylight Saving!!

  24. always spoils the australian open for me when I inevitably hear the live scores on Fox Sports News or Sky News…. I wish they would just cut off the first half hour of their evening broadcast – at least then it would be live in SA.

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