Won’t somebody think of the NRL?
NRL fans in Melbourne aren't happy they have to copy racy ads just because Nine shows the game in a late-night timeslot.
- Published by David Knox
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Melbourne Storm fans are again venting their anger over Channel Nine’s late night screening of NRL games, complaining that the game is filled with adult advertisements.
Melbourne foundation member Simon Hilditch taped a late night game to replay the next day.
“We put the tape on the following morning and there were five kids in the loungeroom because we had a sleep-over the night before,” Hilditch said.
“The very first ad break, virtually every commercial was for something about sex.
“There were women in bikinis, women naked, gyrating all over the place. For the children’s sake, we had to switch it off.”
All networks are entitled to broadcast the risque commercials after 10.30pm.
Nine’s Melbourne program manager Len Downs said it was up to parents to be conscious of late-night material.
“The point is we need to get our games shown on TV here earlier,” Melbourne CEO Brian Waldron said. “We’re disappointed that Nine hasn’t done so yet, particularly for the Grand Final replay.”
According to Downs, however, Friday night Storm games are likely to remain among adult-only material whenever they are faced with an AFL match on rival network Seven.
Tonight’s game against Manly Sea Eagles airs at 12midnight in Melbourne.
News: news.com.au
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27 Responses
@bindi,
Isn’t that a little arrogant saying, ok, it will be on both HD and then 5 hours later on the SD channel? It still comes down to money….. buying a HD box.
What about people who are on a disability Support Pension, are they supposed to go and spend a 5th of there fortnightly income on a HD box too?
True Ryano. The game of AFL in 2009 is worlds away from 1999. The AFL rule makers have sanitised the game so much over the past 10 years, a game of netball is more physical.
The game also has massive problems going forward eg flooding, wasting time with back passing etc. It is only a matter of time before people wake up and follow a sound game like NRL.
you can’t really run the what if people can’t afford to go digital argument when the government is forcing everyone to upgrade or lose tv altogether, it’s happening in a few years so people need to dig the money up out of somewhere. if the area they live in doesn’t receive the broadcast though, that is a different story. plus i don’t think anyone was saying show it live on HD and not at all on the regular channel, it would be live on the HD channel and then delayed on the main channel with all the stupid ads.
Paull I suggest if the last time you saw a game of Australian football was 1999, you might want to give it a try again. Its a hell of a different game these days!
Once you get into it you’ll be an addict.
to twofeetbackwards
“I mean, you need to spend some money on a HD box, not everyone can afford $100+ dollars for the outlay for this equipment.”
geez I hate this lame “excuse” for people not to spend to get a STB (btw i got a HD one for $70 middle of last year)
so you got your televisions, which you use to watch FTA, for free then???
I would rather outlay $100 to secure a HD box, then pay Murdoch $100 a month to watch NRL. However, whilst Nine is run by the suits, they will never play NRL live on the HD anyway. So don’t worry twofeetbackwards
The amount of explicit advertising at any old time is over the top. They’ve been running during midday movies in the school holidays (for premature ejaculation, impotence, female orgasm), and in children’s weekend movies such as “Pirates of the Carribean” which ran well after 10:30pm. The networks are complicit in the text scams such as “lover’s name match”, “x-ray wallpaper”, plus the rash of 1900 sex lines. Don’t hold you breath waiting for ACMA to do anything however.
And er, for the people who do not have a HD box, and are Storm fans, as a few people here have commented about nine airing the rugby live on it’s 9HD channel, Exactly how does one watch these games then? Why should some people have the possible luxary of watching the storm or whatever other sports that should be on FTA but isn’t, on HD and others miss Out??? , I mean, you need to spend some money on a HD box, not everyone can afford $100+ dollars for the outlay for this equipment.
So no, the storm should be on standard FTA, and not live only on 9HD!!!
wow I can’t believe how badly nine treats the nrl in melbourne. In sydney, afl gets played at normal hours and normally live, and it’s about as popular as nrl is in melbourne. Infact I’ve only ever watched one afl match on tv in my life, and that was about 10 years ago now, call me unaustralian, but out of the 3 codes of football we have in australia (nrl, nru, afl) aussie rules isn’t my favourite type of football.
9 are doing it because it’s what the AFL would want them to do it and 9 will do anything to please the AFL. That’s why there is no NRL Footy Classifieds and 9 don’t show the NRL Footy Show on their HD channel in Melbourne.
Nine Melbourne can’t compete against AFL in the same time slot with NRL because most of the sports fans are watching AFL. Playing movies on a Friday night targets a different demographic and thus increases the amount of viewers watching TV all together.
The only way they can satisfy those who want to watch movies and those who want to watch NRL (like me) is to put it on a secondary channel, but with the anti-siphoning laws that is unfortunately not possible on Nine.
Showing NRL matches live to Victorian viewers on Nine HD and/or on their 2nd SD channel is definitely the way to go.
So what.
Brisbane and Sydney FTA viewers often have to watch Friday night AFL at midnight on Seven.
Sydney FTA viewers often get Saturday night games at around 11pm on TEN.
Brisbane and Sydney FTA viewers often get a Sunday afternoon game around midnight on Seven.
I love my footy but upto 3 games a week around midnight. I don’t care that I live in a rugby league state (QLD), put the footy on anyway!
I think everyone here is missing the main point here- Nine is in fact breaching the code by showing advertisements given an ‘S’ classification by FreeTV in a sporting program.
The code explicitly states that these types of commercials are not to be shown in sporting programs, no matter what the timeslot. I think Nine are up for another ear bashing over this one and a potentially massive fine given their committment earlier this year to abide by the code or forfeit all advertising revenue gained from the program in which the breach occurs.
In Sydney we get the Sydney Swans AFL games on at an earlier time, otherwise AFL games are shown late night. Don’t understand why 9 can’t do the same for Melbourne storm fans down there.
Yes, after midnight ads are disgusting and mostly based on ridiculus mobile phone subscriptions up to $24 a week, $10 a message, etc – scams – I agree. These ads appear regardless of the show that is on and with no regard for the demographics at all. Have seen them on 7 during a show more suited to 50+ demo. They should either be banned or have very strict rules appied.
I may have missed the answer to my questions, but why don’t Channel 9 Melbourne run a Storm game up against the AFL on Channel 7.
I have to wait till the naughty hour to watch an NRL game. Very frustrating.
now that nine no longer have they afl it a perfect opportunity to show the nrl live in primetime. the anti shiponing laws also need to desperately be changed so nrl can be shown on nine’s multichannel if it dosn’t rate well enough to show on their main channel.
I would have thought that Nine could put the Friday night league game on its HD (or 2nd SD) channel in to Melbourne, that way they could stop copping criticism about not showing the game early enough, and not comprimising the main channel’s ratings by showing a league game against an AFL game in Melbourne
Memo to Len Downs and GTV 9 Melbourne
Ever heard of this new channel called 9HD – its digital and even in HD. How about using it instead of just simulcasting the crap that is on the main channel
Maybe then the half truths that Freeview promote might actually be true – more channels to choose from…
Well, the Federal Government should relax the anti-siphoning rules slightly so that Nine can show NRL Friday night games on its planned second digital channel in primetime in Victoria, Tasmania, SA and WA, without jeopardising the ratings of the main channel. This way the NRL can build up the fanbase outside the rugby league-mad NSW and Queensland.
if the government changed the anti-siphoning regulations, channel nine could show this on 9hd at a reasonable time.
I’ll tell you Nine’s second SD channel can not come quick enough for Melbourne league fans. As a die hard NRL supporter I really feel for you guys. Hang in there only a few months to go.
ITA, even during Letterman they have the same ads and I’ve been recording the widescreen Seinfeld of late with the same results.
Maybe the ads should depend on the show regardless of what time it is on? Things like sport which they know kids will watch (on replay) should have a ban on those ads.
Of course, networks could make a stand and stop filling late night ad schedules with sex scams, SMS scams, sleaze scams and all kinds of other low-rent advertising specifically designed to con cash out of the gullible.
It really does make them look bad. Think how fans of shows like Eli Stone or Dirty Sexy Money felt being marketed to (well, mostly scammed to, actually) by low-rent shills who’d be better suited to spruiking outside a Kings Cross sex show. At least the rugby audiences might contain slightly more of a target audience for all of that crap.
It’s not the sexual content that bothers me, really. It’s the 99% scam content.
Ahhhhh Victorians. David, it is *not* Rugby.
That’s a different sport altogether.
It’s called Rugby League.
Rugby is Rugby Union.
Aerial Ping Pong is AFL… you need to learn these things mate 😉
I do.
Switched the headline for ya! 😉