Online petition protests at Nine’s Olympic coverage
Social media reacts to Nine's Olympics broadcast with an online petition to the IOC, pleading that they never win the rights again.
- Published by David Knox
- on
They always said these would be the “social games” and social media is hitting back hard at Nine’s broadcast of the Olympics, now with an online petition directed at the IOC.
Disgruntled viewer Susan Plunkett has posted an open letter to the International Olympic Committee via the website change.org asking them to review future rights to the games on multiple channels, without ad interruptions and calling on broadcasters such as the ABC to be given equal consideration.
“We never again want to see such a poor broadcast performance as has been seen in 2012 and offered by the Nine Network,” it reads.
“We claim the right to see a variety of Olympic events on free-to-air, and events without constant and repetitive advertising interruptions. Accepting that many events can occur at any one time we claim the right for broadcasters to be able to show events in their entirety on their second broadcast channels where they exist. Further, we claim the right to have a broadcast where commentators understand and uphold the Olympic spirit – to celebrate any medal colour, to celebrate the achievements of any nation and to inform us about barrier breaking sporting triumphs e.g. Australia’s first competing female boxer.
“We ask the IOC to review the policy that enables commercial broadcasters to more easily win broadcast rights at the disadvantage of non-advertising broadcasters such as the ABC who would be able to show events without constant advertisement.
“We request that the IOC refuse Network Nine’s tender (if it is made) for the 2016 Olympic Games on the basis that we assert that Network Nine has entirely failed it’s duty to show the 2012 Olympic Games in a respectful manner and one that reflects what we believe to be the true Olympic spirit of international brother and sisterhood.”
So far there are around 250 signatures, but it the campaign has only just gotten underway.
You can check it out here.
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- Tagged with Olympic Games
59 Responses
Nine are useless at everything. Last night they must have shown at least 60 minutes of the women’s marathon, its a 42k jog, we only need to see the last 10 minutes of it, no Aussies in with any sort of chance. At the same time Michael Diamond was competing in his 6th Olympics, going for his 3rd gold medal. He shot a perfect score in the first part of qualifying, which is akin to a swimmer winning a semi in world record time. Nine have been discraceful with their coverage, they need to learn that each athlete trains just as hard as any other, and that medals in more obscure sports are worth just as much as bloody swimming ones.
I think it’s un-Australian to label fellow Australians as being un-Australian.
So there.
To claim something as ‘un-Australian’ do you not need to first define what Australian means? Yes, you do and it means so many different things to so many different people the only time I am going to call someone un Australian is when they have been arrested for treason.
The petitioner in this case could be called pedantic or heroic (depends on who you ask) but nothing about her actions has anything to do with being ‘Australian’ or ‘un Australian’
Apologies for the grammatical errors in my earlier post, id just come off a 12 hours shift
I have a couple of questions:
Where in the Australian Constitution does it state that you or “Australians” have the right to claim the following:
“We claim the right to see a variety of Olympic events on free-to-air”; or
“we claim the right for broadcasters to be able to show events in their entirety on their second broadcast channels where they exist”; or
“we claim the right to have a broadcast where commentators understand and uphold the Olympic spirit”
I can tell, you wont find it. Probably because when the constitution was being written, a persons right to watch the Olympics wasn’t a main concern!
Change.org is a website where people can go with serious problems to try and create serious change. Petitions like this take away from the websites real purpose. It is not for arrogant, self indulging idiots to broadcast there first world problems.
You do not have a constitutional right (or god given right if you are that way inclined) to watch the Olympics! If you don’t like Channel 9’s coverage, Don’t watch it! It is pretty bloody simple.
@ Secret Squirrel..gday!
ive read your response to my post today and I have some questions to ask u.. 1….has it been said anywhere in the media that ch9 could of been granted or denied a special condition licence to broadcast other events on gem or go??
oh.. and I didnt point my finger as I asked a question towards susan.
2…dont u think the other networks would promote their programs during the olympics knowing that millions of ppl will be watching and the fact that the rating war this is very close…I could see ch7 doing the same thing!
I think it is un-australian to be sending a letter to the ioc…knowing fully that this has happened in the past with fta broadcasters, althou good on ch7 for allows sbs to share some of the joy of the games four years ago.
oh and yes..ch9 interviewing could way better indeed but thats not the issue here that I was expressing so lets stick to the issue here.
Ch9s coverage of the Olympics has been OK and substantially better than ch7 in Beijing which imo was the worst I have ever seen.
The bottom line is that ch9 or any other commercial fta network simply do not have the money or the resources to give us the service that we want. The BBC in the UK which provides superb coverage of the Olympics is funded by a licence fee ( read direct tax) that every household has to pay.
So we have 3 choices,
1. Pay the $ and watch on Foxtel.
2. Pay a TV licence fee and fund the ABC in a siliar way to the BBC.
3. Pay nothing and carry on with one of the fta networks as we currently do.
So if you want better, one way or another you are gonna have to pay. All the fta networks are not in the best place financially in a stagnant advertising market and there is no miracle cure.
@MattJ – “I think the only people we can blame for this is the government!”
What is your reasoning for this banal statement?
Is not Nine only able to have one program stream?
If so, then how many channels do you want the same program on?
Blame the IOC, blame Nine for not buying more. Read the reasons posted below why Nine has only one stream.
Watch Foxtel.
I think Nine’s coverage has been fantastic!
I was concerned that I would be glued to the Olympics like I usually do – but this time I have been able to watch my AFL, catch up on DVDs I bought ages ago – and have even attended a few screenings at the Melbourne Film Festival.
If Nine’s coverage weren’t so fantastic – I might have been sitting in front of my TV watching the Olympics.
Thanks Nine!
@David K – Nine could have applied for an exemption and made GEM the swimming channel in HD and shown other sports on Nine (or the other way around). They would have copped some flak from whomever was a fan of the sport not in HD but I’m betting it would be a lot less than they’re currently getting.
@TvGuy – I love how when you don’t agree with someone you trot out the tired old trope of calling them “un-Australian”. You have a pretty selective memory (or work for Nine) if you think that what we’re getting now is miles better than Seven’s Beijing effort (which was pretty bad).
As to whether Nine were “allowed” to broadcast a second feed, perhaps you could check your facts “before pointing the finger”.
Like most of the people criticising Susan’s petition, you have picked one minor aspect (the excessive and repetitive advertising) but ignored things like how disrespectful some of Nine’s interviewers have been to our medal winners. I would suggest that if anything is “un-Australian”, it is implying that being the second-best in the world is something to be disappointed with and ashamed of.
Its fair that everyone can have an opinion…but let me say this…if you think there is something wrong with the coverage…simple…do a better job with the restraints that have been given to 9. Simple…if you can do a better job…do it…otherwise..please be quiet, and get Foxtel. Im happy with the coverage… and i cant remember 7 being any different 4 years ago…apart from they gave SBS the chance to show stuff…maybe that was 9’s downfall, but im pretty happy with it.
Why do so many people accuse others who choose not to put up with substandard efforts of whining/whinging? We all deserve better, and there is nothing wrong with standing up for improving standards. Channel Nine’s promos of their upcoming shows (all of which look rubbish anyway) are overdone. Ads in themselves don’t bother me, but those channel promos are sickening. “Just get Foxtel” – well Foxtel isn’t an option for everyone, lots of people don’t want Foxtel at all it’s not an issue of not wanting to pay for it but just having it for one event every four years doesn’t really make sense.
Why can’t the IOC themselves get with the times and just show all events online? They could charge for it, I realise it’s about money – but they could do that and cut out the network middlemen altogether. That would be utter bliss.
Does anyone know the guidlines in the Code of Practice for how many commercials and promos per hour can be shown? And, if it applies during the games?
I don’t see much problem with the coverage to be honest – they switch between events pretty well. If you want to watch the full 6 hours of the cycling for example – get foxtel and stop complaining. Switching between the sports is perfect for the casual viewer. In general, I think the problem isn’t Nine – it’s that people have these unrealistic expectations that the network will show exactly the sports They want to watch When they want to watch it with barely any ads. It’s pie in the sky stuff! Nine paid a lot of money for this to show it how they want, and apart a lack of charisma behind the desk I think they’ve done as least a passable job.
Sadly for you Foxtel has the multichannel rights – Nine don’t have enough rights to multichannel even if they wanted too, limited to 200 hours for the summer games and 100 for the Winter Olympics.
Also wonder how much of it is pyschologically linked to your performance in the games – you Aussies are having an absolute stinker of a games, so Nine isn’t able to bring you the magic moments as they’re not happening for you.
Here people were moaning about aspects of the BBC coverage over the first weekend when we had no golds in the bag – but as soon as Team GB started winning the BBC coverage seemed to get better and better and better.
I think the only people we can blame for this is the government! No more bandwidth for FTA channels!!
As I have noted before, Nine could have applied to Senator Conroy for an exemption to anti-siphoning, but opted to show HD due to sports fans always wanting to see their sports Live and in HD. It’s very much a case of damned if u do, damned if u don’t….
Channel 9 are not allowed to show different sports on Gem to what they are showing on the main channel. Also if you have watched coverage on both foxtel and 9 you would realise that some of the commentary is the same commentators.
Yes, these are the social media games and thats a good thing because the average joe blow can have their say. Personally i prefer seven because they went for expert commentators and hosts, not personalities.
First world problems hey?
@TVGuy how is criticising Channel 9’s coverage unAustralian? Maybe you are one of these people that bandy this term about every time someone says something you don’t agree with.
I don’t think I have spoken to a single person that has anything positive to say about Channel 9’s coverage of these games. It is nothing short of disgraceful and is something they should be ashamed of. They need to understand there are more sports at the Olympics than Swimming, highlights of swimming, musical montages of swimming and interviews with swimmers.
I remember Channel 7’s coverage of the 2008 wasn’t their best effort, but i seriously consider it to be superior to Channel 9’s coverage. All of the posts I’ve seen of the Olympics on Facebook (on my news feed) have been critical of 9’s coverage.
Also as someone that works part time and gets paid several hundred dollars weekly below average wage, ther is no way I could afford a basic pay tv subscribtion, let alone pay extra to upgrade to the sports channels for the bonus Olympics channels.
since practically everyone has had there two cents worth so will i. Nine’s coverage is mildly better then Sevens in 2008. They (Nine) have been better at focusing on at least two sports and showing them till the end. The basketball coverage is better love John Casey’s commentary and i overall have been happy with there coverage. In terms of the multichannel argument well there is something called the Anti Siphoning list. If the summer Olympics are on the tear A and B then the Network should have the option of showing the games on both channels not just a simulcast. If that was done then it would be both in HD and LIve and there would be some variety in terms of what kind of sports will be shown. Also there is the factor of ratings. Nine are most likely to show sports which will rate well, and that is decided by how our national teams are doing. So yes the coverage could be better but lets face it there are always restrictions.
The women’s boxing only starts tonight… how do you know channel 9 aren’t going to inform people of it (they just ran a promo for it then)?
The annoying thing is i don’t know what the hell is going on half the time, is it a replay, is it live, when is this on, when is that on and so on. This olympics is all over the place, 9 couldnt even show aus times on its site for events.
SusanP….. iam not here to back up ch9.. althou I will say this.. their coverage is far better than ch7’s 4 years ago….by a country mile!! I think what u are doing here is very un-australian… and u have to keep in mind a few things.. they have commitments to their advertisers who have payed bucket loads of cash to air their tvc’s, companys that you would use or shop at or to better your life….. yes I agree they should of taken advantage to the other 2 channels they own… but were they allowed to??? maybe u can ask the government before pointing the finger…. also if they were granted to do so, its not cheap to supply an extra HD link from london to sydney… and ingards of foxtel. is coverage they are airing the international feeds?? if so the they wouldnt need to spend money with talent etc.
honestly I think your wasting your time with this as the IOC is running a business.. making money…and somehow I dont think they would knock back a bid from ch 9 if it was more than the other networks could offer?? my suggestion for u and for all those ppl joining you in this un-australian letter to the ioc is this… start saving some money to get foxtel… u have 4 year until the next one!