★★★★★ 0/5

TEN: Yes we’re keen on AFL

Despite letting the AFL and Before the Game go, TEN now says it is keen to bid for the next round of broadcasting rights.

27
Leave a comment

2014-04-22_1126TEN has confirmed its interest in the next round of AFL rights.

The current $1.25 billion deal with Seven and Foxtel ends in 2016, but AFL general manager of broadcasting Simon Lethlean has said the league’s preference would be to secure a deal by late next year.

TEN CEO Hamish McLennan tells Fairfax, “Yes, we’re keen. All depends on what is on offer.”

Asked what slots TEN would be interested in, McLennan said: “Depends on price etc, but maybe Saturday again and what is on offer.”

Of course TEN pulled out of the last rights under acting CEO Lachlan Murdoch. Its AFL commentators then walked to rival broadcasters.

Last year TEN also let go of Before the Game, under the current CEO. So the messages to AFL fans and community about its dedication to the code seem to be reinvented with each passing year, while Seven has stayed the course.

But then the network’s position on News and morning television also seem to fluctuate depending on network management too. We’re also now hearing TEN is less inclined on more Olympics too. It’s these kinds of changes that leave the audience wondering what, exactly, a network stands for (at least local Drama has held firm through recent years and as a result Offspring flourishes). These things impact on brand.

Current  network shares tells TEN they should never have let football go, but it is in the AFL‘s interests to have TEN drive up the bidding price.  Talk of an early broadcasting deal would come despite some suggestions at the last round that the AFL could set up its own digital broadcasting model and deal directly with fans.

TEN is actually right to be eyeing the AFL for its broadcasting schedule but based on recent events, it  is yet to assure us it won’t undergo another managerial upheaval and staff cuts Before The (next) Game.

27 Responses

  1. For most of the time 10 were doing the AFL they simulcast on ONE HD…so the footy was in HD on FTA! Unlike now.

    They stopped doing the HD simulcast part way through 2011, the last year they did the AFL (although they still did show a replay of the Grand Final in HD). I assume it was about the time Lachlan Murdoch came on board and there was the change in direction for the network.

    Unfortunately, CH 7 has taken us back to the 1990s and show it only on their main SD channel (in Melbourne anyway), which on my 50″ TV looks rubbish.

  2. Ten’s Coverage and Commentary to the AFL was so much better than 7’s like many other sports. The AFL being on 10 will benefit them so much and they can use that and other sports to promote new and upcoming reality shows. Don’t know why 10 would let go their partnership anyway.

  3. Engine – you are so right! Pertinax – You are wrong (from what I remember)

    Murdoch pulled TEN out of the Seven FTA partnership…to save costs leaving Seven to go it alone. This decision alone is the biggest reason TEN is in the position it is in today. Revenue and share price plummeting. With premium sport rights, people have to watch to get the result. No catch up or recording, like drama. Therefore viewers are exposed to promos. Today….People have no reason to watch Ten.

    Murdoch should make the most of his investment in TEN and FOX to make sure they both have AFL rights. And personally fund it given his poor decision 4 years ago.

  4. @amanda_20 – I agree with you, however I disagree about the five minute warning as it is the best thing that Ten came up with for viewers at home. It kept me on the edge of my seat but the commentators have gone elsewhere like Lloyd and Darce but brink back the old commentary team as they had the best commentary team. 7’s coverage is stale and boring

  5. Soon as Ten gets the AFL rights back the better for everyone. Their coverage was great, just don’t bring back the Five minute warning. The last quarter in both the 2005 & 2006 AFL grand finals was so stressful for me.

  6. Go for it Ten, as I am sick of 7’s coverage. I stopped watching it ever since 7 has taken over the rights to Saturday games and they treat with no respect whatsoever unlike Ten who did. Bid for Friday night games, Sunday and the one off game on a different night. Plus the rights to finals and brownlow

  7. I loved Ten’s style of broadcasting back 2002-11. I would love for them to re-claim the rights. But I am not quite sure whether they would be happy to simulcast games with Fox. If they were smart they should try and broker a deal to have exclusive rights to games. Also would love them to bring back BTG.

  8. Pertinax: Didn’t Seven want to continue a deal with Ten like they had done in the past? I’m sure Murdoch walked away from the rights because he thought they were too expensive and wanted to make a play for NRL.

    The AFL/NRL might not rate through the roof, but it provides something that regular programming doesn’t: Guaranteed ratings. If Ten still had AFL, peole would have to watch Ten and be exposed to their promos. As it stands, Ten is completely off the radar. This wouldn’t happen if they had a major winter sport.

    And yes, the FTA networks should have it included in their contracts that the games they show cannot be simulcast on Foxtel. That just splits the audience.

  11. @pertinax – stop trying to re-write history, Ten indeed walked away from AFL rights to persue the NRL

    Seven always wanted to stick with Ten to share the costs

  12. As a Foxtel subscriber, I only watch the games on Foxtel for the same reasons as most. 10’s coverage with One was good in it’s day, but since then we now have the option of seeing every game in HD and add free through Foxtel, so I’m not sure getting the rights next time around would give 10 the boost they would be hoping for. That being said, I do miss Before the Game and would like 10 to at least bring that back.

    PS. If you do get the rights 10, please, please don’t bring back to the 5 minute warning, it was so frustrating watching close games.

  13. I think TEN,s main objective is for Seven and Nine to pay top dollar for the rights to both AFL and NRL. I really cannot see them getting their foot in both these deals unless FOX decides to partner TEN in a new deal. (with Lachlan’s help of course )Hedging my bets I can see a FOX deal with TEN on NRL rather than the AFL. Seven still have a healthy balance sheet however Nine,s Debt is still very worrying, time will tell

  14. Previously Seven wanted to off load some of the cost of the AFL rights and did a deal that was cheap and very good for Ten giving them some minor games and a share of finals games. That deal expired.

    Ten wanted to continue the arrangement but Seven didn’t. Seven bid for all the FTA rights themselves and made a deal with Foxtel for the FTA and Pay TV sharing of games.

    Ten didn’t walk away from the AFL, they as a smaller low-cost network, they couldn’t justify out-bidding Seven for all the rights.

    Ten didn’t walk away from the Voice, NRL, Tennis and international Cricket either — they were outbid by larger networks.

    And now that Seven and Nine have written off $6b of capital and loans and restructured they are in an even better position to outbid Ten now.

  15. I don’t follow AFL to any great degree, so I’m ignorant of the various machinations of who shows what, but I have noticed that 7 don’t seem to cover many games at all any more, not when you consider how many games are played each week(end). Whatever happened to the sanctity of sport being made widely available on FTA?? And what has happened to Saturday arvo footy – it seems to be a non-event these days.

  19. Good point, DansDans, I only ever watch via Fox Footy. I, for one, would hate to see Fox Footy lose their same time simulcast in HD offering, unless the FTA networks were able to offer the same quality.

  20. Really liked ten’s coverage of the footy. Not so impressed with seven. Really miss before the game this year. It was required viewing on Saturday but didn’t work on Thursday. Don’t bother with seven’s pre game as radio does a better job. Used to enjoy the fifth quarter as a good wrap up of the games but probably not so relevant now with video highlights available on the AFL website.

  21. I also enjoyed Ten’s previous broadcast of the AFL. If the network is going to bid for the next rights, it should also bid for a Sunday afternoon game which will provide a good lead-in to the 5pm news on the east coast. Given Ten will only show six V8 Supercars races live per year in the next deal, there will be minimal clashes between the V8s and the AFL on Sundays, as four of those six races are held outside the AFL season.

  22. In order to maximise their return, they would need to ensure that their games are not simulcast with Fox Footy

    Look at the yesterday’s rating for the Easter Monday game – 40% of the total audience who watched it were on Fox Footy not watching any of Ch7’s commercials. I find it ridiculous that any commercial network would allow their premium sports product, one where they hope to make money, to a pay network

    For us fans, on the other hand, I love watching commercial free footy.. Quite a quandary you have there Ten

  23. Ten should never have walked away from the number one winter sport in Australia. A completely insane ‘decision’ by Lachlan and co. Their sharp audience decline since then is no coincidence.

  25. I enjoyed Channel 10’s previous involvement, I would assume that any deal would need to involve FOX to offset costs, let’s hope FOX Footy continues!!

Leave a Reply