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Queensland, South Australian viewers bash TEN over sport delays

Networks keen to nab sports rights would do well to remember viewers just want it Live (and in HD).

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2015-01-06_0003Another day another viewer backlash on social media, this time aimed at TEN over delays returning for the Big Bash League into Queensland and South Australia.

After 2 weeks of live coverage while The Project was resting, delays have returned in Queensland once more. The Project returned last night with guest host Wil Anderson.

Last month a TEN spokesperson told TV Tonight there would be some delays and some live games for Queensland.

“We will be airing 34 KFC T20 Big Bash League matches in prime time. Unfortunately, due to the earlier start times of Big Bash matches this year, there will be some matches that will be delayed in Brisbane and Adelaide.

“The majority of matches will be live in every market on TEN, with all matches available live in Perth on ONE and then replayed on TEN in Perth at 8.30pm.”

While the 3 hour time difference in WA has been deemed too long to wait and ONE comes to the rescue, it seems 1 hour in Queensland isn’t long enough to warrant the multichannel strategy.

 

44 Responses

  1. Adelaide will get live coverage today
    Why not this schedule
    SA – this week only TEN 6pm – Family Feud 6.30pm – BBL Live ONE 6pm – The Project Live
    SA – next week onwards TEN 6pm – Family Feud 6.30pm – The Project Live 7pm – Big Bash Leauge Live
    QLD – this week only TEN 6pm – BBL Live 9.30pm – Family Feud Replay 10pm – The Project Replay
    QLD – next week onwards TEN 6pm – Family Feud 6.30pm – Big Bash League Live 10pm – The Project Replay ONE 5.30pm – The Project Live

  2. One of the reasons that ch10 previously went into a sharp decline was abysmal programming……it seems an institutional endemic issue at the network…

    Finally they have a strong summer formula for success, yet they are totally pissing off the viewers they wish to lure, the characters of Dumb and Dumber seem to have more commonsense.

    The presenters on BBL are good fun especially when they bring in Freddie “Andrew” Flintoff, he is tv gold. Dunno why they keep calling him andrew though….

  3. Actually – as a sporting nation – perhaps we need legislation that ensures all sport is shown live and in HD… Apart from replays, all sport on Foxtel is live – never delayed.

    And I concur with Andrew – growing up in late 70’s and 80’s I cannot remember ever seeing sport delayed.

    Although I remember going to great lengths to try to receive WIN-4 or NBN-3 whenever cricket was played in Sydney and therefore only aired on TV in Sydney for 2 hours!

  4. I am not a cricket fan but I am a sports fan and as such find it insulting that networks can still delay coverage in this modern day. I have an idea which is a little less drastic as changing state timezones. For Brisbane and SA (and NT I assume?) play the first hour on ONE, than once The Project is over switch over to TEN (like they did with the Winter Olympics). And it would kill two birds with 1 stone as it would end TEN’s 3 network simulcast of FF.

  5. The Adelaide Strikers tweeted 20 minutes ago to ignore tv guides as 10 had just told them the game would be broadcast live in Adelaide tonight at 6.30 CSDT

  6. Why not just show in live on ONE in HD to all markets? Problem solved – its not like Big Bash is on that ridiculously outdated concept the anti siphoning list.

    When will FTA in Australia come into 2015 and break away from the need of having to show most of the sport on their main channel in SD?

    And then have anti-siphoning modified to allow sports on the list to be in HD on secondary channels?

  7. As a Queenslander, I’ll begrudgingly cop a delayed coverage. What I (and seemingly a lot of others, judging by Ten’s FB page) won’t cop is inserting numerous ads into the delayed coverage in the middle of overs. Last night’s game went into a super over (a rarity for those who don’t know about cricket) and instead of showing the whole over, they cut to an ad and Queensland viewers missed the last three balls. Not only this, but there were numerous still shots of the ground when thy cut back to the coverage with commentary missing and interviews were replayed twice because ads interrupted them. If you’re going to delay, there’s no excuse for having such poor coverage.

  8. Only in Australia would people suggest that the best solution to delayed sports broadcasts is ‘move the whole state into a different timezone’.

  9. @MHA: Actually delaying sports coverage is more a present day thing. Back in the 70s (once Australia was linked up east to west) and 80s, sports coverage was more likely to be live across the country even if it meant for some bizarre scheduling in places like Perth and Adelaide or country areas that only had 1 commercial channel.

    But nowadays we’re actually going backwards and putting some cities into delayed coverage.

  11. There is no excuse for delayed sport cvoverage anymore with digital multi-channels, not to mention the social media and on-line betting aspects that exist now. It is not like it is the 1970s when there was no internet/social media and no multichannels. The concept of delaying sport to prop up the ratings of another program belong in the analogue era in a museum, not today. With multichannels, local timezones no longer matter!

  12. Meanwhile Ch7’s tennis coverage has been brilliant. Hopman Cup live in Adelaide on 7Mate, Brisbane International live on 7Two. This is how it should be done. The one thing Seven does well is sport. Ten is still at the stage that it should be trying to win viewers back.

  13. Yes as a frustrated SA viewer I hope we can shame 10 into making it live!
    It’s very ironic that 10 have a product people want to watch yet they still stuff it up!

  14. I can confirm that Adelaide aren’t getting all games live either. I see TEN’s hyperbolic twitter feed long before I see the game.

    And the Network’s only explanation on Twitter?

    twitter.com/tensporttv/status/552020270303567872

  15. I can’t see why they just can’t move the project to one or start the game live on one and then finish it on ten once the project is finished. Like nine and seven (and even ten with multi sport events) have done with sports clashing with the 6pm news.

  16. Is this why sporting events are now starting a half hour earlier in SA now? That half hour change makes tuff to the get the games on time, when you have to get home, change and go again and to make the start of the game in under an hour.
    The song goes ‘This is Australia’ not “This is Eastern Australia”.

  18. After the viewer backlash when this last occurred it seems silly that this situation was not rectified weeks ago. Sport should always be shown live. No excuses.

    I can’t understand why the commercial networks keep ignoring viewers when they make legitimate complaints like this. Its why viewers are turning off free to air networks in droves.

    I am in one of the states that did get to watch the game live last night and Ten did a very good job of covering the super over. The video camera work that captured the two player catch during the super over was also well done.

  19. Haven’t watched the BBL this year because of the delays into Qld plus the scheduling where the Brisbane Heat had only played 2 games when some teams had already played 4.
    Ten have really underestimated the Qld sports fan if they think they can treat us like that. They should be shown live in every market to maximize the promotion of Ten as a viable viewing alternative.
    If they can’t show it live give it ti Nine who will.

  20. Wake up Ten this is not good enough. If you’re so desperate to air The Project at 6.30 then show the first hour of the BBL on ONE it is that simple. They won’t do it because they know people will watch the BBL instead of The Project.

  22. Just ask F1 fans what they think of TEN’s treatment of sport. They were planning to delay races for Perth until they were finished and show them on TEN.

    It took a massive campaign and hounding of their sponsors to get that changed.

    I recommend the same here. Hound TEN’s sponsors, constantly call their offices, waste as many of their man hours as possible on phone calls.

  23. Not a cricket fan and don’t live in Adelaide but here’s what TEN should do in Adelaide given The Project is only 30 minutes long at this stage.

    6:00 The Project Live
    6:30 Big Bash Live
    10:00 Family Feud

    (Family Feud could also be shown at its usual time on ONE and ELEVEN)

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