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AFL declines twilight replay

The AFL has declined a request from the Seven Network to air the AFL Grand Final replay at twilight. And no replay in HD yet...

The AFL has declined a request from the Seven Network to air the AFL Grand Final replay at twilight.

AFL CEO Andrew Demetriou told 3AW this morning the League had opted to repeat the conditions of the match from last weekend.

In doing so it misses an opportunity to trial the big game at twilight when it would have delivered primetime ratings. The NRL match next weekend begins at 5pm in Sydney, a better result for the Nine Network.

Seven will replay the game live around the country on its primary channel.

At this stage there are no plans for either an HD broadcast or an upscaled simulcast on 7mate. TV Tonight hears that there has been a scramble to access HD equipment, in competition with NRL, cycling and even the Commonwealth Games.

Seven will air AFL Game Day on the morning of the match, but hasn’t scheduled its Thursday night Game Day Prime Time, which thus far has delivered disappointing ratings. Nine has regrouped for another Footy Show edition on Thursday despite wrapping the season last week.

This will be the first Grand Final rematch since 1977.

Saturday October 2
Host Bruce McAvaney, and expert commentary from Dennis Cometti, Leigh Matthews, Tom Harley Tim Watson, Matthew Richardson and Brad Johnson.
10am LIVE Perth
11.30am LIVE Adelaide
12pm LIVE Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane

AFL Game Day
Host Hamish McLachlan then leads AFL Game Day Sunday at 10am with panellists AFL Legend Leigh Matthews and dual premiership captain Tom Harley.
Sunday October 3
10am Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth
10am Sydney, Brisbane on 7TWO

20 Responses

  1. strange how Channel 7 is requesting a Twilight grand final when they bought their current rights deal for the AFL, they elected to onsell Sunday twilight games (including WA teams’ home games) to Foxtel rather than show it themselves! And Seven had previously publicly stated that in prime time outside of Friday and Saturday, they make more money screening normal programming than if they showed AFL.

  2. That is disappointing it 7Mate just going to show old shows in 4:3 and re-runs of 20yo Footy matches? I thought the point of being a ‘blokes’ channel was to show sports and what bigger guy weekend is there than Bathurst, Footy aside. Why isn’t the V8s in HD anyway?

    HD in this country is a joke!

  3. @Craig – your Q re the V8s has been answered already (“no”). Having diff programming on 7mate will enable the network to get a higher total share. They won’t have HD equipment at the race anyway. 7mate will have a re-broadcast of “Battle of Bathurst” on the Saturday but that’s it unless something changes.

  4. There is no need to ‘trial’ a twilight grand final. We all know it will work. But tradition is necessary and 10 and 7 Need to get over this annoying desire for the afl to get rid of tradition just to satisfy their hip pocket.

  5. Seven should forget about another Thursday night edition of Game Day even though I love the show. This Thursday’s schedule is basically full, with double episodes of Home and Away in Victoria and Tasmania (triple episodes in SA and WA), the season finale of The Matty Johns Show, the premiere of The Amazing Race 17 and the last ever episode of Ghost Whisperer.

  6. night finals are terrible guy. they are a terrible spectable and the 6 major night finals this year had low attendances bar 1. no one wants a night or a twilight grand final

  7. Seven don’t want to simulcast on Seven Mate as this dilutes the rating numbers that they can report on the main channel. Seven couldn’t care less about HD or their viewers’ experience, the mother-ship ratings come first, always have and always will, and they are not too flash at the moment either, they need every one they can get!

  8. Does this mean there wont a special sunrise and gameday like last week in the lead up to the rematch? Surely its a bit of a wasted opportunity to just the telecast at 12 noon……

  9. I just want to know if the V8s (Bathurst) will be on 7Mate in HD, seams like a logical step to me.

    Seriously 9 times out of 10 when I flip over to GEM or 7Mate and the picture is not even 16:9, what a waste of 1080 HD!

    Can’t even watch new Top Gear this week in HD, not good enough Freeview!

  10. I think twilight is the way to go but the AFL is hell bent on keeping it at 2:30pm. Guess that’s how its always been so why change now. Come on Andrew times are changing 2 new teams are coming so why not trial it.

    What i dont get is why doesnt Seven still have its HD equipment from Saturday? I thought each network had their own stuff not borrowed etc. Thats something i didnt know

  11. There will surely be a ‘HD’ replay on Fox Sports, even if only upscaled. Do we still have such shortages of equipment in 2010? How’d they cope during the season when both Fox Sports and One aired HD AFL, Nine and Fox Sports aired HD NRL, and Fox also aired HD A-League.

  12. “At this stage there are no plans for an HD broadcast on 7mate nor an SD simulcast”

    I was a bit confused by this, an what did you mean by “SD simulcast”?

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