Seven to screen four AFL matches from 2012
TEN walks away from AFL after the current season, leaving Seven to broadcast 4 Free to Air games next year.
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The Seven Network will air four AFL matches in 2012 after Network TEN confirmed it was not interested in buying 2 games per week from Seven.
Seven was able to onsell some of the 4 Free to Air matches if it had a broadcast partner but has always said it would happily screen them all, by utilising its digital channels under the new anti-siphoning rules.
“It is a bit of a shame. It’s the choice of the network. It’s purely a business decision,” Barham told The Age today.
“Everyone is disappointed but understands the decision.
Lewis Martin, General Manager, Channel Seven Melbourne said in a statement: “We are excited about the prospect of carrying all the AFL games for which we bid.
“But we wish to acknowledge that Channel TEN has been a terrific AFL broadcast partner for the past five years, and their commitment to the game over the past decade. We understand and empathise with how difficult these decisions can be.
“That said, we have planned to broadcast all four games every weekend from next year – plus finals, the Grand Final and the Brownlow Medal – and we look forward to becoming the sole free-to-air destination for AFL.”
Before the Game, produced by Roving Enterprises, will also remain with TEN for the current season but there are no decisions about its long-term future yet. There is also no word on AFL panel shows on ONE beyond this season.
FOX Sports will televise all AFL nine matches live from next season.
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52 Responses
wow I guess Ten will slip back to 4th on Saturday nights again… remember summer when they got less than 10%?!
I would have been quite upset if I didn’t have foxtel. Can’t wait for all games live and in HD with no ads siren to siren next year. Will be fantastic! I feel sorry for people who choose to not get or can’t afford to get Foxtel. 4 highly compressed sub-standard definition games chock full of megawall goodness.
Ok i know nothing of sports but i do remember the biggest rating even for AFL is it’s Grand Final which did get very good numbers but is shown in the afternoon which doesn’t count to it’s network win in prime time
SOO is shown 3 times a year and shown in prime time which ensures a network win for the night. So in terms of ratings success wouldn’t it make more sense for TEN to want to pass on AFL and go for the NRL?
Sorry to hear this. Hope 10 keep Before the Game going next year.
I liked TEN’s coverage more than 7’s but then again I hardly ever watched a full game of AFL on tv.
When Ten partnered with Nine and Foxtel to win the 2007-2011 AFL broadcasts rights, it was widely praised as being a breath of fresh air against Seven’s dour coverage. So why all the backlash against Ten, with its coverage to end after the Grand Final? Ten was the first network to show the AFL in HD and take coverage into NSW and QLD seriously. I hope Ten does not walk away from the AFL entirely, it should keep shows like Before the Game and One Week at a Time. When the network’s financial position improves in 10-15 years’ time, I believe it will bid for part of the AFL rights again.
Lachlan Murdoch has no idea how to run the TEN network. He is a NRL fan & not a AFL supporter which means TEN will bid for next NRL rights. TENS ratings in Melbourne without AFL will slump even further so much i think the ABC will beat them. Shame Lachlan Shame.
Kathy Friday Night Football is shown Live into NSW and QLD on 7mate
@Kathy I failed to mention the worlds Sydney and Brisbane.
@ Matt F: Thanks for answering my questions & also realizing i was just having a laugh.
No more Robert Walls & Malcolm Blight ruining the footy, this has to be the biggest win of them all!
Ryano said ‘I noticed 7Mate will show Friday night AFL live this week’
Which State is that Ryano… Perth? If so, not live to the rest of Australia…We have watched the game and gone to bed by the time Perth see it ‘Live”.
Great, 4 games in blurry SD!!
How will this affect the V8 Supercar coverage? The Sunday Footy coverage will clash with race coverage like last week, surely V8’s wont allow them to be shoved on 7mate. Hopefully C10 will come to the rescue and give the V8s proper coverage.
This does not worry me as I’ll be getting Foxtel in March next year to take advantage of getting all nine AFL games live 🙂
deedeedragons – first of all, shame on you! 🙂 However…
1) It won’t effect you that much. From my understanding all swans games (and GWS games) must be shown live or near live on FTA tv into sydney just like the current deal (though there may be scope to show them on digital channels.) It just means they will all be on 7 rather then split b/w them and 10. Also if you have foxtel every game will also be shown live.
2) as for Ten and the NRL the latest talk is they are very keen for the Friday and/or Monday night games. Apparently Murdoch is a big league fan and Ten lost about $10million per year on the last AFL deal so he believes NRL represents better value for money. That and with no AFL it seems even more stupid to have a sport channel (though it has been rebranded to a large extent) without any sport. Though there is the conspiracy theory that the real reason they aren’t getting the AFL is because News Ltd(i.e. the Murdoch family) owns a stake in foxtel/Foxsports they want to get rid of all sport on One to get more people on foxtel……..
I seldom watch Ten. I may venture back next year as the AFL helped to drive me away.
Great news, the whole ch 10 commentary team is rather irritating.
I noticed 7Mate will show Friday night AFL live this week, this is due to happen as part of the 2012-2016 contract, I wonder if this will be the case for the rest of this year?
deedeedragons said: As like most Sydneysiders i jump on the Swans bandwagon when they’re doing well, what does this mean for me?
Shame on you… Most ‘sydneysiders’ do not jump on the bandwagon. I have been a loyal fully paid Swans member for 18 years (the last 8 of those years I have lived in Adelaide and to this day still pay my full membership x 2) and never have I, or the members around me, jumped on the Swans bandwagon… Think you maybe getting confused with the ‘Chardonnay’ members from the Adelaide Crows mate 🙂
Re 10 commentators – Malcolm Blight, Anthony Hudson and Matthew Lloyd… give me Tim Lane before these guys, any-day.
@Ryano – would be really surprised if Seven even bothered picking up Anthony Hudson, especially whilst Bruce is still around. 7 did not want Huddo years ago, and don’t think they will again, thankfully.
I do wonder what this means for Before The Game after this year. Will it continue in some format? Afterall The Footy Show (AFL version) has gone on for years without having the AFL rights.
Its a wise move from TEN – I love the AFL, but I’ve noticed the numbers slipping on FTA, and with the new deal ensuring live coverage of FTA games are also on Fox, there is no market viability for this to be realistic for TEN – more than half the audience will migrate to pay tv and watch the games there with no or differents ads. It was a stupid deal that 7 made here, they should have just been forced to broadcast their own games Live
Its a shame, AFL would have made ONE HD in the years ahead.
7MATE are going to rule the roost for some years to come thanks to it. Hopefully Anthony Hudson will be picked up by Seven for the extra 2 games. Not sure what other Ten talent will end up at Seven. Quatermain will presumably stay with Ten.
two things:
1: As like most Sydneysiders i jump on the Swans bandwagon when they’re doing well, what does this mean for me?
2: Hopefully this means Ten will go after the NRL hard.
they might actually improve their coverage that they have all 4 games.