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TEN abandons AFL in HD

The serious lack of HD programming in Australia is still 'the elephant in the room.'

We’re going backwards not forwards….

On the weekend TEN screened its AFL coverage in standard definition on TEN and pulled a big audience of 804,000 viewers for a Sydney vs Collingwood game.

In primary channel shares, TEN was first on Saturday night.

A week earlier AFL was offered in both SD on TEN and HD on ONE but it has now dropped its high definition broadcasts of the code, instead offering live coverage of a MotoGP race on ONE. That pulled all of 149,000 viewers.

TEN has sought to talk up the switch.

“This offers viewers a wider range of viewing choices, rather than running the same programming across two channels,” said TEN’s Jeannette McLoughlin told The Australian.

While Seven has declined to offer AFL in HD, until now TEN has come to the party.

The move follows TEN walking away from AFL coverage after this season, and ONE shifting some of its content to general entertainment.

The lack of HD sport continues to frustrate viewers at a time when industry and government continue to talk up the numbers that have made the switch to digital television. 

Nine no longer offers State of Origin, NRL or cricket in high definition on GEM, despite promising HD sports last year. While viewers were grateful that Seven introduced live Wimbledon in an earlier timeslot via 7TWO, it could have offered the games in HD via 7mate.

Next year Seven will screen some AFL on 7mate but at its broadcast deal press conference CEO David Leckie said that he did not know whether Seven would broadcast in HD -or even if it would be “upscaled.”

Meanwhile, Premier Media Group’s FOX Sports will show all five of its games in HD next year.

Industry expects the issue to remain unresolved until the switch to digital television is completed at the end of 2013.

65 Responses

  1. I compained on twitter about this. It was stupid idea to be simcasting broadcast AFL onto both channels and show other sports on a delay because of a conflicting schedule

    It was getting particularly frustrating because sometimes the live streaming of one hd motorsport would fail and you’d have to watch the digital tv broadcast instead. But couldn’t because AFL was playing

  2. @JJ Ok… I stand corrected.

    I was told by someone on the coverage at 7 that the actual games themselves were produced in HD but down converted for broadcast.

  3. @goatsbreath – The networks moved the other channels to HD because they’re obliged to broadcast their main channel in SD until at least the switch-off of the analogue network. I think…. I do believe that a lot of imported programming arrives at the networks in HD and then they downconvert it for broadcast on their main channels, so I don’t think there would have been any shortage of HD programming. Hopefully when the digital switchover is completed, there’ll be a rethink how networks broadcast each of their channels!

  4. As irksome as not having AFL in HD might be, I think Ten made the right decision. it doesn’t make sense to cannibalise your audience.

    Personally, I think that the govt shouldn’t be so weak-kneed, and allow networks to broadcast whichever channel they like in HD. I’m not sure what’s so sacred about the main channels anyway. If people only have a SD STB, they can still watch the analogue broadcast. Then the networks could broadcast their best stuff and have it look the best.

  5. The only reason AFL is not in HD (just on ONE or 7MATE) is the current rules don’t allow it, AFL must be shown on the main (and analogue) channels first or at the same time. I’m sure there would be just as many complaints if the ALF was on ONE and the MotoGP was on TEN last Saturday night.

    Currently there is not enough bandwidth for them to simulcast every channel in HD and even when analogue it switched off I’m not sure there will be enough then.

    There is no way on earth FTA will have it’s channels broadcast on PayTV in HD, again those without it would miss out so what’s the point for the 70% without PayTV?

    Like others have said people complained (including me) that TEN was wasting a channel by showing AFL on ONE at the same time, usually pushing the F1 qualifying back later in the night but now they have split them and provided more choice they still can’t win.

    And yes while my TV is not full HD you can still see the difference between a HD signal and SD, it’s not like the new TVs will break your bank. My parents recently got a 40 inch LCD for less than $600, full HD with all the new features including USB record! For most there is no longer a reason to hang on to that old CRT box with a STB sitting on top, go digital today!

  6. A little of topic I admit, but what is the minimum screen size needed to see a significant difference between SD & HD? I currently have a 32″ set and at normal viewing distance can see no difference.

    Not all of us can afford or have the living space for a set-up like Jobby Wobby’s (June 27, 2011 at 11:24 am) to take advantage of HD.

  7. @Todd: To some people yes, I was responding to those that were saying that they do Not see any difference.
    To those, a bigger screen may help them see the difference.

  8. Why would TEN continue to allocate ONE resources and publicity to a commodity it won’t be showing next year?!?

    I bemoan the lack of HD content like everyone else however this is a smart business decision. The former simulcast AFL programming can now be assigned to promoting content which will pay off for it next year.

  9. People were berating ten last week for showing motogp delayed because of afl, and now they are compaining because afl isn’t in hd. Networks can’t win.

    I think ten did the right thing by shaping afl on ten and motogp love on one.

  10. @JobbyWobby, the difference between SD and HD is as obvious as the difference between night and day, even on a 32 inch TV. You don’t need a 50+ inch set to see the massive difference!

  11. @Phillo – Not sure where you pull your information from.

    I work for Gearhouse Broadcast, the broadcast provider for Channel 7 AFL matches, and the AFL is Not, I repeat, is not produced in HD. The AFL broadcasts on Channel 7 are produced at the venue in SD. The pre-game and half-time packages are also produced at the venue in SD.

    Gearhouse do provide a HD truck that is capable of producing broadcasts in HD, but this does not occur. The only period Channel 7 have produced HD content at the venue with Gearhouse Broadcast was during the Finals series’ of 2009 & 2010 (including the 2010 AFL Grand Final, but not the Grand Final replay, as there were no HD trucks available that weekend).

  12. Well I for one was pleased to see the motogp on Saturday night live, during the ads.

    David, do you really think people tune in to a sport because it is in HD? or that people will refuse to watch a sport because it’s not in hd? The figures for the footy seem to suggest otherwise….

  13. To all those who say they do Not notice a difference between SD and HD.

    Watch it on a Large screen or 1080 projector with proper surround sound.
    Not those small 50″ or less TVs or crappy $1000 surround setups.

    When you watch on a good system with with good sound, you Will see a big difference.

    Although I do not watch a lot of sport, when I watch it on my 90+” 1080P projector and screen with my 5.1 system, it is gooodddd.

  14. I’m surprised Ten simulcast the AFL for as long as they did on One and Ten. Seven and Nine dropped the idea within days of saying they would when they suddenly realised that they were splitting one audience between two channels. How can that be a good business decision, as I assume they would also be splitting the same advertisers? AFL on Ten and something else on One gives extra viewers across both channels and, of course, extra advertisers.
    Buying the rights to sports is expensive, and the networks are going to telecast on a channel where they can make their most revenue. At the moment, HD channels are considered secondary digital channels by advertisers, and have even less uptake than the SD digital channels, so it is debatable whether networks could make enough revenue to telecast the expensive sports that are not on the anti-siphoning list solely on their HD channels, let alone the hugely expensive AFL.
    You may see more high profile sports in HD…when…analogue is switched off and we only have digital channels, and the government allows all sports to be played solely on any channel and advertisers are happy to pay the same rate on a HD channel as they do on a main channel.

  15. If there’s one sport the needs HD, it’s Australian football. The audio for the footy on all networks is bloody atrocious too, the crowd is so muffled all you can hear are the stupid commentators. Seven is the worst. I don’t know how I will cope next year when they have every game.

  16. @ Mitrebin – I agree that HD simulcasts (on pay-TV) should include a HD logo when the programming is HD! I have been going off at the entertainment channels for not doing so and all they can say is they are too cheap to create a second feed and instead just use the same feed for both channels (even though there is a time lag). The only channels to do so are PMG channels (Fox Sports 1, 2, 3, and SPEED) which I applaud them for! Foxtel are making over $1bn a year and yet they can’t afford to make LifeStyle HD, FOX8 HD and W HD a seperate feed. And on that note, they make LifeStyle a HD simulcast when it has ZERO HD programming which is stupid when it could be used on Arena, Comedy, History, CI, or another network altogether (TV1, 13th Street, Universal, E!, Fashion, MTV or Sci Fi).

  17. I don’t care anymore about this HD business. FTA TV will not be the same again… or actually like anywhere else in the world…. in HD. So at least people aren’t complaining about AFL being delayed or the MotoGP being delayed. The more shows shown the better. Now get rid of football all together on TEN and keep it on ONE….

  18. @DansDans – What I am saying is that 7 actually produce their coverage in HD… but only screen it in SD.

    As a result, all of 7’s coverage is currently Downscaled.

    So… therefore Leckie’s comment on whether the broadcast could be upscaled is a stupid one.

    So DansDans… read what I am saying before you make the assumption that I am an idiot.

  19. I undestand that FTA has no more bandwidth for more HD channels, so why don’t the commercial channels talk with Foxtel about launching HD similcasts on their platforms so that more people are lured to them. Its a win-win.
    More people on Foxtel and more people watching HD TV sports.

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