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Airdate: T20 Big Bash League

With cricket performing well for Nine, all eyes are now on TEN's Big Bash, live from the MCG on Friday night.

-cricket-ball-With cricket performing well for Nine, all eyes are now on TEN as the Big Bash gets underway,  live from the MCG on Friday night.

This is the network’s big hope for summer, to revive their ratings and promote key content for 2014.

Commentating are Ricky Ponting, Adam Gilchrist, Damien Fleming and hosts Mel McLaughlin and Mark Howard.

Victorian rivals, Melbourne Stars and Melbourne Renegades, will face off at the MCG in an electrifying start to the season that will set the tone for an epic summer of cricket.

The bumper opening weekend will also include a derby game between the Sydney Sixers and the Sydney Thunder at the SCG; an afternoon showdown between the Hobart Hurricanes and the Adelaide Strikers at Blundstone Arena in Hobart; and the long-awaited Final rematch between Brisbane Heat and Perth Scorchers at the Gabba.

To celebrate the start of the KFC T20 Big Bash League season, Network Ten and KFC Australia have launched the KFC Million Dollar Six competition, giving home viewers the chance to win $1 million.

Home viewers will be paired with Network Ten celebrities and sports stars including Shannan Ponton, Steven Bradbury, Nicole Livingstone, Anthony “Lehmo” Lehmann and James Mathison, who will try to catch a six and win $1 million for their home viewer.

Robert “Dipper” DiPierdomenico will represent the first home viewer in Friday’s season opener.

7.30pm (AEDT) Friday on TEN (check local markets).

20 Responses

  1. Remember the Ashes in July from England was live on GEM in HD and also Foxtel in HD as well – yet ratings still reached over 800,000 for GEM – a record for digital channel and also another 300,000 or so on Foxtel.

    Most people who are into sport want sport in HD and so it should be. Those who can’t tell the difference between HD and SD obviously don’t have good TVs!

    Only reason why TEN won’t do Big Bash on ONE in HD is they need something on their main channel to try and bring people back. Big Bash should rate well as there aren’t too many other options anyway.

    Having said that It would probably do just as well if it was exclusively on ONE in HD – where TEN can still promote TEN content as they already do.

  2. I’m surprised Ten haven’t got more commentators on the books for this competition with Ponting, Fleming, M Waugh and Gilly as the main one. With a couple of double headers in the competition, you would usually need 4 commentators a game from watching Fox sports coverage off the Big Bash over the last few years.

  3. Look at Nine’s Ashes for example that they are broadcast in SD and yet they get over the magic million which people don’t mind sports been in SD. So I don’t see why Ten’s BBL will be an issue at all when they are broadcast in SD

  4. @joey69- So who’s the fool!! people that gone out and bought brand new displays that are capable of displaying a HD signal and was told analogue will be turned off,so that means a lot of people then are fools in believing a change to digital will bring some benefit especially in regard to the picture quality you don’t seem to notice the difference?

  5. I have a sneaking suspicion this is going to do much better than what everyone is anticipating. I also think where possible all Sporting Events should be in HD but we know we are climbing a mountain with that issue. I am not a fan of cricket so it doesn’t appeal to me. Even the ashes don’t. I’m glad Australia won but i have not watched one minute of it. However there are a lot of cricket fans out there. The Ashes have shown this so maybe this will get some appeal. We will see i suppose.

  6. @joey69 Agree a lot of chat about SD/HD for no reason. The reality is that it will rate a lot higher on Ten than ONE, hence why Ten has made this decision.

    I for one am pumped for this tournament. The celeb stuff sounds like a bit of fun in between the innings. Great for the viewer that this is on free to air this season.

  7. Gee! by the comments on this story, you would be excused to think that HD vs SD is the main topic here! SD is here to stay as long as we have 7& 9 control FTA sporting rights! you will be and have all been treated like fools for years!

  8. I commend ten for spending money and investing dollars in this content. But I can’t ever seeing this working. Why would people in other states watch other states play. It will be lucky to be on the 400s. It will be on one only in. 2014-15. But hey I hope I am wrong for tens sake.

  9. @Shoudy Chen – “a great opportunity for channel ten to screen the games live in HD”. Channel TEN is not a HD channel. If they run it on both TEN and ONE then they need to simulcast the same ads, or clients won’t be at all happy. Then they would loose the separate advertising stream from One. But am sick of Dubbo office equipment and Parkes tractor ads on TEN Wollongong anyway. If I pay a premium for an ad. in BBL on TEN I don’t want half the viewers watching ONE.

  10. Melbourne Stars -v- Melbourne Renegades Thunder is not quite Australia -v- England, but good luck TEN ’cause I can’t see myself being interested in this.

  11. Oh geez Ten are going to ruin this by chucking in annoying celebrities noboby is interested in.

    We want to watch the cricket,not some wannabe TV geeks trying to take a catch.

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