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No HD coverage for NRL Grand Final

Nine will not broadcast the NRL Grand Final in HD due to "technical difficulties."

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2014-10-04_0136Nine has confirmed it will not broadcast tomorrow’s NRL Grand Final in high definition.

Nine told Mumbrella it would not screen in HD due to “technical difficulties” -but did not elaborate on the detail.

This follows Seven screening the AFL Grand Final last week in standard definition, despite fans pleading for HD coverage.

Nine already produces its NRL in high definition, which screens on GEM in cities like Perth and Adelaide and via FOX Sports.

In 2012 it managed to screen Olympics in HD all the way from London while its upcoming Matador One Day Cup will also screen on GEM.

Under the current anti-siphoning rules, Nine could simulcast the match on both Nine and GEM.

Last week Victor Corones from MagnaGlobal told TV Tonight ad rates for Primary channels are around 7 – 10 times higher than those on multichannels.

“There is generally more available audiences sitting on the primary channels which also happen to be the more expensive channels from a rates and Cost Per Thousand perspective,” he said.

In 2012 Nine CEO David Gyngell announced Nine would screen NRL in high definition in 2014 but the network has still not clarified when this will occur across the board despite the season ending tomorrow.

32 Responses

  1. Unlike the rest of the western world:
    9 – NRL – Fuzzy SD telecast
    7 – AFL – more often than not Fuzzy SD telecast
    Ten – Wallabies – Fuzzy SD telecast but in HD when replayed ???
    7 – V8 Supercars – appalling SD coverage though Bathurst replayed in HD ( from some angles) 2 days later.
    Especially galling given all these networks have the capability to telecast in HD – They’ve done it before but choose to treat the public with contempt. If they can show NFL & Nascar in HD then why not do the right thing for our homegrown sports?? It’s 2014 for god’s sake !!!!!

  2. SD and HD is a bit like talking about Live and delayed broadcast. When you watch HD TV are you really watching full HD? Probably not because the stations seem to blend a mix of crappy SD cameras/lower definition/poor frame rate to action ratio feeds (e.g. change rooms, guide wire cams and those feeds carrying a highly compressed progressive or interlaced signal e.g. 720p mixed with HD cameras offering full 1080 HD signal, especially when covering sport. I don’t think there has been one game of football this year that can demonstrate when full 1080 HD was maintained for the entire visual screen presentation. What would you want for HD – compressed 720 lines or 1080 lines of definition? Well, as far as most of the TV networks are concerned, along with economic rationalist government minders, they don’t want to give 1080 because it takes up too much of the commercial bandwidth at the…

  3. Watching it in Adelaide.

    The Holden Cup Final and State Championship Final is on Foxtel too so maybe that is why they are on in HD and the NRL GF is not ?

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