Tour Down Under TV Rights

[auscyclefan94]

It seems likely that Channel 9 (commerical network for others who don't know) have got the rights for the Tour Down Under for the next 3 years including this upcoming edition. This is not really good for Cycling fans in Oz as firstly if a network like Channel 9 gets the rights for it, it is likely there will be less coverage and the highlights will be at a later time but also the Cycling will be shared with Cricket during the Summer. Generally the Cricket takes high precedence on Ch 9. Also it wouldn't surprise me if the quality of coverage lowers as a result of them getting it. I had heard whispers about this for a while but from I have been told Tourism SA (the gov organisation who runs the event) has wanted Channel 9 to televise the event for years.

I don't particulary like this decision and was wondering other peoples thoughts on the issue.

 

[ramjambunath]

It's unlikely to be live then, unless Cricket Australia blasphemously goes to Fox sports and that won't happen. No matter what, the decision seems to be a bit of a let down for the TDU.

 

[auscyclefan94]

It is going to be run alongside the Cricket. it's going to Nine.

 

[Martin318is]

Depends upon how it is handled. I actually wouldn't be too surprised if for at least the first year they give it better broadcast spread than SBS has, in terms of time of day and length of programme. However, the remaining years are almost certainly going to get less coverage.

As to the quality of the broadcast, thats going to be just the 'host' jobs. Lets face it, they are certainly going to just get the Phil and Paul show in.

So that leaves us with the quality of the actual programme and I would fully expect that it will be a mix of washed up moron hosts from the 9 stable mixed with some knowledgeable but dead on TV experts and some other energetic but moronic general sport 'experts'.

So Karl Stefanovic (or similar) throws to Ben Fordham for the cutesie 'this is how a bike works', or 'this is what the pros eat' story and then the rest of the broadcast is a mix between the Karl 'host' throwing to Phil and Paul and then talking over the top of Phil Anderson in the in & outs from adbreaks....

Overall, not sure that this is any worse than Michael T talking cycling with Anthony Tan.....

 

[Martin318is]

Just looked, there will be an overlap for days one and two with the Perth match but after that the last 3 days are (I think) more or less clear... from cricket coverage anyway

 

[ramjambunath]

Or will 9 network split the telecast as they do for the news for some parts of the country? Maybe the last hour of a stage could be telecast or SA could be shown live coverage of the race for a period of time.

 

[auscyclefan94]

Look at the upside everyone, if there are any controversies, Ch9 can get Tracy Grimshaw to report on the story on A Current Affair alongside some Supermarket, Diet pills & neighbourhood dispute stories!

 

[Ferminal]

The best thing about SBS is that everything is streamed online live, regardless of TV schedules. Nine will not be so accommodating, which means back to three hour additional delay here in the West

The coverage should be dictated by the operator of the event. I think I'm correct in saying that they equipment and personnel for the TV coverage, and from there sell those rights (this is the only way you can get small cycling events covered). So if the organisers decided they want all stages covered properly ("live") then that will happen. They are saving themselves a million or so in 2012 year so why don't they put it into the coverage, rather than continuing to pretend the race is anything other than Mickey Mouse. Phil and Paul like to call it the 3rd best race in the world (maybe 4th now after USPCCCCCC), amazing that the 3rd best race only has two stages televised, and even then to a very limited audience.

A deal with Nine would obviously be about money. Again, if they cared about the race they would have it written in the deal that "live" must actually be live, across the country. They must do this, in the best interests of the race. Maybe the political situation means the government are trying to scale back their financial commitment. The race isn't going to make money, but maybe they can minimise their exposure.

I get the picture that the overseas coverage is limited. Highlights shown long after the completion of the race, and I'm not even sure if the live stages were shown. This is understandable in some respects due to the season not having started in the Northern Hemisphere, and the time of day in which the race is on. This should be improved, especially as the event is considered an exercise in tourism.

So, what I think the race needs (on this front):

1) Live coverage of all stages.
2) Domestically, guarantee with the rights holder that the race be broadcast live.
3) Internationally, negotiate with broadcasters to see if they are interested in increasing their coverage. An easy part of this would be to get a deal with Eurosport which gives you some sort of audience in several countries across the continent.

As a side note, Nine cannot be trusted to do anything without actually putting it in the contract, given their "coverage" of the RWC.

 

[Spider1964]

When there is a clash, hopefully they put the cycling on one of their sub-channels Gem or Go! Similar to what Ten do with their ONE sports channel.

 

[NickBVK]

Any days that overlap will be shown on one of their digital channels

 

[klmorgan]

Here's another thing that Nine can screw up! Cricket Cricket Cricket will have priority!

 

[theyoungest]

If this means that Phil and Paul can no longer do the commentary, all the better for us European cycling fans. Any coverage reaches these shores about 10 hours after the finish, so in that regard this change of broadcaster doesn't really matter. All in all, good news.

 

[El Imbatido]

I am pretty sure Phil and Paul will still do the commentary. They do commentary for about 80 different channels so why not add another to their resume. But seriously when channel 10 had the Geelong World Championship tv rights they still had the Phil and Paul machine churning out their clichés so i can't see it being a problem for channel 9 unless they really try to do it on the cheapo

 

[craig1985]

Oh we must get Gus Gould in. Gus can have a moan at everything that is wrong with the UCI, and when a rider from Euskaltel goes on a suicidal attack he can go 'No, no, no, no, no, no', and on the stage to Willunga he can tell us how much the people of Adelaide love their Saturday afternoon cycling. We can also get Wally Lewis in and explain on the Keno Replay what caused the crash and on the ensuring sprint victory, he can look on the Bundy Smooth Moves Replay and explain to us about the sprint victory.

Sadly, only rugby league viewers in Australia would get this

Anybody? Galic Ho?

 

[auscyclefan94]

If this means that Phil and Paul can no longer do the commentary, all the better for us European cycling fans. Any coverage reaches these shores about 10 hours after the finish, so in that regard this change of broadcaster doesn't really matter. All in all, good news.

I don't think you necessarily understand the implications of this being a foreigner. I am yet to be convinced that Nine will show more coverage or that there will be better quality coverage. Nine have been reluctant to use their digital channels for live events as they don't want to lose ratings from Channel 9 their mains channel. They really just use those Channels to show repeats of Two and a Half Men, movies and other rejected shows that have not done well on their main channels. tbh that is what the entire use of all those secondary channels. Phil and Paul will no doubt be doing the commentary. Channel 9 have used them before as general commentators for Cycling when the Tour de France. We will most likely get guys like Ken Suctliffe, Ben Fordham, Tony Jones and that Rugby guy who did the NSW Crits last year (can't remember his name). I am not sure that ensures better coverage when you have people who are clueless about the sport. As much as I loathe Tomalaris and Tan, at least they know, understand (to a certain degree) and love the sport. I also think it is a shame that the TDU has dumped the main Cycling Broadcaster in Australia from broadcasting the biggest Australian bike race. In my opinion it smacks of greedy Tutur being all about the money and not about the love of the sport.

 

[auscyclefan94]

Oh we must get Gus Gould in. Gus can have a moan at everything that is wrong with the UCI, and when a rider from Euskaltel goes on a suicidal attack he can go 'No, no, no, no, no, no', and on the stage to Willunga he can tell us how much the people of Adelaide love their Saturday afternoon cycling. We can also get Wally Lewis in and explain on the Keno Replay what caused the crash and on the ensuring sprint victory, he can look on the Bundy Smooth Moves Replay and explain to us about the sprint victory.

Sadly, only rugby league viewers in Australia would get this

Anybody? Galic Ho?

From the limited Rugby I have watched I do recognise some of those catchphrases from those Rugby commentators.

 

[craig1985]

Who would that guy be ACF? Tim Gilbert or Andrew Voss?

 

[auscyclefan94]

Who would that guy be ACF? Tim Gilbert or Andrew Voss?

Andrew Voss. Thanks Craig.

 

[craig1985]

This reminds me when the Sun Tour was on Ch 10, they used to put the highlights on really late at night, but they'll show the final crit live. IIRC, wasn't the TDU also on Ch 10 at some point? I think the highlights were on really late at night.

 

[auscyclefan94]

This reminds me when the Sun Tour was on Ch 10, they used to put the highlights on really late at night, but they'll show the final crit live. IIRC, wasn't the TDU also on Ch 10 at some point? I think the highlights were on really late at night.

Quite a few years ago it was on CH10. They had one late night package where all the stages were shown.

 

[pastronef]

The best thing about SBS is that everything is streamed online live

so this means that here in Italy i'll just have to look for the link for the live streaming on cyclingfans.com? and set the alarm clock a bit early

 

[Tuarts]

Slow news week on the forum apparently.

 

[Tuarts]

The best thing about SBS is that everything is streamed online live

so this means that here in Italy i'll just have to look for the link for the live streaming on cyclingfans.com? and set the alarm clock a bit early

Only if you can find an Aussie IP proxy...

 

[pastronef]

Only if you can find an Aussie IP proxy...

uh?

 

[Anonymous]

Im not how it will make it any worse. Previously all we got was highlights packages of the first 5 days, and then live coverage of the last two.

Short of ditching highlights packages how can it deteriorate?