Tour Down Under TV Rights

[just some guy]

What Channel 9 has done to the TDU by playing their coverage at 10.30 pm has set that race back 10 years.

Its nothing short of a disgrace, a spoiler, and simply un-Australian. Its dampened down the media coverage because hardly anyone is talking about it because they are not watching it.

Is it down to the greed of the owners of the TDU, selling out for the highest price?

Try getting to watch from Europe. Hopefully the ASO will change things but it seems to me folks in the west and non SBS homes are happy

 

[PCutter]

Having the TV rights on Channel 9 guarantees higher ratings. Whilst as a cycling fan I'd rather highlights at a reasonable hour (for someone who has to get up at 5 to ride before work), but ratings will always be higher on a commercial network as there remains a large portion of the public who will not flick onto SBS. Even at 10.30, Ch 9 will have more eyeballs than 6.30 on SBS.

And for the South Australian government, which kicks in significantly to support the race, they have far more exposure. Whilst Channel 9 might only be putting highlights on at 10.30, they have had their breakfast weather girl on the Today Show doing the weather from the start of finish town all week, which gives them far more bang for their buck than highlights on SBS. And even done a couple of (admittedly bad) interviews on the show as well.

Would I prefer highlights at 6.30 of course (I don't stay up to watch them now - I'll save that for GT MTFs), but the TdU didn't just give the rights to Ch 9 to pi$$ off cycling fans. Not to mention that SBS still isn't widely transmitted outside the capital cities - where 9 is via its NBN affiliate.

EDIT: and i actually meant to hit quote from Mickk's post 2 above

 

[biker jk]

Having the TV rights on Channel 9 guarantees higher ratings. Whilst as a cycling fan I'd rather highlights at a reasonable hour (for someone who has to get up at 5 to ride before work), but ratings will always be higher on a commercial network as there remains a large portion of the public who will not flick onto SBS. Even at 10.30, Ch 9 will have more eyeballs than 6.30 on SBS.

And for the South Australian government, which kicks in significantly to support the race, they have far more exposure. Whilst Channel 9 might only be putting highlights on at 10.30, they have had their breakfast weather girl on the Today Show doing the weather from the start of finish town all week, which gives them far more bang for their buck than highlights on SBS. And even done a couple of (admittedly bad) interviews on the show as well.

Would I prefer highlights at 6.30 of course (I don't stay up to watch them now - I'll save that for GT MTFs), but the TdU didn't just give the rights to Ch 9 to pi$$ off cycling fans. Not to mention that SBS still isn't widely transmitted outside the capital cities - where 9 is via its NBN affiliate.

EDIT: and i actually meant to hit quote from Mickk's post 2 above

You're kidding, right? How many watched the SBS coverage of the TdF when Cadel rode for yellow in the TT? Its audience share in metropolitan areas was 32.6%! Don't give me this rubbish that people don't watch SBS. I'm not watching the Channel 9 coverage which is being shown late at night but was watching the SBS evening highlights in past years. Channel 9 just paid up for the TV rights as a spoiler to SBS and South Australia took the cash to the detriment of the event's TV coverage.

 

[PCutter]

TdU isn't quite the draw the TdF and the TdF's 30-odd% share of ratings is in the early morning where its up against info-mercials for thigh busters. SBS still doesn't go outside metropolitan areas.

 

[auscyclefan94]

Just to make this clear to everyone as many people seem to be confused. Tourism SA pushed for the tv rights to go to Channel 9. No bidding or 'buying out'.

 

[Tuarts]

This is amusing. You complain when its shown at 11:30pm, complain when it's moved an hour ahead.

So people are just pre-disposed to be outraged I guess.

 

[auscyclefan94]

This is amusing. You complain when its shown at 11:30pm, complain when it's moved an hour ahead.

So people are just pre-disposed to be outraged I guess.

It is a little annoying when tv shows are moved around and particulary commercial networks change the times that tv shows are broadcasted.

 

[movingtarget]

I have no problem with the time the highlights screen but it is annoying when the time is changed re TV guide. Channel 9 is not going to bump some top rating regular shows for the TDU. The highlights are not too bad but could do without the Andrew Voss interviews during the stage. Why no have them befor the stage starts ? The race badly needs live stream and live TV as Prudhomme said, that is the next step. The reason SBS used to be able to screen the race at 6.00 was because it was not interefering with their news time slot or anything that rated well. Thankfully SBS have the TDF until at least 2017.

 

[Anonymous]

on the other hand, c9 have been putting 6-8 minute highlight packages on the internet and youtube, unrestricted to anyone can watch them.

so you can assume that an awful lot of people have seen some of the tdu that never saw it before.

 

[Martin318is]

This is amusing. You complain when its shown at 11:30pm, complain when it's moved an hour ahead.

So people are just pre-disposed to be outraged I guess.

When you are recording things because its too late to stay up for, then yes, it is a problem

 

[craig1985]

The Sun Tour used to have this problem when Ch 10 showed it.

 

[Tuarts]

It's like SBS were the holy grail and could do no wrong. Plenty of times last year some of their highlights for shows were done the day after, cant remember the races (may even have been TDU) but some highlights were being shown as the next stage was near completion.

Anyway make sure you double check the program (EG) tonight, only half an hour of highlights this time.

 

[auscyclefan94]

Read some of Andrew Voss' (the host of the TDU) tweets in the last 24 hours.

@SherLiggettisms @SBS @CyclingCentral @CadelOfficial How is SBS free to air? Where do you think they get the bulk of their funding.

i admire your passion jay. if live on sbs 2 is better for the sport and its sponsors i will sign your petition. enjoy today

great. go back to 24 mins a night and then live on sbs2 sat/sun?. event deserves better in my opinion

Surprised how he directly had a go at sbs.

 

[PCutter]

Read some of Andrew Voss' (the host of the TDU) tweets in the last 24 hours.

@SherLiggettisms @SBS @CyclingCentral @CadelOfficial How is SBS free to air? Where do you think they get the bulk of their funding.

i admire your passion jay. if live on sbs 2 is better for the sport and its sponsors i will sign your petition. enjoy today

great. go back to 24 mins a night and then live on sbs2 sat/sun?. event deserves better in my opinion

Surprised how he directly had a go at sbs.

He's probably sick of getting tweets from Australian cycling fans who think they know better than Mike Turtur on whats good for a race he's built from scratch to WT status

 

[Anonymous]

Read some of Andrew Voss' (the host of the TDU) tweets in the last 24 hours.

@SherLiggettisms @SBS @CyclingCentral @CadelOfficial How is SBS free to air? Where do you think they get the bulk of their funding.

i admire your passion jay. if live on sbs 2 is better for the sport and its sponsors i will sign your petition. enjoy today

great. go back to 24 mins a night and then live on sbs2 sat/sun?. event deserves better in my opinion

Surprised how he directly had a go at sbs.

trouble is, theres arguments both ways.

SBS put the higlights on at a more sensible time which seems to be the main/only argument people have. But then i understand that SBS doesnt cover the whole country and C9 has a wider coverage

The plus sides for C9 for those who dont have C9 or Sky or whatever. Free unrestricted highlights packages on youtube from C9, and the final two live stages they are doing unrestricted webstreams that are not georestricted.

So While the minority of australians who live in areas where they can get SBS (which is renowned for low signal strength) are maybe disadvantaged by the later time, the vast majority of australians, and cycling fans around the world are much better off. And surely thats what its about, if you want the TDU to get appeal worldwide I think its been proven this race that Channel 9 have that capability. Never saw SBS doing free unrestricted livestreams, and their highlghts packages were eorestricted whereas C9 are putting them on youtube.

but no doubt as a non-australian i have no idea what im talking about. :S

 

[thehog]

No wonder Jobs wanted to create the true Apple TV. Cracked it.

 

[Ferminal]

trouble is, theres arguments both ways.

SBS put the higlights on at a more sensible time which seems to be the main/only argument people have. But then i understand that SBS doesnt cover the whole country and C9 has a wider coverage

The plus sides for C9 for those who dont have C9 or Sky or whatever. Free unrestricted highlights packages on youtube from C9, and the final two live stages they are doing unrestricted webstreams that are not georestricted.

So While the minority of australians who live in areas where they can get SBS (which is renowned for low signal strength) are maybe disadvantaged by the later time, the vast majority of australians, and cycling fans around the world are much better off. And surely thats what its about, if you want the TDU to get appeal worldwide I think its been proven this race that Channel 9 have that capability. Never saw SBS doing free unrestricted livestreams, and their highlghts packages were eorestricted whereas C9 are putting them on youtube.

but no doubt as a non-australian i have no idea what im talking about. :S

No, you're mostly correct.

People seem to have a phobia of commercial FTA broadcasters, the number of uninformed negative comments (re: live coverage) during the week was absurd. Nine hasn't been any worse than the previous broadcaster.

The late airing of the highlights is a problem for some. For others (me) this is a win though as they were streamed at 4PM, earlier than I could have seen them in previous years. The 40-45 minute highlights package is an improvement over the 25 minute efforts previously. Overall though the highlights don't bother me much, the way they are done is a terrible way to watch cycling. I've followed the race during the day so all I really want to see is the sprint trains in the final 10km (which highlights don't even show ).

The live broadcast across the country of the weekend stages is the key for me. It's strange that people are elevating SBS to demigod status and that they treated the TDU much better. I find that difficult though, when they couldn't broadcast the TDU live in this part of the country as it would have displaced a 12hr old 30min news segment from DW or Al Jazeera.

The quality of the WWOS stream is poor, however the spinoff from this is that it's not geoblocked.

 

[auscyclefan94]

He's probably sick of getting tweets from Australian cycling fans who think they know better than Mike Turtur on whats good for a race he's built from scratch to WT status

Heaven forbid anyone criticse Mike Tutur!

trouble is, theres arguments both ways.

SBS put the higlights on at a more sensible time which seems to be the main/only argument people have. But then i understand that SBS doesnt cover the whole country and C9 has a wider coverage

The plus sides for C9 for those who dont have C9 or Sky or whatever. Free unrestricted highlights packages on youtube from C9, and the final two live stages they are doing unrestricted webstreams that are not georestricted.

So While the minority of australians who live in areas where they can get SBS (which is renowned for low signal strength) are maybe disadvantaged by the later time, the vast majority of australians, and cycling fans around the world are much better off. And surely thats what its about, if you want the TDU to get appeal worldwide I think its been proven this race that Channel 9 have that capability. Never saw SBS doing free unrestricted livestreams, and their highlghts packages were eorestricted whereas C9 are putting them on youtube.

but no doubt as a non-australian i have no idea what im talking about. :S

You are wrong on many levels.

SBS put it on a reasonable time. Channel 9 didn't which is a big deal.
SBS promote Cycling. Channel 9 don't and jump on when it is convenient.
SBS has had more behind the scenes coverage and interviews than the host broadcaster has.
SBS can't do unrestricted streams due to them being a government funded network which restricts them from showing it overseas through a stream.
With digital tv being compulsory around regional Australia within the next year, SBS will be available to all Australians.
SBS showed the Down Under Classic live. Channel 9 didnt.

As a non-Australian you don't know as much about it because simply it is an Australian race with Australian broadcasters being discussed. Voss' tweets were far off the mark it is not funny. Ask who many Australian cycling fans want and prefer as a host broadcasters and the overwhelming majority will say SBS.

 

[PCutter]

As a non-Australian you don't know as much about it because simply it is an Australian race with Australian broadcasters being discussed. Voss' tweets were far off the mark it is not funny. Ask who many Australian cycling fans want and prefer as a host broadcasters and the overwhelming majority will say SBS.

Must be why the ratings are up this year.

If it was on SBS you'd be complaining about Tan Man and Tommo cause that is all you do.

 

[auscyclefan94]

Must be why the ratings are up this year.

If it was on SBS you'd be complaining about Tan Man and Tommo cause that is all you do.

Well that is because it is on a commercial network. That is not really a surprise.

I probably would be criticising Tan Man and Tomo but at least they are passionate about the sport and actually know races other than the TDU, Tour de France and the Olympics.

 

[Ferminal]

Well that is because it is on a commercial network. That is not really a surprise.

Isn't that a plus for cycling in this country?

 

[Trev_S]

It's all a matter of perspective.
I watched every minute of the TDU and NINE barely put a foot wrong.

Whilst the highlights would have been nicer if played earlier I was glad that the coverage through those stages had doubled the previous years.
Most critisism was dished out even before a minute of air time had been played from people who believed 'change' would ruin it.

I'm sure next years coverage will only be better after they will have no doubt learnt a few of the little things and hopefully run the stage programs earlier in the evening.

People often forget the audience is not 100% sporting cyclists there is a broad range of people watching and what we may find a dumb or tedious question in an interview there are hundreds or thousands watching that have no idea and get a little insight from those basic questions.

One thing I wish NINE would have done is run an on screen ticker for a breaks time gap and distance covered or to go.
They had a lap count on final stage and the classic so something similar.
Granted they may not have been given the info to do so though???

All in all I'd say 9 out of 10
1 point loss for the highlights being as late in the evening as they were.

Given it was up against the Aust Open Tennis, maybe they went for the late hour for ratings?? they'd never beat the tennis in this regards.

 

[Trev_S]

Isn't that a plus for cycling in this country?

I'd say yes a big plus.
In the big picture, the more non cyclists that watch at least some of it the better.

Puts cycling more into peoples mind set and if it gets a few extra to start up and/or give cyclists a bit more thought on the road the better it is for all of us.

As long as cyclists themselves do the right thing on the road.

 

[Garry Allen]

10 years ago, we were ahving a similar debate about 7's coverage of the TDU on aus.bicycle. At that time 7 did not show it outside South Australia. Now, on another commercial station, the highlights are shown at whatever time 9 decides. They are playing the same games with the TDU that they do with their other non ratings programs (showing at a time other than the scheduled time, allowing the start of the telecast to slip by 10 minutes ....)

Of all the Free to Air stations in Australia, i think the programmers on 9 are the most gutless. They are afraid to take risks. Instead of innovating, they copy the formats from other stations. (have you looked at their reality program line up this year?) They depend on sly repeats of their high rating programs which is self defeating in the long run. There are good reasons why they have lost their status as the highest rating TV channel and Mike Turtur is making the same mistake in 2012 that he made in 2002. The TDU is so important to 9 that it cant even displace Ellen de Generes at lunch time. Or the nth repeat of Charlie Sheen in two and a half men. They should have left the telecast on SBS who probably had higher total viewer numbers at 6:30 than 9 did at 11:30.

 

[Trev_S]

They should have left the telecast on SBS who probably had higher total viewer numbers at 6:30 than 9 did at 11:30.

I wonder??
Would need to dig up the rating for the TDU last year and then again for this years and see how it goes.
Were to find out that info a search for TV ratings is a little hard to dig up figures?

There'll be a different demographic that will have watched I'd say.
Which means nothing really, only total numbers is what TV stations are interested in.