Tour Down Under TV Rights

[msjett]

I didn't see any advertising for the TDU on channel 9, I am assuming they did advertise the race, but I don't remember seeing a single advert for the telecast.

 

[craig1985]

Yeah they did advertise.

 

[Wilba60]

I'm with Trev on this one, I think Channel 9 did a great job. I only watched the highlights once due to work and the late hour but then again I listened to the first four stages on the digital radio....that was a different experience and made the broadcast days more enjoyable.
I am in Melbourne, so don't really mind who broadcasts it as it is just as easy to access either channel. What we should remember though in 9's first year is back in the day that SBS were bringing us the TDF. We used to only get the final day of racing. It took years of complaints and requests to get a few added stages and then in the past few years we have had the whole race. Channel 9 is commercial as you say but if the interest warrants it they will move to a full broadcast.
I am not sure if posters in Northern Hemisphere know but we only get the TDF broadcast live (10pm till around 2am). In recent years we have added PR to that.....hopefully someone can add if there are other races I am missing but I haven't seen them.....so we really enjoy any live cycling we can get and when it comes in normal viewing hours, it is even better.

 

[craig1985]

The Tour of Flanders is also televised live and I think they'll be doing some stages of the Giro, like what they do the Vuelta.

 

[auscyclefan94]

Yeah they did advertise.

Not very often at all. I have watched 9 quite a lot recently with the cricket and the odd other program I likeon Channel 9 and they really didn't advertise it at all.

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.

+1 - Good summation.

 

[Cobber]

The Tour of Flanders is also televised live and I think they'll be doing some stages of the Giro, like what they do the Vuelta.

It doesn't really matter what they do with those because most cycling fans will watch internet streams. Channel 9's coverage of the last 2 stages was OK. But the lack of any sort of coverage of the early stages was abysmal......

 

[auscyclefan94]

Really? I think I'd rather watch on tv than a stream.

 

[Ferminal]

. But the lack of any sort of coverage of the early stages was abysmal......

What do you mean?

 

[AussieGoddess]

I was pleasantly surprised with the job that Channel 9 did. Overall, it was really good.

Yes the highlights packages could have been shown earlier for sure ... but they streamed it early, so I watched anyway.

The live coverage was good - and they showed the presentations afterwards which SBS ALWAYS misses.

They did make some mistakes, and I am sure they will learn from them, but I really hope they got fantastic ratings from it, and will show more and more cycling on mainstream free to air tv.

 

[auscyclefan94]

I was pleasantly surprised with the job that Channel 9 did. Overall, it was really good.

Yes the highlights packages could have been shown earlier for sure ... but they streamed it early, so I watched anyway.

The live coverage was good - and they showed the presentations afterwards which SBS ALWAYS misses.

They did make some mistakes, and I am sure they will learn from them, but I really hope they got fantastic ratings from it, and will show more and more cycling on mainstream free to air tv.

That is incorrect. They only showed Simon Gerrans receiving the Ochre jersey and then left the coverage. SBS showed the presentations last year.

 

[Cobber]

What do you mean?

The only TV coverage of the first 4 stages was 1 hour highlights from 11pm. No live coverage; no highlights when people are awake.

 

[craig1985]

It doesn't really matter what they do with those because most cycling fans will watch internet streams. Channel 9's coverage of the last 2 stages was OK. But the lack of any sort of coverage of the early stages was abysmal......

I'm fortunate enough to have cable so I get the stages of the Giro etc. on Eurosport.

 

[Ferminal]

The only TV coverage of the first 4 stages was 1 hour highlights from 11pm. No live coverage; no highlights when people are awake.

Well live coverage is up to Mike Turtur and his gang to get organised, Nine don't rock up and tell their boys to get on motorbikes and send a plane in the air. If there was live coverage available during the weekdays I'd have no doubt that Nine would be showing it, as they do with the cricket during summer.

 

[Anonymous]

Heaven forbid anyone criticse Mike Tutur!


You are wrong on many levels.

SBS put it on a reasonable time. Channel 9 didn't which is a big deal. < as I said
SBS promote Cycling. Channel 9 don't and jump on when it is convenient. < did i say that?
SBS has had more behind the scenes coverage and interviews than the host broadcaster has. < did I say that?
SBS can't do unrestricted streams due to them being a government funded network which restricts them from showing it overseas through a stream. < never said there wasnt a reason, but actually you are wrong. cyclingcentral can geo restrict and unrestic at a touch of a button.
With digital tv being compulsory around regional Australia within the next year, SBS will be available to all Australians. < that may be the case, but at present, i am correct in that C9 have wide coverage
SBS showed the Down Under Classic live. Channel 9 didnt.

Can you kindly explain just where i am wrong on so many levels.

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.

If you Ask many Australian cyling fans who recieve SBS who they prefer. Ask many Australian cycling fans who DONT recieve SBS who they prefer and Im sure most will say C9.

As for the Australian thing, meh, doesnt make much difference to be honest. Its the modern world, news on the internet, world news channels, I know just as much about the Tour Down Under as many australians. I know who voss is, I know who Tomaliris is, I know who Tan is. But not being Australian does not alter my judgement of knowing that a free unrestricted round the world live stream is a good move, and that hosting in on a national network is better news for Australia. Oh, and the highlights packages in my opionion have been much better this year.

 

[Anonymous]

The live coverage was good - and they showed the presentations afterwards which SBS ALWAYS misses.

That is incorrect. They only showed Simon Gerrans receiving the Ochre jersey and then left the coverage. SBS showed the presentations last year.

Again stop telling people they are incorrect when they are not. AG wasnt just referring to the final stage,

Seriously, you need to move with the times. The Tdu has just moved from a regional tv station to a national and global tv station. Thats a good thing. And stop calling Het Neiuwsblad, Het Volk. It hasnt been called that since you were about 3 years old.

 

[Tuarts]

In the tradition of telling people when they are incorrect, TDU hasn't moved from a regional TV station. SBS is a national broadcaster which is mainly Government funded, sorta like the ABC (our version of the BBC) but with commercials (it's range in regional areas is around 300-400km from capital cities, so yes in a place as big Aus there are some places that can't get it through normal avenues). Channel 9 is a national TV station as well (like ITV) which is wholly a commercial channel. Channel 9 being one of the big 2 stations definitely has more pull with the masses (mainly because of SBS' mandated multicultural focus and their reputation as being "Sex before Sokkah").

 

[Tuarts]

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.

Ferminal has said it all really, summed up my view way better than I could.

 

[Spare Tyre]

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

...

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.

...

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.

Jeez, that's generous. I'd deduct 1 for the lack of graphical information, 1 for the studio guests at inopportune moments, and 1 for the WWOS blokey tone. (Can't tell you how much I loathe Channel 9's styles of banter. Ugghhh.)

I didn't see the televised highlight packages, but think it was a crazy timeslot. What non-cyclist is going to stay up to watch TDU highlights at 11.30 pm, and what cyclist or avid cycling fan is going to bother? Perhaps they could have the highlights on at 9.30 or 10 pm on one of their secondary channels. What else are multiple channels for?

At least it went to air when expected. Lots of ads , but that's to be expected with Channel9 vs SBS.

And it seems the switch to Channel9 benefited overseas fans, so that's something in its favour.

 

[auscyclefan94]

Can you kindly explain just where i am wrong on so many levels.

If you Ask many Australian cyling fans who recieve SBS who they prefer. Ask many Australian cycling fans who DONT recieve SBS who they prefer and Im sure most will say C9.

As for the Australian thing, meh, doesnt make much difference to be honest. Its the modern world, news on the internet, world news channels, I know just as much about the Tour Down Under as many australians. I know who voss is, I know who Tomaliris is, I know who Tan is. But not being Australian does not alter my judgement of knowing that a free unrestricted round the world live stream is a good move, and that hosting in on a national network is better news for Australia. Oh, and the highlights packages in my opionion have been much better this year.

Your praise of Channel9 and their coverage and you also said that the timeslot was the main argument of the critics which is very wrong. Firstly by some of the things you have said indicate you know little about the networks or the actual people.

Again stop telling people they are incorrect when they are not. AG wasnt just referring to the final stage,

Seriously, you need to move with the times. The Tdu has just moved from a regional tv station to a national and global tv station. Thats a good thing. And stop calling Het Neiuwsblad, Het Volk. It hasnt been called that since you were about 3 years old.

Err, what is AG reffering to then because on SBS they did show the post stage presentations and the main presentations at the end of the race Channel 9 DID NOT show them were as SBS did. Again, you seem to be making things up but I am over this circular argument as it won't really matter until next year. You liked the coverage, I didn't. C'est la vie.

 

[Anonymous]

Err, what is AG reffering to then because on SBS they did show the post stage presentations and the main presentations at the end of the race Channel 9 DID NOT show them were as SBS did. Again, you seem to be making things up but I am over this circular argument as it won't really matter until next year. You liked the coverage, I didn't. C'est la vie.

well we saw the presentations in england, maybe you need to move.

I didnt say I liked the coverage. It was dire as ever but thats down to it being a **** pot race that is treated by most teams as a training ride, paul sherwen and phil liggett doing the commentary etc.

What I am saying is the small minority of australians (Because they are a small minority) complaining about time of the highlights, in my opinion arent looking at the bigger picture.

 

[FreeWheelin]

I dont get the hate for 9 and the love for SBS. The pictures are the same, the commentators are the same. The host does not know cycling... but at least he know how to host. The bonus is more people watched it. They dont care about cycling tragics... we are going to watch regardless. Its for general sports fans and so it is much better on 9

 

[FreeWheelin]

Err, what is AG reffering to then because on SBS they did show the post stage presentations and the main presentations at the end of the race Channel 9 DID NOT show them were as SBS did.

Did you turn your TV off? I saw them, it was funny seeing the podium girls tower over Gerans

 

[AussieGoddess]

Jeez, that's generous. I'd deduct 1 for the lack of graphical information, 1 for the studio guests at inopportune moments, and 1 for the WWOS blokey tone. (Can't tell you how much I loathe Channel 9's styles of banter. Ugghhh.)

I didn't see the televised highlight packages, but think it was a crazy timeslot. What non-cyclist is going to stay up to watch TDU highlights at 11.30 pm, and what cyclist or avid cycling fan is going to bother? Perhaps they could have the highlights on at 9.30 or 10 pm on one of their secondary channels. What else are multiple channels for?

At least it went to air when expected. Lots of ads , but that's to be expected with Channel9 vs SBS.

And it seems the switch to Channel9 benefited overseas fans, so that's something in its favour.

Totally agree. They have 3 channels .... could so easily have shown the highlights on the other channels without any issues. Deduct 2 or 3 points for that.

Err, what is AG reffering to then because on SBS they did show the post stage presentations and the main presentations at the end of the race Channel 9 DID NOT show them were as SBS did. Again, you seem to be making things up but I am over this circular argument as it won't really matter until next year. You liked the coverage, I didn't. C'est la vie.

AG was referring to seeing at least SOME of the ceremonies occasionally. (stage 5 was shown, and stage 6 we saw the overall for Gerrains only). The highlights packages also showed the presentation to the stage winner.

On SBS it is incredibly rare to see the presentations on their coverage ..... the race finishes and they show interviews with Anthony Tan!!!!! (and you complain about lame-*** hosts on C9 )

Anyway - overall I thought channel 9 did pretty ok. Better than expected at least.

 

[PCutter]

And the stats are in. Given the numbers for the live coverage, I'd guess TdU/SA Tourism would be happy with their decision.

http://www.cyclingtipsblog.com/2012/01/channel-9-tdu-broadcast-ratings-analysis/

 

[thehog]

Again stop telling people they are incorrect when they are not. AG wasnt just referring to the final stage,

Seriously, you need to move with the times. The Tdu has just moved from a regional tv station to a national and global tv station. Thats a good thing. And stop calling Het Neiuwsblad, Het Volk. It hasnt been called that since you were about 3 years old.

What are you talking about?

SBS is the national broadcaster! C9 is regional. C9 does not broadcast in remote cities unless an affiliate station pinks up the broadcast. SBS does. In fact SBS broadcasts on two frequencies just to make sure it gets well into rural Australia.

I think it might be you making things up.