Why TV coverage of the AFL blows

The AFL 2012 Premiership season is complete, with winner Sydney deserving of it on the day.

But the season has left most fans unhappy with the coverage we get of the games on television. I am going to give some examples of why the coverage is so bad and also some ways to make it better in some cases (see, not just negativity).

1. Channel 7 and their lies
During the promos for the 2012 season, Channel 7 told us they would show ALL the finals in HD. The only time a final was shown in HD was the replay on the Saturday night after the Grand Final, which was on the Seven's HD channel 7mate. (I was watching today and ad was on for Bathurst - which will be shown on both the SD channel and 7mate in HD!!!!). The Grand Final was recorded in HD, but not telecast in HD.
Why couldn't the game(s) be shown on both channels?
I've seen evidence of a letter from the ACCC to a Foxtel subscriber who will be receiving a refund of $30 for their purchase of the HD footy channels during the finals as Foxtel were unable to live up to their promise of showing the finals in HD - not a problem of their doing, as Foxtel get the coverage from 7.
Foxtel had the rights to show 5 games per round during the home and away season (bar the bye rounds), with the other 4 on Seven. Those 5 games were all available in HD.

How can it be fixed? This one is pretty simple. Use fricken HD cameras and show the game on 7mate as well as your SD channel!

ACMA (Australian Communications and Media Authority) did a survey in 2011 on digital TV (you can read it here). This survey showed that:

• By mid-2011, over 80 per cent of main television sets in Australian households had been converted to digital.
• There were approximately 18.7 million television sets in 8.4 million Australian households.
• Digital television set-ups comprised approximately 62 per cent of the total number of televisions, equating to 11.6 million sets.
• Of the 6.8 million main sets that had been converted to digital in June 2011, 78 per cent (5.3 million) had inbuilt digital tuners and 22 per cent (1.5 million) were attached to a set-top box or other digital receiver.
• Seventy-four per cent of converted sets were high definition (HD) and 26 per cent were standard definition (SD).

This shows that HD is available to the majority of the population, so this can't be an argument for NOT showing the games in HD.

2. Bad camera work
The best example of this is from the show-piece game - the Grand Final. Seven's insistence on showing the game in SD meant the high cost camera they insist on using in the finals - Skycam, a camera that runs above the ground on wires rigged between the stands - looks like a piece of shit. You can't tell what anything is on the screen. The producer insisted on showing a "behind the kicker" shot every time someone lined up for a set-shot at goal which just made everyone watching feel sick.
At one point in the game, Lewis Jetta had a set-shot shot for goal from about 50m out. The kick landed about 5m short, but those watching were unable to tell as the camera was pointing high and the quality of the picture meant we were unable to tell where the ball was. Finally, the camera switched to the standard side-on view, about 2 seconds too late, and we could see the ball had landed in the goal square and was being fought over.
See 1:27 in this video.



Here's another great example - Jared McVeigh kicked a crucial goal for Sydney near the end of the third quarter, and as you can see from the still of the video, there are a lot of Sydney supporters behind the goals - wearing red, just like the red of the Sherrin. Skycam was used there and you can see the results at 1:03 in the video below.


Can you tell where the ball is?

Skycam is used to great effect in the American National Football League (NFL) - but not during the action. The camera is only used in between plays (which is a lot of the time). It is also used during replays. But not during the standard play view. We also get to watch the NFL in HD so it is much easier to see what is happening when images from Skycam are shown.

As the year progressed, Channel 7 insisted on showing the coaches for half of the game. They would even forsake the action just to show us the coach - often not doing anything in particular, just watching the game or talking to the bench on the phone.

Just show a replay if they do something interesting, but watching a coach taking a drink of his coke is not good television!!!

3. Bad commentary


4. Bad Ads
When you watch the footy it becomes obvious that people with the mental capacity of a slug watch channel 7. Shows such as "Today Tonight", "Home and Away" and starting shortly some shit with Brynne Edelsten (I don't give a shit enough to check the spelling) are things you'll find on during the week. Then the ads we get flooded with every time there is a goal, like the stupid AAMI ads. Or is it ads aimed at stupid people?

The solution to this? Well, it's Seven's prerogative to advertise their shows, but they need to find the balance of their crappy shows so it doesn't damage their football coverage. Same with the ads. Once you've seen the same ad for the first 10 goal breaks you start not watching.

The alternative is to pay minimum $61 a month to watch Foxtel (including Sport channels) - that's $366 (for 6 months, but minimum 12 month contract!) just to not see the ads and channel 7 shows. You still don't get HD though, that's another $10 and some hidden box fee (this is straight off the Foxtel website here).

If Foxtel had a reasonably priced just sport package I might be tempted, but at the moment I can't justify that amount of money.

5. Fast Exit
Your team has just won on the Friday night or Saturday arvo. What do you want to do? Bask in the glory, of course, and get as much as you can. Not possible on Channel 7 as they shut-down as fast as possible. Especially on Saturday. You'll likely get the final siren then straight to the news.
What the hell is so important about the news? Channel 9 do it too with the cricket. Do old people have timers set so that their TV turns on at 6pm? Will they riot if the news is a little bit late?

[Edits added 05/10/12]
6. Same Sh#t Different Day
There are some things that you can guarantee will be used in the coverage. On a Friday night there will be a sweeping in camera of Bruce in the goal square at the very start of the coverage. There will always be a "slow-mo" montage of the Auskick kids during the half time break on the Saturday night.
Mix it up a bit!

7. What I like
I initially wrote this article when I was sick, so was in a very negative mood. Even though I'm still sick, I can see that I haven't put too many positives in here. Below are some of the things I like about the coverage (keep in mind that I don't have Foxtel).

7.1 New faces
Cameron Ling was a fantastic addition to the Seven crew. He has incredible insight into the game, much like when Nathan Buckley was there for a year (they did play on each other quote a few times I guess). He has a great way of presenting as well. The only thing he needs to do different is his hair - it's terrible!
Richo on a Saturday night is also good - he has the ability to pick things out really well, while also having a laugh, usually at BT's expense.

7.2 In the rooms
I like the interviews in the rooms after the game, with both teams. Obviously it can be difficult for the interviewer that has the losing team's rooms so it's interesting to see how they handle it.

7.3 Live games
In the past Channel 7 insisted on showing Better Homes and Gardens at 7:30 on a Friday night, which meant that games in Melbourne, which start at 7:40, were always delayed - and also extended with extra long ad breaks. The game would finish near 11pm! As part of the new TV rights the AFL made them show the games live (they were able to in the previous rights deal, they just chose not to). 
2012 saw every Friday night game shown live, not just the massive blockbusters.

[end of edits]

I believe that the AFL's brand is being damaged by the bad coverage of the game. No HD, shitty camera work, bad commentary and lack of extended coverage makes it less watch-able. but maybe that is there prerogative, in order to get people to go the ground and watch the games...

The head is sacrosanct - but common sense needs to prevail

In past weeks there's been a focus on the West Coast Eagles receiving a lot of free kicks for high contact in tackles by causing the tacklers arms to slide above the shoulders. Somehow they do this by shrugging their shoulders, or lowering their bodies just before the tackle. Whether they cause the high contact is irrelevant in my opinion, as the tackler should not be anywhere near the shoulders.

West Coast Eagle's player Ashton Hams is caught high in a tackle

When I was a kid learning to play football, the coaches always told us to tackle the opposition around the hips. Now, I don't claim to be a football genius, but if you tackle around the hips there's very little chance that the arms can slide up around someone's neck. It seems that this basic fundamental of a tackle has been lost by quite a few teams, and rather than go "back-to-basics" (a typical football cliché) they are whining about the Eagles players "causing" high contact. There is another trend related to this that I find a little bit more worrying.

Following an horrific injury to Collingwood player Blake Caracella in 2006 where his neck was fractured in a collision while on the ground (no free-kick was paid) the AFL has been cracking down on high contact in all situations. Players have worked this to their advantage in recent seasons by turning their head towards oncoming opposition players, resulting in free kicks. I saw one player on the weekend (team and player slip my mind) pick up the ball, run straight at an opposition player and ram him with his head - and he was rewarded with a free kick!

There's a difference between courage and stupidity. Everyone used to think Jonathan Brown was courageous, but after his last 18 months most would think what he does on the footy field verges on stupidity. The same applies to throwing yourself head first into a contest. Geelong's Joel Selwood is highly regarded as the most courageous player in the game at the moment, but I believe he deserves to be listed in the stupid category. Whether he can still talk when he's in his 50's we will have to wait and see. Selwood is also regarded as the "pioneer" of the shoulder shrug that West Coast are now reported to be employing. He also lowers his knees and twists his body, and does not deserve half the free kicks he is given.

Two NFL players clash "helmets"

There has been a lot of talk in the American National Football League (NFL) about head injuries of late. The NFL is now fining players for head high hits after a spate of past player issues that are believed to be from head injuries incurred while they were playing. Several players have committed suicide, and there are rumours circulating that the depression and mental issues these players had been suffering had been caused by high numbers of concussions suffered during their playing careers. The head has been used as a weapon in the NFL with both offensive and defensive players using their helmet to batter the opposition. So far only defensive players have been fined though, as the offensive player is usually trying to catch the ball and is therefore defenceless.

In the AFL both players are generally going for the ball, and we are seeing players dive head first so they get hit in the head (although a few incidents recently have been feet and knees first, another issue for another day) and receive a free kick.

In my opinion, if you cause head high contact, it's on your own... head... and not a free kick. But in saying that, with the pace the game is played at it's really hard for an umpire to determine this at the distance they are from the contest. For those of watching from over the fence or on TV, coupled with the benefit of instant replays, it's much easier to see.
It's something we must work out a solution to - and we will, just like every other issue that has come up in our great game.