Commercial TV takes over VFL broadcasting

[KC from Casey 7,157]

Commercial television is set to take over the broadcasting of VFL games ~ VFL and WAFL set for Channel Seven in 2015.

Let's hope they give Casey a bit more coverage than the ABC did in recent years.

[DeeSpencer 26,444]

Pros:

- Probably more coverage of the AFL aligned sides

- Less Phil Clearly and David Rhys Jones

- Possibly more production and camera angles etc

Cons:

- More ads

- Have to change from foxtel to DTV on the telly

- Eddie McGuire's company running the thing

Unlikely to result in more Casey games I'd say. Instead of making the decisions based on 'public interest' they'll make it based on commercial interest. Therefore I'd expect to see a lot of Collingwood, Richmond, Essendon VFL, Carlton Blues and Box Hill Hawks. For a 15 team comp in an 18 round season you'd hope the VFL would make it each club gets 1 home and 1 away game televised as a minimum.

[Nasher 33,617]

Good luck to the standalone sides getting televised.

[DeeSpencer 26,444]

Good luck to the standalone sides getting televised.

Port have good broadcast facilities (I presume with all the finals they have there), have a following and are usually very good. Similarly Williamstown and to a lesser extent Werribee (who have half of North's leftovers anyway). But Frankston, North Ballarat (also with some North players) and Coburg, good luck to them for sure.

I guess if ratings improved like the SANFL and the commercial networks can potentially pay a higher price then the VFL should make sure every club gets a bit of chance.

Who's in charge of AFL Victoria again?

[Carlos Danger 380]

Was happy with the news until I saw it's going to be Channel 7.

[Chook 15,023]

"Wow wee. You just feel like this is going to be massive for the VFL, don't you? And it's great that Channel 7 has the rights. I just love the way they go about it down there. Every angle will be centimetre perfect around the place."

[demon-4-life 467]

Anything that gets more footy on tv is better for the game. The stand alone sides might not get as much coverage, but I'm pretty sure they'll get more money from any tv rights.

[Gipsy Danger 1,067]

They gonna start playing on Sunday and Monday nights now? I hope Chanel 7 don't get their hands on the fixturing again...

[Sir Why You Little 37,332]

Ripponlea ABC loses another production

[Earl Hood 6,152]

Was happy with the news until I saw it's going to be Channel 7.

On 7Mate or something?

[Pates 9,680]

Honestly I think this is a good thing. ABC we never going to look to improve the coverage, the graphics look exactly the same as what they used in the year 2000.

I'd imagine it'll be broadcast on 7Mate, ironically that'll be in HD while the AFL will be in SD. Go figure.

[DeeSpencer 26,444]

Honestly I think this is a good thing. ABC we never going to look to improve the coverage, the graphics look exactly the same as what they used in the year 2000.

I'd imagine it'll be broadcast on 7Mate, ironically that'll be in HD while the AFL will be in SD. Go figure.

They'll only film it in SD though so the best to hope for is upgraded SD I believe? Not an expert though so feel free to correct me

[dee-luded 2,959]

Commercial television is set to take over the broadcasting of VFL games ~ VFL and WAFL set for Channel Seven in 2015.

Let's hope they give Casey a bit more coverage than the ABC did in recent years.

another nail in the community angle of the ABC tv... now with the TV stations having too many channels in their band, they can kill the ABC, SBS & C-31 by 1000 cuts. this is whats happened to the male oriented shows gone from Free to air to pay TV.

... they are pulling everything apart.

--------------------------------------------------------

on the other side of things, I hope that televising the VFL is a further step towards a reserve grade comp, or a stand alone VFL teams v AFL reserves teams VFL-Competition.

[AzzKikA 2,371]

None of the free to air television recorded in Australia is recorded in High Def.

[praha 11,253]

Ripponlea ABC loses another production

Good.

[poita 3,914]

I can't imagine how the VFL could be worse off by being televised on commercial TV. The ABC coverage is totally amateurish and does nothing for the image of the competition. As others have said, it would be nice to see some more interesting games, rather than Frankston v Bendigo in front of 2 people.

The only thing that you do appreciate is that the commentators are passionate about the games and have a decent knowledge of the players - channel 7 will have to be careful with their commentator choices, as ex-AFL players are unlikely to be appropriate.

[Striker475 696]

I guess the other good thing is maybe Channel 7 will actually groom some talent broadcasting the VFL rather than just go 'oh this is a footballer who's retired, they can commentate'.

[La Dee-vina Comedia 17,059]

I can't imagine how the VFL could be worse off by being televised on commercial TV. The ABC coverage is totally amateurish and does nothing for the image of the competition. As others have said, it would be nice to see some more interesting games, rather than Frankston v Bendigo in front of 2 people.

The only thing that you do appreciate is that the commentators are passionate about the games and have a decent knowledge of the players - channel 7 will have to be careful with their commentator choices, as ex-AFL players are unlikely to be appropriate.

I think there are plenty of ex-AFL players with an intimate knowledge of the VFL. Whether they'll make decent commentators is another thing. I see Channel 7 using it as a breeding ground for the next generation of commentators. So I would expect to see Brad Sewell and Nick Maxwell doing special comments next year.

[gsmith12 491]

If this means that interstate viewers get a look in then I'm all for it.

[stinga81 210]

Hope Phil Cleary, Darren Boyd and Mercato get a gig if it were to move to 7Mate.

Knowledgable, passionate and genuine interest in the VFL.

[dee-luded 2,959]

I can't imagine how the VFL could be worse off by being televised on commercial TV. The ABC coverage is totally amateurish and does nothing for the image of the competition. As others have said, it would be nice to see some more interesting games, rather than Frankston v Bendigo in front of 2 people.

The only thing that you do appreciate is that the commentators are passionate about the games and have a decent knowledge of the players - channel 7 will have to be careful with their commentator choices, as ex-AFL players are unlikely to be appropriate.

I guess the other good thing is maybe Channel 7 will actually groom some talent broadcasting the VFL rather than just go 'oh this is a footballer who's retired, they can commentate'.

Lets hope they stay mostly/away from ex players dominating the TV coverage & find a layman with genuine passion & excitement, rather than crap technical speak.

..... leave the analysis to a minimum. its done to the dearth of the game, the moments, the excitement, not the explanation!!!

Find another Mike Williamson OAM, FFS

[Pates 9,680]

They'll only film it in SD though so the best to hope for is upgraded SD I believe? Not an expert though so feel free to correct me

You're probably right that it'll be up-converted to HD however for channel 7 games on foxtel that's what you're getting anyway and it does look better.

That said, most of the equipment on offer is HD so it may be simpler to do just do it in HD from the get go. It might depend on who they sub contract the broadcast to.

[Whispering_Jack 31,257]

Port have good broadcast facilities (I presume with all the finals they have there), have a following and are usually very good. Similarly Williamstown and to a lesser extent Werribee (who have half of North's leftovers anyway). But Frankston, North Ballarat (also with some North players) and Coburg, good luck to them for sure.

I guess if ratings improved like the SANFL and the commercial networks can potentially pay a higher price then the VFL should make sure every club gets a bit of chance.

Who's in charge of AFL Victoria again?

I don't know who's in charge but they call it the "Peter Jackson VFL" and if it's the real PJ then they'll cover all Casey games.