Eddies Plan

[AdelaideFan]

Iam sure this is being talked about on other threads on this site. Just want to get your feelings on this.

After watching Eddie McIdiots comments on the footy show last week and last night regarding the TV rights war I have a couple of things to say.

I feel the whole way Eddie is going about all of this is to make it seem easier down the track to let footy be given to Foxtel. Sound funny???? I know it is a bold statement. Think about it though I have no doubt that Channel nine is not going to sit on there hands and watch channels ten and seven get the footy for a pittence.Channel nine is making them out to be the enemy of the AFL. They are trying to persuade peoples opinions of channel seven into thinking they are going to kill AFL.

Then as Eddie pointed out last night Andrew Demetrious (however you spell it) comments in the papers saying that competition is required for the AFL to be a success I have no doubt about this but I feel he is also just buttering up the public for the next step which is to except a whopping payout from Foxtel to have more live games on there network.

I do not really have an opinion on which way the TV rights should go. I hate the idea of a lot of people having to fork out for foxtel who cannot afford it just to watch there footy team play.

I also think that what Eddie is say is so hypocritical it is not funny. What happened last time when the rights where put up for sale. Nine, Ten and Foxtel hung Seven out to dry. Where was the competition in that Mr McIdiot.

I also hope we don't have to wittness this feud for the rest of the season. Please comment on how you feel about my statement.

 

[GrandfinalGurus]

My feelings are, that Eddie is doing his best impersonation of "Henny Penny", which he has every right to do, being a 9 employee.
There is no way anyone bidding and then winning the rights for the TV coverage of Footy are going to let the quality of that product slip by not funding it properly!
So while Eddie runs about screaming "the sky is falling, the sky is falling" you need to think further down the line, because if 9 do lose the rights, they won't be sitting back and taking it on the chin, they will push the NRL hard in the southern states and try and put it up against the AFL to win viewers over, and don't be supprised if they take on Soccer as well to throw around.
7 and 10 would be committing comercial suicide if they only offered say 300 million as opposed to 450 to 500 million which is currently being spoken about, they need a high quality product to sell to the attract "Big Bucks"
If the AFL does go to pay TV, I for one will be cancelling anything to do with AFL and putting into the SANFL!! ( I currently have catergory1 Footy Park Foundation member, AFC Gold member and a SANFL membership with Sturt)

 

[noddy]

Eddie is just looking out for himself.

 

[Mad Dog]

I tend to agree with AdelaideFan to a degree.....

The AFL and Foxtel want footy predominantly on PTV and will not wait for another cycle of negotiations.......ie 2010 for 2012 before doing the deal.

The AFL want a big fat TV rights contract from Foxtel......and at the same time they want grassroots people back thru the turnstiles. They figure they will cash in both ways by helping to lift Foxtel subscription for those who can afford it..........and at the same time get those who can't afford it back to the footy and cash in on the gate receipts. The AFL has been concerned for some time that ordinary footy lovers have been free riding on the live/delayed FTA telecasts and not paying to go to the footy.

The AFL and Foxtel are ready to stitch us all up as outlined above......the AFL wont go backwards to 7.......they wont wait til 2010 to go to PTV, and they desperately want to get some stability into the TV deal.

I reckon Eddie is just paving the way

 

[- PC -]

Does anybody know who actually owns Foxtel PayTv??




Fox In The Hen House


November The News Corporation and Telstra Corporation sign an agreement to bring pay television to Australia.


October PBL announces it will exercise its option to acquire 25% of FOXTEL.

News Corp is Rupert Murdoch who owns 10 and PBL of course is Kerry Packer.. so why do I feel there is this push to make us take pay tv..Paranoid? What men in black coats there arent any men in black coats

 

[bobneil130]

I think its funny how Adelaide people jump onto the I hate Eddie thing so quickly. You bag Eddie out yet you watch the footy show, if he pi$$ed me off that much i just would not watch.
Eddie was pointing out fact that the CEO of the AFL has the same fears as a football club president has, your club president feels the same way because your club has had to fork out $450,000 to pay for legal costs.
Now Eddie is doing the best for nine and not matter what he says and the public says ten and 7 are going to place a bid for the tv rights, so no matter what Eddie says they are going to do it.
As for you saying that they qill bid $500 mill, well you plain wrong, Ten and 7 now will get a first and last bid, thus bidding at first a small amount around $250-$300 million and if nine (which would not match the offer going alone) does not bid then thats the price they pay.
I think 9 will try and partner up with a Foxtel/telstra/afl deal. The AFL is thinking of doing there own tv station in conjunction with nine so the price will go up. More than likley through a broadband internet or a pay tv deal.
So before you go posting stuff you know stuff all about i would wait and see as you have no idea what will happen with the tv rights cause at this stage no body really does, except the people putting the plans in place.

 

[outback jack]

yes eddie is just having a winge, i dont know how you can watch it, hes just a mouth piece for either collingwood, channel nine, or some personal agenda he happens to be running at the time, like the bris salary cap. Street talk is the only bit worth watching, the rest is painful at best.

Nine will bid to push the price up, hes just trying to put a bit of doubt in the AFL when it comes time to make a choice. And they were the ones that got foxtel involved after all, so i dont know how he can complain about that if thats true.

 

[Crowked]

yes eddie is just having a winge, i dont know how you can watch it, hes just a mouth piece for either collingwood, channel nine, or some personal agenda he happens to be running at the time, like the bris salary cap. Street talk is the only bit worth watching, the rest is painful at best.

Nine will bid to push the price up, hes just trying to put a bit of doubt in the AFL when it comes time to make a choice. And they were the ones that got foxtel involved after all, so i dont know how he can complain about that if thats true.

Agreed. Eddies interest is Eddies interests.

However, Almost Football Legends is my favourite segment on the Footy Show. Street Talk these days is just Sam taking the pi$$ out of the less fortunate, and the old smutty tramp exposing her underware.

 

[drakeyv2]

There are 4 points I would like to make here.

1) If 10 had stayed with 9 then there would have been a good chance 7 would not have tendered & the AFL would have been in the same boat; that is being forced to take a discounted price for the rites.

2) A 3rd party (ie News Corp) can still come in & buy the rites & then on sell them.

3) The NRL are deeply concerned that with 7 & 10 locking in to AFL that will leave only 9 to tender for the NRL rites. This worries them because of his prevous track record of screwing them over at every opportunity.

4) If 7 & 10 get their way we get only 2 games on pay tv, if 9 get their's then that's at least 3, & an increased likelyhood of some of those being Adelaide games.

 

[arrowman]

1) If 10 had stayed with 9 then there would have been a good chance 7 would not have tendered & the AFL would have been in the same boat; that is being forced to take a discounted price for the rites.

Shhh.... Eddie doesn't want people to work that out...

3) The NRL are deeply concerned that with 7 & 10 locking in to AFL that will leave only 9 to tender for the NRL rites. This worries them because of his prevous track record of screwing them over at every opportunity.

Not to mention the AFL knows that they can probably screw better NSW & Qld coverage out of 7 and 10, and even if that comes at the cost of a lower overall price they might be willing to bear it, thinking of the long term.

4) If 7 & 10 get their way we get only 2 games on pay tv, if 9 get their's then that's at least 3, & an increased likelyhood of some of those being Adelaide games.

Um, on the other hand if 7 & 10 can get 6 games on FTA this might have to be at the cost of the remaining 2 (on pay TV) being "better quality" (ie higher rating) and that, in SA, might include some Crows games. I really don't know which of the two (7/10 or 9) would be better from a purely selfish, "keep the Crows on FTA" point of view.

In general, and assuming it is inevitable that there is some increase in the quality or volume of pay TV games, I'd be prepared to accept some Crows (away) games going to pay if it can stave off all Crows (away) games going to pay.

One other comment on the pay TV thing: A big part of the problem is that in order to get footy on Foxtel, you have to sign up for $600+ a year. It's like the AFL doubling the admission price and throwing in a couple of free movie tickets - only good value if you want the movie tickets.

I think the AFL should, in its own interests, be pushing Foxtel to make the AFL's product more accessible - by offering footy only or sport only packages at a lower price. They could even work out some deal relating to club membership (club membership + Foxtel footy package costs less than buying the two separately) so that club members get a benefit, etc.

I know that even at a lower price or with membership package deals there's a lot of people who couldn't afford it, and as far as I'm concerned the best solution is to just nuke Foxtel altogether, but if we have to have it, let's (ie let the AFL) at least try to make it work better for the punter than it has in some other countries.

 

[drakeyv2]

In general, and assuming it is inevitable that there is some increase in the quality or volume of pay TV games, I'd be prepared to accept some Crows (away) games going to pay if it can stave off all Crows (away) games going to pay.

If they are going to start showing some Crows games exclusively on Fox, my preference would be that they were home games. At least then members can still go to the game & see it.

 

[noddy]

If they are going to start showing some Crows games exclusively on Fox, my preference would be that they were home games. At least then members can still go to the game & see it.

Trouble is there are many many thousands of AFC/Pap supporters who live outside of Adelaide that rely on free-to-air tv for their Crow/Power fix.

Fortunately i have Austar but i know of many up here that do not.

 

[arrowman]

If they are going to start showing some Crows games exclusively on Fox, my preference would be that they were home games. At least then members can still go to the game & see it.

Hmmmm, actually, that might work - for some games, not all. Even live, with a decent delay (1 hr +) on FTA.
- you're still going to sell out the game
- it's still a valuable property for Foxtel
- you might get a higher "no show" but maybe not too bad because if you've paid for your season ticket you're going to want to go to the game
- some of the people people who can't get tickets will pay for Foxtel
- those who can't afford it still get to watch the game later....

Yeah, it might be the best result...

 

[drakeyv2]

Trouble is there are many many thousands of AFC/Pap supporters who live outside of Adelaide that rely on free-to-air tv for their Crow/Power fix.

Fortunately i have Austar but i know of many up here that do not.

There is no doubt about that. I don't have Fox & would hate to see any of our games be exclusive to it, but if it does happen, making the games home games would effect less people than showing away games as exclusive.

If you live o/s of Adelaide & rely on FTA TV then you are screwed either way.

 

[brucetiki]

One other comment on the pay TV thing: A big part of the problem is that in order to get footy on Foxtel, you have to sign up for $600+ a year. It's like the AFL doubling the admission price and throwing in a couple of free movie tickets - only good value if you want the movie tickets.

I think the AFL should, in its own interests, be pushing Foxtel to make the AFL's product more accessible - by offering footy only or sport only packages at a lower price. They could even work out some deal relating to club membership (club membership + Foxtel footy package costs less than buying the two separately) so that club members get a benefit, etc.

Fox Footy is already a part of Foxtel's basic package (only $40/month or something like that). In addition, they had free installation for about 3 months late last year (that's why we upgraded from analogue), and currently are doing half price installation. What more do you want?

Having said that, it would be good if Fox did a deal linking club membership with cheaper subscription (like Origin Energy's Inside 50 deal), as long as current Foxtel subscribers can take advantage of it.

 

[PrideofSA]

Does it even matter what network it is on? I will watch it anyway....and if it's on none i'll just go to the games if i want to.....not sure what all the fuss is about.

just relax

 

[maccas_no1]

Eddie is just looking out for himself.

Hit the nail on the head, Eddie is just annoyed that we wont be able to see his silly head on TV as much, and promotion of the Collingwood Footy Club will plumet.

Im all for the Ch7 and Ch 10 deal as long as Foxtel are included also.

 

[maccas_no1]

Agreed. Eddies interest is Eddies interests.

However, Almost Football Legends is my favourite segment on the Footy Show. Street Talk these days is just Sam taking the pi$$ out of the less fortunate, and the old smutty tramp exposing her underware.

I cant believe people actually still watch that tripe still, I gave up on it 2 yrs ago, give me Fox League Teams!!!!!!! I said to the better half last night 'Im glad we arent giving that footy show any ratings tonight'

 

[Macca19]

Does it even matter what network it is on? I will watch it anyway....and if it's on none i'll just go to the games if i want to.....not sure what all the fuss is about.

just relax

You completely miss the point.

I ahve Fox so it doesnt matter but you shouldnt need to have pay tv just to watch footy.

 

[tribey]

You completely miss the point.

I ahve Fox so it doesnt matter but you shouldnt need to have pay tv just to watch footy.

That's it. As well as the moral dilemma this situation would cause - in the unlikely event that the footy could not be accessed via FTA the game would be screwed.

 

[macca23]

You completely miss the point.

I ahve Fox so it doesnt matter but you shouldnt need to have pay tv just to watch footy.

In theory Macca, you're right. I have Fox as well so whatever they come up with won't affect me.

However, the way that the finances of the game have escalated out of control in ratio to the inflated monies for TV rights, means that the AFL is now dependent on getting that level of money just to balance the books.

About half the money for the TV rights now comes from Fox, so they are entitled to expect and get something for their money and that means live matches.

So while I agree with you that every supporter of every team should be able to see their team playing on free to air, it's just not going to happen for purely money reasons.

 

[PrideofSA]

yeh exactly, the world is forever evolving, move with it or you will be left behind.

 

[Nige_Bix]

The best outcome if Nine miss out is that Eddie wont be doing Collingwood games!!

 

[jmorg1]

I actually think nine do a good job of broadcasting footy. Their use of technology and multiple cameras to cover every angle imaginable is commendable.

I'd say the only problem most people have with nine is McGuire's over-exposure and blatant Collingwood bias.

If you take Eddie out of the equation, I'm sure most people would agree Nine is miles ahead of Ten when it comes to football coverage.

 

[arrowman]

Fox Footy is already a part of Foxtel's basic package (only $40/month or something like that). In addition, they had free installation for about 3 months late last year (that's why we upgraded from analogue), and currently are doing half price installation. What more do you want?

Having said that, it would be good if Fox did a deal linking club membership with cheaper subscription (like Origin Energy's Inside 50 deal), as long as current Foxtel subscribers can take advantage of it.

OK, $500 a year. Still more than twice the cost of a season ticket; I'd watch maybe 20 games a year so that's $25 a game. I don't call that good value. OK, plenty of people would watch more games and plenty of people have different priorities and I don't claim I'm the benchmark - BUT - the point is -
1. If Foxtel want more subscribers, they'll have to move beyond the market that's prepared to pay anything regardless of value for money, and come up with packages that attract the "fringe market" like me.
2. The AFL would have a bone to pick with Foxtel for the same reason; their (the AFL's) product is locked up inside the Foxtel package and I think it would be legitimate for the AFL to negotiate with Foxtel along the lines of making the AFL's product more accessible to the AFL's stakeholders.

It's like if the AFL decided to double the price of admission and throw in two free movie tickets. Good value, but not if you don't want the movie tickets.

PS I have news for you. You didn't "upgrade from analogue", Foxtel has always been digital. That was just a marketing lie.