Fox draft coverage

[FloreatPica17]

Am I alone in thinking the coverage of the draft was pissweak?

After the first round it was all interviews and highlights while the picks were going on. I am interested in who's going where, not what Tom Scully ate for breakfast this morning or whatever.

Might be all right for general audience, but for hardcore fans I felt big letdown. Fortunately switched to AFL website stream and the Burga did fine job.

 

[magpies42]

Am I alone in thinking the coverage of the draft was pissweak?

After the first round it was all interviews and highlights while the picks were going on. I am interested in who's going where, not what Tom Scully ate for breakfast this morning or whatever.

Might be all right for general audience, but for hardcore fans I felt big letdown. Fortunately switched to AFL website stream and the Burga did fine job.

I totally agree, they should have kept with the draft and gave their views on the draftees. Then spoken to the people in the know, like recruiting managers and coaches not bludy parents!

 

[Bloben]

Just before Ball was drafted I was listening to Lynch and Dunstall trying to relive stories of draft days gone by... who gives a **** honestly. This is the draft not some oprah winfrey style footy show

 

[abs_of_STEELE]

Yep, it sucked.

I (like many others) just listened to SEN and put Fox on mute.

 

[Buena]

I think the deal was to show only the top 10, but having said that, i didnt see any of it. I was at work (doing none) watching it all on afl.com

 

[The Royal Sampler]

Even being present at the draft itself, they showed quite a bit of what was evidently being broadcast on Fox and it looked terrible.

The idea of showing the top 10 in reverse draft order failed miserably. Everyone knows who the top 2 are going to be, so you start off with some mildly interesting selections and get more boring as you go. I can't recall the last time that the #1 pick in any given draft year was a genuine surprise. Scrap it.

The jumper presentation itself is a nice touch though.

 

[Gymnorhina tibic]

It was terrible, they were talking to Scully's mum when the drama was building to pick 30 and then there was banter among the panel about previous drafts while the actual draft seemed to be no more than an annoyance in the background. I too switched off and logged on to SEN.

 

[Damon_3388]

My complaint, which I have submitted to Foxtel Programming Feedback:

I am writing to complain about Foxtel's coverage of the 2009 NAB AFL National Draft on FOX Sports 2 on Thursday, November 27. I felt the coverage was poorly structured and poorly presented. I understand that the ridiculous ‘Top 10 Countdown’ was done at the insistence of AFL CEO Andrew Demetriou (and therefore was out of Foxtel’s control), although as television broadcasters, you should have relised that it would have (and did) withdrawn from the spectacle, and convinced them to procede otherwise. However, the main issue comes with Foxtel’s coverage thereafter - inane interviews and discussions on redundant subjects (eg. the 1999 draft) occurred over the top of the actual selections, with little analysis/discussion as the draft went on or afterwards. Footy fans expect to see draft coverage, and not miss the action as it happens. Please take cues from the engaging and professional US broadcasts of the NBA and NFL Drafts, and rectify this evening’s obvious mistakes in the future.

Please feel free to copy-and-paste what I wrote if you feel like making a complaint yourself, but don't feel like typing a new one out.

 

[Primetime Pricey]

the coverage was terrible. all you heard was the top 10 players called. Joke. Lindsay Gilbee? who gives a fk

 

[Damon_3388]

FOX Sports just sent me a response to my complaint via email:

The AFL draft hasn’t been broadcast live since 2002. As part of our continuing support of the sport of AFL, this year, in collaboration with the AFL, FOX SPORTS made many changes to the format, including the change of timeslot and the machination of the first round which allowed us to move some of the focus away from being a number 1 draft pick to being a "Top 10" draft pick and give the larger AFL community a look at who their respective teams have picked. Our intention was never to broadcast the announcement of every pick after the first round that continues to be the domain of the AFL's website.

Like all live broadcasts we will make adjustments and are always looking for ways to improve the quality and content of our programs and value your feedback.
​

Kind of sounds to me like they're saying "Shut up and be content with what you got"

 

[pongo_3931]

FOX Sports just sent me a response to my complaint via email:

Kind of sounds to me like they're saying "Shut up and be content with what you got"

Hehe, I recon there's a bit of a 'we know! we know! we're still fine tuning it'

I recon it'll land on free to air in a few years time.

 

[EB&W Pieman]

It would be interesting to find out what non-BF contributors thought.

We (BF contibutors) were all intersted in where Joe Bloggs went - Wow, Burgatron had him going at 35 and Freo got him with pick 41 - but most people probably were just waiting for their club's next pick with the intention of checking the profiles on afl.com.au to find out who and what he was.

And so a bit of light banter and chat while the names appeared instantaneously on the bottom of the screen probably worked OK for the general keen-but-not-fanatical footy fan.

Dunno.

 

[Spagger83]

If any of you are thinking of complaining please get the following right.
You are complaining about Foxsports (one company) not Foxtel (another company).

It might be confusing but it's simple.

You get a Foxtel (one company) bill for your subscription which includes the channel's Foxsports (another company), ESPN (another company), Eurosport (another company) etc.....

Foxtel simply pays licensing/agreement fees to Foxsports to offer Australians the Foxsports channels.

Try not to get the two confused.

The only reason i know this is because i work for one of them companies.

So by complaining to Foxtel you're actually letting Foxsports off the hook as it's their coverage that was shite!!

cheers guys!

 

[mattys123]

I'm not that naive, there is no way Foxtel doesnt own the controlling rights for the FoxSports channel package, they simply may even own it outright.

If it was ESPN, TVN, Setanta I would not complain to Foxtel, but I see, and most would also, Fox Sports as part of the Foxtel organisation.

I would be surprised if I was wrong in saying that.

 

[brockbruiser]

This was the first thing i thought during it and was surprised not to see a thread earlier. Seriously I could have done a better job through material read on Bigfooty, they clearly didn't give anything about the players, as for Dunstall reliving his moments and the managers discussing what its like for them it was a joke! Even a short bio, what club they were drafted from, age, height, position isn't too much to ask for is it???? Really POOR!!!

 

[TradeDraft]

This was the first thing i thought during it and was surprised not to see a thread earlier. Seriously I could have done a better job through material read on Bigfooty, they clearly didn't give anything about the players, as for Dunstall reliving his moments and the managers discussing what its like for them it was a joke! Even a short bio, what club they were drafted from, age, height, position isn't too much to ask for is it???? Really POOR!!!

Agree - Like when we Drafted Sinclair I wanted Info on Him as Knew Nothing of him because he has not been mentioned on Fan Sites

 

[Bonuspoints]

I thought it was a good enough start for the first live coverage. It was a bit dull, but I guess I sorta look at it and compare it to the NBA, but then remember most NBA players being drafted are 3-4 years older with more media training. A few more interviews with the new draftees and some prepared footage of drafted players would have been the go. I'd have thought they woulda had some of the top 10 - Particularly for the top five. I could understand them not having footage of surprise picks, but surely a bit more footage of the drafted players.

 

[Spagger83]

I'm not that naive, there is no way Foxtel doesnt own the controlling rights for the FoxSports channel package, they simply may even own it outright.

If it was ESPN, TVN, Setanta I would not complain to Foxtel, but I see, and most would also, Fox Sports as part of the Foxtel organisation.

I would be surprised if I was wrong in saying that.

yes, you are wrong, but it's easily mistakeable due to the names.