Doesn’t take much to switch matches. 

Problem is WP would have to start ca 9pm if they switched time slots. 

Some more details from Fairfax..

Hopes for A-League on free-to-air television

MICHAEL LYNCH SEPTEMBER 16, 2019

Talks are continuing with the national broadcaster, the ABC, which could see A-League games telecast on prime-time free-to-air television as well as on the sport's long-term partner, Fox Sports.

The FFA has kept its own counsel about reports suggesting that a deal could be imminent, which would see the Saturday early evening (5.15pm) matches shown on the ABC as well as on the pay television network.

All the FFA will say is that talks are in progress with broadcasters.
Fox, which has underwritten the league since its inception, would have to agree to any deal.

With the A-League season due to kick off on October 11 (when Adelaide United host champions Sydney FC) time is running out to iron out an agreement that would satisfy all parties.

Getting the A-League back onto a mainstream broadcaster with a national footprint would be a significant achievement and one that would enhance its appeal to supporters and, crucially, sponsors and investors.

The league has been on a mainstream channel in prime-time previously, as SBS covered the Friday night match in the 2014-15 season.

Former SBS football producer Stuart Randall, who is now a senior editor at ESPN Australia and New Zealand, suggested on social media that the move to the ABC, if it goes ahead, would be an interesting bid to transition the sport ahead of a possible switch to a commercial network – especially if the viewer numbers rise.

"I'd suggest it's a pragmatic one-year approach with the hope of decent numbers and a 12th team in 2020 (Macarthur United in Sydney's south-west) to propel it back to a commercial network.

"It's a slightly odd fit based on the ethos of covering the league for the last 7-8 years (appealing to a younger, hipper, generation) and even recent discussions around broadcast,'' he wrote on Twitter.

Originally it had looked as though a deal could be inked between Fox and Ten, but that foundered after the merger of Ten's US owners, CBS, with Viacom.

The club owners are now in charge of the A-League after wresting control of the competition from the FFA. They have long argued that they could unlock hitherto untapped value in the franchises, marketing, merchandising and broadcasting of the game.

Ratings were poor on SBS because they always showed a poor game which looks like it will happen again on ABC.

It gives the potential audience a very bad sample of the league and interest wanes even more.

What a fail

So essentially the Nix are going to fuck the ent Australian professional football competition. It's hard to see it any other way. The club is a ratings black hole. 

This is turn out to be an absolute disaster. 

I only used switching matches on the same day as an example because it is the simplest solution, for stadium use and people/clubs that have booked travel. 

You could in theory move fixtures from different days around in the same round. But Nix are a problem for Fri, late Sat and late Sun kos 

If the clubs go with the Abc and this fixture schedule, I predict we will see the worst ratings on record for FTA.

Surely they will see that a reworking of the schedule of broadcast games is not just necessary but an imperative? 

Would of rathered two games by ten (as long as it was HD) 

Cant understand how SBS didnt take this up? They arent showing any football for the 1st time as long as i can remember. 

Good on ABC but i think SBS is the home for football it has always supported it so it is a little surprising 

Ill resubscribe to Kayo when the season starts as im moving too far from the city to get to games now but overall i think 9 WP games is pretty stupid we should change the fixture no one gives a f*** about the nix in Australia 

Deary me. If they start changing the fixture schedule now, what a complete and utter circus.

Something's wrong when our national broadcaster shows nine games with a team from another country lol

Should have gotten involved earlier, I guess.

Hopefully one day when the stain of the Lowy regime has been completely wiped clean and we'll have a non-rigged draw this will become a non-issue.

The best approach is to set the first half of the TV games now, and the second half of the season later. As they do in football countries around the world. 

Yeah man, we're the reason no one cares about this competition. Right.

The irony of WP killing the HAL after the franchise owners backed them to stay even though the metrics were atrocious

This is an interesting point.  The clubs have taken over the league and have backed the Nix in.

Targeting the 650k expat New Zealanders living in Australia?  ;)

I’m getting sick of people misunderstanding what drives people to watch live sports.

To be clear, the sporting quality is NOT IMPORTANT.

You can have a very low standard of play, but people will watch it in droves if it is well marketed. 

I can't get over the negativity about this ......what is wrong with you people ???
Think about it ...we were looking down the barrel of zero FTA coverage a few days ago ..but no one was saying much...then they announce that a game will be on ABC 1 and people are complaining ?
This is for one season.
I like it is the ABC as they are not ratings driven . They will give it a chance without burying it on some sub station no one watches .
If we have a good year we may get a better deal somewhere else next season.
Small steps.
Some of you guys are on drugs if you thought commercial FTA stations would want us after the complete inaction of the Lowy led FFA for the past two seasons .
Crowds were down, ratings plummeted, owners would not invest because there was zero incentive , and there was general feeling of malaise around the game ....
....and it all stemmed from the top .
Lowy talked the game down at every opportunity.
He constantly reminded everyone that it would be "doom and gloom" if the owners took over .
So the public were thinking "doom and gloom" if the owners win...or keep Lowy and have a boring go nowhere comp...ie more of the same with no chance of improvement.... not much to be excited about .
May as well give up and watch another sport.
So all his talk produced exactly the doom and gloom he forecast ....except it was while he was in charge !
If you talk something down long enough people become negative .

However whilst I am conservative by nature ,I can see a lot of positives going forward now .

For the first time ever the Owners now have an incentive to invest in their product as they can see direct returns .
I will be interested to see what this brings. ( salary cap changes ? more promotion ? better imports ? ) 
We are now on FTA . All beit only once a week ,but that is better than the no FTA we were looking at a few days ago.
We have a new team , with another to follow next year .....fresh blood.
Wanderers are back at a fantastic stadium.
The Roar looks like they may be at least competitive again. The comp needs more strong teams .
Bring it on !

So the Nix will rate highly now on Aussie TV screens being on FTA!. Yussssssssssss

Maybe a possible solution (without changing the fixture) is to show some of the 4pm Sunday games, instead of Saturday 5:15. Eg. Round 9 wel vs wsw abc game would change to western United vs victory on Sunday arvo. Round 12 western United vs wel game changes to Sydney fc vs Melbourne city on Sunday.

Agreed

what people don't understand is that the ABC don't promote sponsors at all. they won't call it the "Hyundai A-League" for example. they won't call it "AAMI Park." football related sponsors and official partners such as Telstra, Nike and Maccas will not get any mention (excluding the foxtel feed of course). and there will be no incentive for new sponsors to get on board if they know they won't receive any exposure on the FTA coverage.


they will have to change the draw. they just have to. even if its half the nix games. i hope they are looking at this right now before any agreement is reached. 

I really don't see the fixture changing. Not saying it shouldn't, just saying it is unlikely to happen. The clubs have already sold season tickets based upon the current fixture. Member packages have been mailed out with the current fixture. Clubs will not want to issue changes. A more realistic solution may be to negotiate a switch with some of the rounds to offer a more evenly balanced selection across the season. Example, rather than broadcasting WP v CCM on round 13, get the BR v WSW Wednesday game instead. All they need to do is negotiate a few games here and there and it would be far more palatable.

Absolutely correct. 
Case in point...

Agreed as well. As for the higher percentage of Nix games... who cares??? I actually think the Nix will be interesting to watch this year... have a very exciting Aussie prospect in Piscopo and some new internationals. Early on (first 4 rounds) there is 2 x WSW home games which'll be worth watching because of the new stadium/ atmosphere, which is want you want if you're enticing casuals to watch the game. Glass half full for me!! 

Good point.  Noticable how ABC has slowly surely been hijacked by AFL knobs...can hardly watch ABC news or docos programs  ie 'Long Road
without irrelevant AFL pr and feelgood shchumck just added to storyline.   Beyond a joke.

Football fans who'd rather gouge their own eyes out than watch a game with 1500 spectators involving a team that shouldn't even be in our comp.

Farce.

Another +1 from me

Then tune into the AFL! You will love it with only Aus team in it. Less idiots watching the HAL the better.

you have a short memory mate. memberships went on sale long before the fixture was released. In fact, Victory renewal deadlines passed before the fixture was released. So members had to renew their seat before we knew who we were playing and when. and the FFA does change the fixture from time to time. Our home game against Brisbane last season was moved from friday to saturday after the ACL draw was announced. 

I honestly can't see why they can't move 5-6 of the Wellington fixtures. the 3 away games can easily be flipped with the 7:30 game. easy done. then change 3 of their home games to 3pm (5pm local time) and move 3 of the sunday games to saturday at 5:15. moving 3 sunday games to saturday isn't exactly a logistical nightmare... and the clubs involved would hardly say no to a move if they're gonna be on FTA.

With Nix being the main tv drawcard, he wont be the only one watching something else

Basically people have gone from complaining about having no FTA deal in place .... to complaining about the wrong type of FTA deal being put in place. 

Even libel couldn’t make this stuff up. There must me a Monty Python sketch to explain it all 😂