Can't win a game, can win ratings
By: Brent Read
Jul 5, 2013
PARRAMATTA has barely won a game this season but the Nine Network is now relying on the struggling Eels to help deliver them a victory in the ratings over the final six weeks of the NRL's regular season.
Parramatta will play four games on free-to-air TV in the final six rounds -- the same amount as league-leading South Sydney and more than top-four sides the Sydney Roosters, Manly and Melbourne.
In fact, only Brisbane has more games on free to air TV than the Eels leading into the finals. Cronulla, Canberra and North Queensland -- all still in the mix for the finals -- received no love from Nine when the schedule for the final six rounds was released yesterday.
In the Raiders' case it came as no surprise. They've been overlooked for years by free-to-air broadcasters. The Eels, on the other hand, have regularly featured on Nine and therein lies the problem.
Under the new fixed-draw system, all games were locked in before the season began.
However, the final six rounds retained some flexibility, allowing the broadcasters to horse trade matches before they were made public.
It is understood the Melbourne-South Sydney game in round 22 was originally on Fox Sports but the broadcasters were able to negotiate a deal that saw the game transferred to Nine.
Nine also attempted to rid itself of the Wests Tigers-Parramatta game that night -- both sides are in the bottom three and it would be a surprise if either figured in the finals equation. But in a sign of how far the respective clubs have fallen, Fox Sports rejected the offer.
While Parramatta's surfeit of free-to-air games was a talking point, it wasn't the only one. Souths will have four blockbuster Friday night games over the closing six weeks, including matches against the Storm, the Sea Eagles, the Bulldogs and the Roosters.
The final round will include stand-alone games on Thursday and Friday nights.
As revealed in The Australian yesterday, the NRL also announced a return to Saturday afternoon football, with Canberra and St George Illawarra hosting games in the experimental time slot.
"At this stage we are not considering making Saturday afternoon football an ongoing part of the NRL match schedule," NRL football operations director Nathan McGuirk said.
"There is, however, a curiosity both on our part and of our broadcasters to see how fans respond to the time-slot, both in terms of game-day attendance and TV ratings."
As always, there were winners and losers in the scheduling. As so often is the case, the Broncos emerged with a slew of free-to-air games over the remaining six weeks. Newcastle and South Sydney also fared well.
But there was only disappointment in the nation's capital.
"We're happy to get some Sunday afternoon games in winter," Canberra chief executive Don Furner said.
"It's always helpful from a crowd perspective. But certainly we're once again disappointed not to get some channel Nine games.
"Certainly the sponsors, and the major sponsors, want to see some coverage on channel Nine. Free-to-air everybody has got. It would be good if we got on there some more."
