After just 12 months of broadcasting the competition, the parent company of Channel 10 has significantly renegotiated its broadcast agreement in a move that will see A-League Men’s football dumped from the main broadcast channel and Women’s Football removed from Free-To-Air.
Commencing from this season the network will now broadcast two A-League Men matches each weekend, an increase of 26 additional matches per season on free-to-air television.
However, all matches will now be broadcast live and free on networks secondary multichannel 10 Bold at 7.45pm AEST on Saturday, and every Sunday at 3pm AEST,
Additionally, the network has confirmed the games will now be broadcast ad-break free, whistle to whistle in a move that will solve one of the key complaints from fans.
Most disappointingly, Channel 10 has also confirmed the A-League Women’s will no longer receive any free-to-air coverage.
The network had previously been broadcasting one match every Sunday on 10 Bold, but under the new agreement coverage of the Women’s league will now only be shown live and free on 10 Play and live on Paramount+.
The changes to the networks coverage agreement come after the league delivered disastrous ratings across its first season on Channel 10.
Prior to the launch of the first season on Channel 10, the networks Sport Sales Director Nick Bower expressed confidence stating the network had
“a fantastic pedigree in making pay-tv sport big”.
However, in January, TV Blackbox revealed Channel 10’s coverage of the A-League was attracting some of the smallest free-to-air broadcast audiences for sport in Australia.
The competition falling well behind other codes, including Super Rugby, Super Netball, AFLW and the WBBL.
In January, TV Blackbox confirmed a broadcast of the Sydney FC vs Perth Glory clash on the networks main channel delivered a national audience of just 58k (45k metro).
The shocking result caused 10’s primary channel share to crash down to just 3.2% compared with Channel 9 on while Channel 7 secured 16.1% of viewers. The ABC was also well ahead with 14.3% of the audience watching its primary channel, while SBS maintained a share of 4.3%.
Channel 10 is understood to have invested $200 million to secure broadcast rights for the men and women’s A-League competitions in a five-year agreement.
The network subscription streaming platform Paramount+ will remain the home of all men’s and women’s A-Leagues matches, which will be available to stream live as well as mini-matches, highlights and replays.
The announcement of changes to the networks A-League coverage comes in the same week it was confirmed Channel 10 had failed in a bold bid to secure AFL broadcast rights.
Beverley McGarvey, Executive Vice President and Chief Content Officer, Paramount Australia and New Zealand said:
“Both Paramount ANZ and the APL are guided by and committed to a vision to unite, entertain, and further grow the football audience in Australia, ensuring fans are treated to the best seats in the house.
“The multi-platform broadcast approach guarantees increased availability and accessibility while acknowledging the changing consumption habits of A-Leagues fans.”
Australian Professional Leagues’ Chief Executive Officer, Danny Townsend added:
“Paramount ANZ is a committed partner in growing football in Australia, and this season’s broadcast schedule is designed to deliver more football to more Australian homes with 26 additional men’s games on 10 Bold and almost 100 women’s games on 10 Play.
Football fans will know exactly where and when they will be able to watch A-Leagues football, week in and week out.
“Making every single Liberty A-League Women game available live and free on 10 Play means that every girl in Australia can turn on their device and have sporting role models at their fingertips.
With nine months to go until the FIFA 2023 Women’s World Cup, we are maximising the opportunity to access the game at every level.”
The A-League Men season will commence on Friday, 7 October and run through to Sunday, 30 April, followed by a seven-match finals series in May, with a break from 13 November to 9 December for the FIFA World Cup.
The A-League Women fixture will be announced in the coming days.
How many people have noticed that the football supporter numbers have fallen, and its nothing to do with covid.
You only have to look at the televised matches and look at all the empty seats that the networks try to hide and the only crowds who follow the womens games are their friends and families, the stadiums are empty.
It will be interesting to see how many Tasmanias fail to turn up to watch a Hobart Centered football team in Tasmania if the AFL gives the Tas Govt a license to field a team.
This does not just apply to football, kepp your eyes on the Cricket, empty stadiums everywhere