WCC Scheduling

[Mattrhino]

Will be fine for me, will just be coming off my night shift.

[roughyedspud]

Nobody heard of a record button?

[Dave T]

1 hour ago, Harry Stottle said:

I thought that was the case, seems like the local management want to use the optimum times to deliver better attendance levels, most people if not t.v. viewers will look at the attendance first and that will be the yardstick for them if the game as been a success or not i.e. if 10K in the stadium - a failure, 25K+ a success, it may not suit a lot of people, and for those who do catch the programme, it sure looks better on the screen.

That isn't the case though as we have had plenty of different kick off times. There is nothing to suggest Sunday night is better for getting a crowd in Leeds than a Friday or Saturday, likewise in Melbourne with Friday vs Saturday.

I would suggest that local broadcaster appears to be the biggest factor here.

We really should be looking at this game being a Friday night here (early morning in Oz), and there it should be Saturday evening (early Saturday morning here). By sticking with those slots you may even start to build up a regular audience on both sides of the world.

[Dave T]

17 minutes ago, roughyedspud said:

Nobody heard of a record button?

Aye you're right, Live sport is over-rated anyway isn't it?

Heaven forbid us being in the modern world where we can watch games on TV whilst interacting on social media, seeing the game trending on twitter and the likes.

Jeez.

[Allora]

I can not recall any WCC matches played in England that have ever had favourable TV times in Australia EVER. 

Friday night football sells well to TV audiences in Oz, Saturday night is a dead zone.

Maybe a good crowd and TV ratings will make people in Australia sit up and take interest in this concept, putting it on at a silly time will just kill it more than it is already.

 

[Dave T]

2 minutes ago, Allora said:

1 - I can not recall any WCC matches played in England that have ever had favourable TV times in Australia EVER. 

2 - Friday night football sells well to TV audiences in Oz, Saturday night is a dead zone.

3 - Maybe a good crowd and TV ratings will make people in Australia sit up and take interest in this concept, putting it on at a silly time will just kill it more than it is already.

 

1 - not everything has to be an Oz vs England thing Jeez. Hence my point about us never learning. Organisations for other tournaments have had loads of criticism here.

2 - The World Cup Final got great figures on a Saturday evening, and on the other channel the Cricket Ashes had great figures too. The Grand Final is also staged on a Sunday which is also a decent option for UK viewers.

3 - Good crowds and viewing figures can be found on Saturday and Sundays.

[Allora]

15 minutes ago, Dave T said:

1 - not everything has to be an Oz vs England thing Jeez. Hence my point about us never learning. Organisations for other tournaments have had loads of criticism here.

2 - The World Cup Final got great figures on a Saturday evening, and on the other channel the Cricket Ashes had great figures too. The Grand Final is also staged on a Sunday which is also a decent option for UK viewers.

3 - Good crowds and viewing figures can be found on Saturday and Sundays.

TV figures for the World Cup Final 842,000 is hardly big numbers I know there were thousands of empty seats.

Cricket Tests are a different Sport and mainly played in the Day.

The Grand Final is played on a Sunday night on a long weekend with the Monday a public Holiday.

You will never get a happy medium when the time zones are at such opposites.

What time do you think it is in Australia when its a Sunday afternoon kick off in England?

I have either recorded the game or stayed up till 2 am kick off time or got up at 5-6 am to watch the games played in England weekdays or whatever and just accepted that is what it is with the World being a Sphere.

 

[Dave T]

Just now, Allora said:

I have not seen the TV figures for the World Cup Final, I know not that many were at the game.

Cricket Tests are a different Sport and mainly played in the Day.

The Grand Final is played on a Sunday night on a long weekend with the Monday a public Holiday.

You will never get a happy medium when the time zones are at such opposites.

What time do you think it is in Australia when its a Sunday afternoon kick off in England?

I have either recorded the game or stayed up till 2 am kick off time or got up at 5-6 am to watch the games played in England weekdays or whatever and just accepted that is what it is with the World being a Sphere.

 

Nope to pretty much all of that.

On the 1st bold bit - why are you doing that? I specifically acknowledged that the scheduling here is bad - stop making everything us vs you (and then complaining about that!).

On the 2nd bold bit - we don't have to accept it. Do you think RU would do this?

If this game kicked off at 8pm on the Saturday or Sunday in Melbourne it would kick off at 9am in England.

If the game was to be staged in Leeds, on a Friday or Saturday at 8pm it would kick off at 7am in Melbourne.

It isn't that difficult, despite the world being a sphere.

[East Coast Tiger]

Where was the whinging when it was on Monday morning at 6am here the past few years? Suddenly the poms don't like the timing so it's sook central. 

[Copa]

What Australian channel is Melbourne v Leeds on?

[Allora]

7 minutes ago, Dave T said:

Nope to pretty much all of that.

On the 1st bold bit - why are you doing that? I specifically acknowledged that the scheduling here is bad - stop making everything us vs you (and then complaining about that!).

On the 2nd bold bit - we don't have to accept it. Do you think RU would do this?

If this game kicked off at 8pm on the Saturday or Sunday in Melbourne it would kick off at 9am in England.

If the game was to be staged in Leeds, on a Friday or Saturday at 8pm it would kick off at 7am in Melbourne.

It isn't that difficult, despite the world being a sphere.

I am just saying this game has always had times that can not accommodate both fans in any reasonable way when played in their home countries and I accept that.

They have to play to the home Countries Fans and TV sponsorship not to 10k fans on the other side of the World.

Why would 7 am in Melbourne or Sydney (6 am in Brisbane) seem attractive to Australian fans? What a breakfast BBQ and a couple of early Beers with your mates.

It is what it is and I accept it, lets face it its only the third time in the History of the concept it has affected English fans.

 

 

[Allora]

4 minutes ago, Copa said:

What Australian channel is Melbourne v Leeds on?

No idea, is it on TV? maybe Foxsports

[Dave T]

12 minutes ago, Allora said:

I have not seen the TV figures for the World Cup Final, (edit 842,000,) I know there were thousands of empty seats.

 

1.42m for the RLWC Final - peaking at c2.7m iirc. Your numbers do not include all regions. 1.7m average in the UK with a peak of c2.5m iirc. Seems pretty healthy for a Saturday. The number was higher than the Ashes session that was on at the same time, in both countries.

It was also 1.4m for the Word Cup Opener between Aus v Eng that didn't have Ashes clashing with it iirc.

Empty seats - there was a bigger percentage of empty seats at that opener at Melbourne on the Friday night.

[Allora]

1 minute ago, Dave T said:

1.42m for the RLWC Final - peaking at c2.7m iirc. Your numbers do not include all regions. 1.7m average in the UK with a peak of c2.5m iirc. Seems pretty healthy for a Saturday. The number was higher than the Ashes session that was on at the same time, in both countries.

It was also 1.4m for the Word Cup Opener between Aus v Eng that didn't have Ashes clashing with it iirc.

Empty seats - there was a bigger percentage of empty seats at that opener at Melbourne on the Friday night.

You have access to better figures than any I can find.

You would hope to get better crowds for a Final in the hotbed of the game Brisbane than an opening game in Melbourne IMO

[roughyedspud]

45 minutes ago, Dave T said:

Aye you're right, Live sport is over-rated anyway isn't it?

Heaven forbid us being in the modern world where we can watch games on TV whilst interacting on social media, seeing the game trending on twitter and the likes.

Jeez.

Sorry...what time would you like it on?

[roughyedspud]

7 minutes ago, Allora said:

No idea, is it on TV? maybe Foxsports

It's on nine

[Dave T]

5 minutes ago, Allora said:

1 - I am just saying this game has always had times that can not accommodate both fans in any reasonable way when played in their home countries and I accept that.

2 - They have to play to the home Countries Fans and TV sponsorship not to 10k fans on the other side of the World.

3 - Why would 7 am in Melbourne or Sydney (6 am in Brisbane) seem attractive to Australian fans? What a breakfast BBQ and a couple of early Beers with your mates.

 

1 - I'm not sure of the logic. We choose kick off times. We can make it the best it can be based on the time differences.

2 - But maybe if we managed it to optimise viewers on both sides of the globes this tournament would be more attractive from a sponsor and broadcaster pov? It doesn't have to be one or the other.

3 - I'm not sure what you are asking here. 8pm is the latest a game will kick off, so 7am on a Saturday or Sunday is a decent enough slot for fans and broadcasters alike. There have been two examples over here in recent years where the games have been kicking off in Oz at 6-7am on a Monday morning.

[Dave T]

3 minutes ago, Allora said:

You have access to better figures than any I can find.

You would hope to get better crowds for a Final in the hotbed of the game Brisbane than an opening game in Melbourne IMO

They are 7's own figures, you only quoted metro numbers, which were the same for the opener and final, despite the final having the Ashes taking away plenty of potential viewers.

It did get a bigger crowd, almost double.

[Dave T]

5 minutes ago, roughyedspud said:

Sorry...what time would you like it on?

just read the posts.

[roughyedspud]

Nah...9am is a reasonable time for a game in oz..stop bleeding whinging!

[Dave T]

29 minutes ago, roughyedspud said:

Nah...9am is a reasonable time for a game in oz..stop bleeding whinging!

9am is perfect. Nobody said otherwise.

[Scubby]

Hopefully I can rearrange my work schedule to see the game.

[roughyedspud]

16 hours ago, Dave T said:

Are we learning nothing? 

Melbourne v Leeds kicking off at 9.05am on the Friday.

There are literally two significant markets for this event, Australia and England and they pretty much rule out one of them by this scheduling.

No doubt they will point out that Friday night viewers will bring in more just in Oz than it would on Sky even on the Saturday, but that isnt the point - no terrestrial broadcaster would ever want this event if we treat it like this.

We have seen that the Aussies can get huge figures on a Sat or Sunday, and Sky would have got bigger figures for that.

Why do we keep making it hard to be an RL fan?

Erm...what you whinging at then

[Dave T]

A quick comparison:

RU Lions Tour 2017 (NZ):

Midweek games - 4

Saturday Games - 6

Friday games - 0

RU Lions Tour 2013 (OZ):

Midweek games - 4

Saturday games - 6

Friday games - 0

RUWC 2003 (Oz):

Eng/Ire/Wales/Sco games played on anything other than a Sat/Sun = 1 (a Scotland game on a Monday).

I haven't looked at the NZ tournament, it may be more there due to more teams, but I think the point is clear - if you actually treat your potential markets seriously, you may actually deliver growth in them.

[Dave T]

2 minutes ago, roughyedspud said:

Erm...what you whinging at then

I assume you are playing dumb as some part of a prank?