As a passionate Australian sports fan the Olympics is one
event I refuse to leave the house for. Over 2 weeks it is a symbol of national
pride and is the result of 4 years of hard work. This is also the time where
those household names go into folklore and where complete unknowns become
stars. The Olympics is something I cherish personally because I am one of those
types who appreciate every sport no matter what it is, but when it comes to
watching the Olympics that has become a battle in itself, slowly slipping down
in quality as the years have gone on. Free to air television stations pay huge
amounts of money to show one of the biggest events on earth but clearly have no
interest in the public when they do bid for it.
Four years ago I sat on my bed watching Steve Hooker jump for Gold in Beijing, back then Channel 7 had the broadcast rights and made someone like myself wait till nearly midnight before actually showing his winning jump. Back then I was annoyed and upset by the coverage that 7 had shown and delaying certain sports become almost ridiculous. When I heard a few months later I heard that Channel 9 had won the rights to not only the 2012 London Olympics but the Vancouver Winter Olympics I was overjoyed because I thought no-one could do worse. Oh how wrong was I, not only have 9 produced a worse coverage but it is boarding on a farce. Watching the 2010 Winter Olympics was beyond painful and I guess that’s why my expectations for London were so low.
Swimming has always been one of the highest profile sports for Australia and the media scrutiny leading up to the games; especially on swimmer James Magnussen was unbelievable. Having won gold at the world championships last year the Australian media expected not only gold but the 100m Freestyle world record to fall. Neither of those things happened, instead James came an outstanding second, only being touched out on the wall. For his first Olympics and at just 21 to get a silver medal I thought was a fantastic achievement but instead channel 9 and its media made out as if it was a failure. Not only did they repeat his disappointed interview afterwards but 9 thought to also make reference to his effort in the 4x100m relay from 2 days earlier. The edited package made it look like it was James fault for us coming 4th and not giving the team any credit for putting up a good fight to make the final in the first place. The pressure that 9 are placing on the athletes and highlighting failures or skipping over certain results (e.g. The Rowing) is pathetic. We should be celebrating the fact they have made it as far as they have instead of expecting Gold all the time.
One of the things that bugged me about Channel 7’s coverage 4 years ago was their incessant need to chop and change sports, but what I didn’t expect was 9 to be worse than that. For the majority of the first week we have seen only snippets of sports whenever an Australian has been competing before quickly moving onto something else. I am a football fan and despite the fact Australia failed to qualify a men’s team I had hoped to see a game or 2. Spain, Argentina & Brazil had brought some of their strongest teams to London and it would have been wonderful to see. Instead 9 had failed to mention the football or show anything except a tiny highlight of a women’s game on Day 1. I know 9 will probably show the Gold Medal match, but I wanted to see the games to that point.
Channel 7 did do one thing right though 4yrs ago, they gave SBS the less high profile sports such as fencing and Handball to show and at least gave them some coverage. Also SBS was good enough to respect the “no ads during play” policy and only played an ad during half time. Channel 9 has yet to show a single fencing match or a handball game, I’ll admit neither of these sports are of a great interest to me but that is not the point. There would be plenty of people out there who love those sports who deserve to see some of it at least.
Channel 9’s need to show commercials every 5mins is another thing that is getting to me, but then again it’s no different to any other show that they broadcast. I get that the Olympics is a commercial product and sponsors need their moment but to constantly play Coles & Swiss ads every 5mins gets to a point where I just change channels. But even when channel 9 is showing their coverage the amount of stuff ups has been endless. Getting commentators who are not knowledgeable in the sport they are commentating makes for almost excruciating viewing. Michael Slater knows his cricket but to expect him to comment on diving is pathetic, at times he seems to be hoping they flop into the pool and some of the questions he asks are ridiculous.
But then of course last night took the cake, cycling legend Anna Meares was lining up to race in the heats of the Kieran and in the same heat was her great rival Victoria Pendleton. These 2 women racing each other was one of the things i had been looking forward to for months. But just as they were about to start they immediately cut to an ad break claiming that we would understand as they had special guests in the studio. When they came back it was Prince William & Harry talking about the Olympics! Now I have nothing against the princes but they could have recorded the interview to play later. There was no need to show it live. Many people had got up or stayed up to watch Anna race and they were treated to this instead. In this case my father said it best, “Channel 9 have had their priorities wrong from Day 1” and I agree.
I think everyone’s feelings can be summed up perfectly by a post I read on Channel 9’s Facebook page last night. “Your channel is the reason I got Foxtel” and it’s very true. I personally can’t afford Foxtel but I know its coverage is head and shoulders above what 9 is serving up. But hopefully by the time the next winter Olympics in Russia comes around that shall be rectified.
Four years ago I sat on my bed watching Steve Hooker jump for Gold in Beijing, back then Channel 7 had the broadcast rights and made someone like myself wait till nearly midnight before actually showing his winning jump. Back then I was annoyed and upset by the coverage that 7 had shown and delaying certain sports become almost ridiculous. When I heard a few months later I heard that Channel 9 had won the rights to not only the 2012 London Olympics but the Vancouver Winter Olympics I was overjoyed because I thought no-one could do worse. Oh how wrong was I, not only have 9 produced a worse coverage but it is boarding on a farce. Watching the 2010 Winter Olympics was beyond painful and I guess that’s why my expectations for London were so low.
Swimming has always been one of the highest profile sports for Australia and the media scrutiny leading up to the games; especially on swimmer James Magnussen was unbelievable. Having won gold at the world championships last year the Australian media expected not only gold but the 100m Freestyle world record to fall. Neither of those things happened, instead James came an outstanding second, only being touched out on the wall. For his first Olympics and at just 21 to get a silver medal I thought was a fantastic achievement but instead channel 9 and its media made out as if it was a failure. Not only did they repeat his disappointed interview afterwards but 9 thought to also make reference to his effort in the 4x100m relay from 2 days earlier. The edited package made it look like it was James fault for us coming 4th and not giving the team any credit for putting up a good fight to make the final in the first place. The pressure that 9 are placing on the athletes and highlighting failures or skipping over certain results (e.g. The Rowing) is pathetic. We should be celebrating the fact they have made it as far as they have instead of expecting Gold all the time.
One of the things that bugged me about Channel 7’s coverage 4 years ago was their incessant need to chop and change sports, but what I didn’t expect was 9 to be worse than that. For the majority of the first week we have seen only snippets of sports whenever an Australian has been competing before quickly moving onto something else. I am a football fan and despite the fact Australia failed to qualify a men’s team I had hoped to see a game or 2. Spain, Argentina & Brazil had brought some of their strongest teams to London and it would have been wonderful to see. Instead 9 had failed to mention the football or show anything except a tiny highlight of a women’s game on Day 1. I know 9 will probably show the Gold Medal match, but I wanted to see the games to that point.
Channel 7 did do one thing right though 4yrs ago, they gave SBS the less high profile sports such as fencing and Handball to show and at least gave them some coverage. Also SBS was good enough to respect the “no ads during play” policy and only played an ad during half time. Channel 9 has yet to show a single fencing match or a handball game, I’ll admit neither of these sports are of a great interest to me but that is not the point. There would be plenty of people out there who love those sports who deserve to see some of it at least.
Channel 9’s need to show commercials every 5mins is another thing that is getting to me, but then again it’s no different to any other show that they broadcast. I get that the Olympics is a commercial product and sponsors need their moment but to constantly play Coles & Swiss ads every 5mins gets to a point where I just change channels. But even when channel 9 is showing their coverage the amount of stuff ups has been endless. Getting commentators who are not knowledgeable in the sport they are commentating makes for almost excruciating viewing. Michael Slater knows his cricket but to expect him to comment on diving is pathetic, at times he seems to be hoping they flop into the pool and some of the questions he asks are ridiculous.
But then of course last night took the cake, cycling legend Anna Meares was lining up to race in the heats of the Kieran and in the same heat was her great rival Victoria Pendleton. These 2 women racing each other was one of the things i had been looking forward to for months. But just as they were about to start they immediately cut to an ad break claiming that we would understand as they had special guests in the studio. When they came back it was Prince William & Harry talking about the Olympics! Now I have nothing against the princes but they could have recorded the interview to play later. There was no need to show it live. Many people had got up or stayed up to watch Anna race and they were treated to this instead. In this case my father said it best, “Channel 9 have had their priorities wrong from Day 1” and I agree.
I think everyone’s feelings can be summed up perfectly by a post I read on Channel 9’s Facebook page last night. “Your channel is the reason I got Foxtel” and it’s very true. I personally can’t afford Foxtel but I know its coverage is head and shoulders above what 9 is serving up. But hopefully by the time the next winter Olympics in Russia comes around that shall be rectified.
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