That’s interesting. I wonder if that could have been a strategic direction to go with the Silver Lake money. Presumably the EPL is enough of a draw by itself because it’s the marquee content still on Optus. With that investment money could they even have bundled it and gone with their own distribution package and a separate FTA agreement if they wanted?
They don’t need to bid for it… just have an agreement with the EPL that the rights are tied… even if it’s say on a 70/30 split.
But I don’t see it happening unfortunately.
On other providers, watched a different game on Seven’s streamer.com.au which seems targeted at secondary and below leagues or smaller sports with a single camera and integrated scoring.
No app, all web based, and it just works with no issues including pause and self replays.
Crazy some of the global majors can’t get it right.
An average of 316,000 viewers tuned into the Channel 10 match broadcast, and that figure actually increased to 346,000 for the post-game component. By comparison, the Mariners’ 6-1 defeat of Melbourne City in the 2023 grand final attracted 174,000. Paramount boasted 1.12m Australians took in at least some of the broadcast across its streaming service and Channel 10, a figure up 12% on the previous year.
So if 350,000 tuned in on Channel 10, and Paramount are saying 1.12m tuned in either on Channel 10 or Paramount, that means like 700,000 people streamed it on Paramount?
I’m guessing that’s not how it works and Paramount have used a more liberal counting method than what the 350,000 Channel 10 figure has.
Either way this is excellent, I think everything is going in the right direction. The new Auckland club will be pretty big and hopefully the Jets sort out their owner issues as per the rumours asap. Things are looking stronger despite the big cuts in TV money.
Nope, the 1.12m figure is a different metric. It’s the number of unique Australians that were exposed to at least one minute of the broadcast. I.e. if you watched 61 seconds, you’re in.
The average of 316,000 means that across the whole game, an average of 316k were watching at any one time. Of course the real figure would go up and down as people would tune in and out. An average of 346k watched the post game section which I guess includes the pitch invasion and presentation; it’s weird that was higher, especially given the late night timing.
Thevpubs were still open. I know plenty of people who tuned in after the nrl ended. They managed to switch over in time for the equaliser and winner. The pitch invasion kept them interested until the end of the broadcast.
I watched about 61 seconds in which Melbourne Irony were winning, switched off, and switched back on when I saw on socials that the Mariners were winning and there was hope in the world again. That may account for the higher number post match.
I think given the financial position of the APL, any increase is a good increase at the moment.
The good thing about the Mariners last couple of seasons and with them having packed out Bluetoungue, is perhaps those Mariners casual fans who drift in and out, may be overcome with some FOMO next season.
If Newcastle solidify some new owners and make some progression on and off the field, we’ll be looking stronger again, and then the only markets that we need to maybe worry about are Macarthur, Melbourne City, and Brisbane.