TV ratings are down and AFL fixturing under scrutiny as Friday night footy fails to deliver
AFTER a string of Friday night fizzers — and fears of another this week — the game’s major broadcasters are worried. JON RALPH writes the AFL has to do something to supercharge the flagging format.
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IF YOU want to know why the AFL makes major policy changes, follow the money.
The hastily introduced AFLW competition was about equality but also because the AFL spotted a huge commercial opportunity.
The AFLX competition that roared across the pre-season landscape is a brazen appeal to the youth demographic.
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Now the AFL must take a good hard look at its Friday night fixturing and introduce some kind of flexible format to supercharge the flagging format.
Why? Follow the money.
Fox Footy and Seven are reporting back to the AFL that they are worried about falling Friday night numbers which they believe have a chilling effect on the entire weekend.
Both of the networks are well down in ratings this year on Friday night fixtures at a time when the NRL is trumpeting a better-than-ever set of viewer numbers.
Five of the Friday night/twilight games so far have been decided by more than six goals, only three of them going down to the wire.
The Dogs have kicked a total of 21 goals in three Friday night games, with another Thursday night encounter to come.
By now the AFL’s own suspicions of last November have come true: the Friday night fixture is a stinker.
Carlton was handed four Fridays and a Thursday, St Kilda has three more Fridays in the next 12 weeks, Melbourne just a single Friday night.
The networks believe a huge Friday night game with a big controversy or star performances sparks interest that carries through the weekend — the Saturday midday radio shows are abuzz, the fans scour the Saturday papers with interest, they tune in again to the TV the following day.
Instead, with boring Friday night games featuring poor teams, they might start watching a game but often don’t reach the end.
The AFL might have ignored calls for a floating fixture before, but it sure won’t ignore ratings that are over 10 per cent down.
In simple terms, ratings down 10 per cent as a long-running trend for a $2 billion TV rights deal adds up to a heck of a lot of dollars.
A flexible formula would need to give fans up to two months notice so they could still book flights, hopefully with the AFL pushing its airline sponsor so it didn’t gouge travellers.
The AFL would never make every weekend’s Friday night fixture flexible given the issue with six-day breaks and travel.
But a flex fixture would work if the AFL warned fans on a handful of rounds there were two potential games for Friday night consideration, with a decision made eight weeks out.
In Round 21 you would flex Hawthorn vs. Geelong into the space where Essendon and St Kilda currently reside.
In Round 18 you would flex Collingwood and North Melbourne into the current St Kilda vs. Richmond Friday night spot, even if it meant the Roos and Pies played off an equal five-day break.
Right now Melbourne is the hottest side in the competition, and the broadcasters have just one chance to see them on Friday night TV this year.
It wouldn’t always be possible — as mundane as Carlton vs. Sydney sounds this Friday, there is no enticing Saturday game easily flexed into that spot.
But a random survey of mates and co-workers this week made it clear people won’t just watch the footy because it’s on.
They want to be entertained and captivated, they want to watch the big stars strutting their stuff, they are sick of the congested nature of footy.
It’s not just anecdotal — it is borne out by the ratings drop.
The downside of a flex fixture is lack of certainty for those who might travel.
But if the AFL cannot leverage its soon-to-expire airline sponsorship deal into a better deal for travellers under a flex format, then it is not trying.
Until the AFL can fix the standard of football currently boring many people to death, it must ensure its best product is on show when it matters most.
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Originally published as TV ratings are down and AFL fixturing under scrutiny as Friday night footy fails to deliver
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