Channel 9, NRL at ‘rock bottom’ after ‘disaster’

The NRL has lodged an official complaint with Channel 9 over a detail seen on the network’s breakfast TV juggernaut Today.

Peter V'landys and Karl Stefanovic.

The NRL has reportedly given Channel 9 a serve over the league’s diminished presence on the network.

The NRL has previously held concerns about its free to air broadcast partner somewhat ignoring the code in nationwide broadcasts, including breakfast TV juggernaut, Today, hosted by Karl Stefanovic and Sarah Abo.

Now the relationship has reportedly deteriorated even further with the NRL lodging an official complaint over its lack of coverage on the breakfast show.

News Corp first reported the relationship has reached “rock bottom” with chairman Peter V’landys and CEO Andrew Abdo formally complaining to network executives over what the league perceives to be a lack of promotion.

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The Sunday Telegraph reports the NRL is unhappy the free-to-air broadcaster has favoured AFL stories in national coverage because of the rival code’s established position as a genuinely national competition — despite having limited interest in NSW and Queensland.

The complaint puts pressure on Nine to beef up its coverage of the competition outside of the heavy promotion given to the State of Origin series which begins in Adelaide on May 31.

Karl Stefanovic, Sylvia Jeffreys and Tim Gilbert at an NRL season launch event. Pic Brett Costello.

The Queensland-NSW showdown is regularly among the most watched broadcasts on Aussie TV every year — but the NRL is more worried with getting its club competition greater exposure outside of NSW and Queensland.

The report claims the NRL is particularly surprised given AFL coverage on the Today show is a direct free-kick for Nine’s broadcast rival Seven Network, the free-to-air rights holder of the Aussie rules competition.

Today is reported to have made a conscious decision to focus on AFL in order to challenge Sunrise’s recent ratings supremacy.

It comes at a time when relations between the NRL and Nine remain prickly heading into the next round of TV rights negotiations.

The league’s $130 million per-year deal with Nine expires in 2027 and NRL officials have made no secret of their pursuit for a rival bidder to be its next free to air partner.

The $130 million figure includes $15 million in contra and advertising — and it is still miles behind the AFL’s rich deal.

Abdo last year defended the league’s broadcast partnerships — despite the AFL announcing its broadcast deal is worth between $100-$170 million more annually than the NRL’s.

Peter V'landys and Karl Stefanovic.

Dr Hunter Fujak, author of ‘Code Wars - The Battle for Fans, Dollars & Survival’ said last year the deal was “an absolute disaster for the NRL”.

But V’landys has defended the arrangement which he claims sets the sport up for a huge payday in 2027.

The NRL supremo has hinted the code has “got a few things up our sleeves” as it returns to market at a time when the Paramount-Channel 10 partnership is still looking to land a major scalp, having missed out on the AFL rights.

The American-based corporation is reported to have made a compelling, rich pitch to the AFL last year — and the NRL is hoping it can attract a similar offer.

Relations were strained during the Covid-19 pandemic — ultimately resulting in the downfall of former NRL chief executive Todd Greenberg.

Nine in 2020 released a statement claiming the league had “profoundly wasted” the hundreds of millions the network had coughed up during Greenberg’s four-year tenure.

“It would now appear that much of that has been squandered by a bloated head office completely ignoring the needs of the clubs, players and supporters,” Nine said in a statement at the time.”

Now the drama has shifted to a new battleground.

Originally published as Channel 9, NRL at ‘rock bottom’ after ‘disaster’