Nine ‘snubbed women’ by shunting T20 final to secondary channel

Channel 9 has been lashed after shunting the Women’s T20 World Cup final to a secondary channel. on International Women’s Day.

Australia's Nic Carey bats in the nets ahead of the Twenty20 women's World Cup cricket final, in Melbourne. Picture: AFP.

Nine has been accused of “snubbing women” on International Women’s Day after the network shunted the Women’s T20 World Cup final to a secondary channel.

The match between Australia and India, which is tipped to break attendance records for women’s sport at the MCG on Sunday night, will be broadcast live on 9Gem.

Instead, the network will air the reality ratings blockbuster Married At First Sight on its main channel.

Women's sporting advocate and former Western Bulldogs board member Susan Alberti lashed the decision to air the T20 World Cup Final on a secondary channel as “absolutely disgraceful”.

"This is a World Cup, a world championship and our Australian women's team is in the final,” she said.

"I don't see why that other show [Married At First Sight] couldn’t be postponed and people can watch it later.

“This is much more important."

The opening T20 match attracted 500,000 viewers in Australia and more than 3.5 million in India, where it was broadcast in five different languages.

Former Sex Discrimination Commissioner Elizabeth Broderick, who currently chairs Male Champions of Change in Sport group, described the decision to air the final on a secondary channel as “disappointing”.

“It’s disappointing that it’s not being screened on the main channel but I’m sure people will watch the women’s T20 final whichever channel it’s on,” she said.

“It will be a magnificent game.”

Australian cricketer Mel Jones earlier on Sunday said the Grand Final could “well be one of the biggest and most important sporting events Australia has ever hosted”.

“Firstly, it’s the final of the T20 World Cup between two of the most talented, entertaining and influential cricket teams,” she wrote.

“Secondly it (MCG) will be the playing field for a whole host of game changing moments for sport in general which have been driven mostly by faces and names you don’t know.

The @mcg, the iconic venue for what could well be one of the biggest and most important sporting events Australia has ever hosted. Firstly, it’s the final of the t20worldcup between two of the most talented,… https://t.co/6bchGmXm8j

— Mel Jones (@meljones_33) March 7, 2020

Ms Alberti, who was to appear on the International Women's Day Forum at the MCG ahead of the match, said extensive work had gone on behind the scenes to elevate women’s sport and Sunday’s final had been a “long time coming”.

"For Channel 9 to snub them like this, it's not good for women. It's just crazy."

A Nine spokesman said the programming decision was consistent with previous broadcasts of men and women’s cricket games.

“Just as with the men’s and women’s Ashes and men’s ODI World Cup last year, we have aired the women’s T20 World Cup on GEM and GEM HD, to keep it all in the same place and not switch shows around which causes confusion,” he said.

“Given the men’s Ashes last year achieved the highest multichannel ratings of all time, it is the perfect home for cricket on Nine”.