New TV deal what do you want?

[bpowell454]

One, 11, Go, Gem, they are all FTA channels with the space for a league, if the corresponding "mainstream" channel does the right advertising then they will get the ratings. One would probably be the preferred out of those being "THE" digital sport channel.

If anyone had foxtel and an iPad during the Olympic games they had a sometimes buggy but really cool app where you could stream all 8 channels live and they had catch ups and highlights. Would really love this for australian football.

[shinAUFC]

Down side of being on FTA is their shitty HD channels that are anything but HD

[EdDog]

I think that anyone other than SBS and they wouldn't give it any respect. There would be a highlights show or delayed telecast well after the game was finished. And likely no football talk shows.

As said above, the downside to SBS is the mainstream audience, but at least it will be on FTA.

I'm hoping SBS get it and make it worthwhile.

[lufcmike]

If you want an idea what football would be like on FTA TV
Those who watched the mini series on 9 last night Howzat will have some idea. it showcased channel 9 but all they could do was show 7 to 10 minutes of program and then have 3 minutes of ads it was almost unwatchable. (thank god for the remote and the moto GP)
I fear footbal may suffer the same fate, they have no respect for the viewers

[Stuckey]

If you want an idea what football would be like on FTA TV
Those who watched the mini series on 9 last night Howzat will have some idea. it showcased channel 9 but all they could do was show 7 to 10 minutes of program and then have 3 minutes of ads it was almost unwatchable. (thank god for the remote and the moto GP)
I fear footbal may suffer the same fate, they have no respect for the viewers

If ch7's coverage of the 2008 Olympics and from what I've heard ch9's this year is anything to go by. Fox is the way to go!
Does anyone else get the feeling thats how Murdoch is playing it though. Its not like FTA has always been shit. Is there a slow decline on FTA a suttle push for us all to head down the pay tv path?

[terry tibbs]

Here's the thing: SBS will always have some kind of show with talk, highlights and analysis.

So (marketing theory here...) better to attract light or non-users of a product. If new FTA viewers like what they see, they'll probably find the show/s on SBS - where else would they look??

So to get more people watching A-League, I think a commercial FTA channel is the way to go. Does it suck in terms of presentation? Probably.

Does it make the sport stronger? Almost certainly