AFANA Footy BBS

I don't have the actual letter any more, but the AFANA Aussie Rules Media News for Wednesday, May 26, 2004 noted that there was some kind of free viewing event this weekend on DirecTV. I can't find anything about this on DirecTV's site, and Fox Sports World isn't available on my DirecTV. I can't find anything on the AFANA site saying that the information was incorrect either, though.

I can't justify the extra $144 a year just to watch Aussie Rules, so this really is my only chance to see it. Anybody know what's up, and whether the free viewing event is still on?

> I don't have the actual letter any more, but the AFANA Aussie Rules Media News for
> Wednesday, May 26, 2004 noted that there was some kind of free viewing event this
> weekend on DirecTV. I can't find anything about this on DirecTV's site, and Fox
> Sports World isn't available on my DirecTV. I can't find anything on the AFANA site
> saying that the information was incorrect either, though.

According to the printed information we have from DirecTV, the free preview runs June 11-13 and includes FOX Sports World. If that's not correct, I would suggest just calling DirecTV as there is always the chance we were provided incomplete information or plans changed. As noted in our newsletter and on our TV page, we do not post all of the info in the newsletter on the web site as an incentive for fans to subscribe. (The newsletter is free after all!).

> I can't justify the extra $144 a year just to watch Aussie Rules, so this really is
> my only chance to see it. Anybody know what's up, and whether the free viewing event
> is still on?

I can understand your situation. It's all a matter of what's important to each of us and what we can personally afford. Good luck.

-Rob de Santos
AFANA Chairman

AFANA Blog

>
> According to the printed information we have from DirecTV, the free preview runs
> June 11-13 and includes FOX Sports World. If that's not correct, I would suggest
> just calling DirecTV as there is always the chance we were provided incomplete
> information or plans changed. As noted in our newsletter and on our TV page, we do
> not post all of the info in the newsletter on the web site as an incentive for fans
> to subscribe. (The newsletter is free after all!).
>
> I can understand your situation. It's all a matter of what's important to each of us
> and what we can personally afford. Good luck.
>
> -Rob de Santos
> AFANA Chairman
>

Thanks very much for the extremely quick reply, and the service you provide to us all, Rob. If I am ever able to watch Aussie Rules at a reasonable price somewhere, I'll definitely be donating some money to help with your site!

Oh, to have proper a la carte TV like you get in other countries, rather than having to pay DirecTV so much for a bunch of channels I'll never even watch!

> Thanks very much for the extremely quick reply, and the service you provide to us
> all, Rob. If I am ever able to watch Aussie Rules at a reasonable price somewhere,
> I'll definitely be donating some money to help with your site!

You're welcome.

Unfortunately for AFANA, whether you can get it or not, we have to soldier on. As an organization that depends on volunteers, gets no funding from the AFL or FOX, it's tough. Do the math: if FOX Sports World reaches 22% of US fans, that means 78% can't see footy. Without support from that 78%, the remaining 22% have to do even more so we can survive and hope to get changes made that will reach that other 78%. It's always been a problem for us: fans that don't get the telecasts (thru no fault of ours) don't support us. The less support we receive the harder it is to change the situation.

> Oh, to have proper a la carte TV like you get in other countries, rather than having
> to pay DirecTV so much for a bunch of channels I'll never even watch!

You have growing sympathy in Washington, DC. Sen. McCain and others are asking why, if a-la-carte works in the much smaller market of Canada, why can't it work here? Conversely the cable, satellite, and TV networks are largely opposed to it, claiming it will hurt smaller networks and make it harder for new ones to get on the air. Of course, the fact that 90% of all new networks are now just spinoffs of existing networks (e.g. the growing clones of ESPN, Discovery, MTV, etc.) the reality is that startups have little chance anyway. A-la-carte or not, footy is not likely to return to ESPN or ESPN2 anytime soon so fans should expect it will cost extra to get it one way or another.

-Rob de Santos
AFANA Chairman

AFANA Blog

>
> You're welcome.

> Unfortunately for AFANA, whether you can get it or not, we have to soldier on. As an
> organization that depends on volunteers, gets no funding from the AFL or FOX, it's
> tough. Do the math: if FOX Sports World reaches 22% of US fans, that means 78% can't
> see footy. Without support from that 78%, the remaining 22% have to do even more so
> we can survive and hope to get changes made that will reach that other 78%. It's
> always been a problem for us: fans that don't get the telecasts (thru no fault of
> ours) don't support us. The less support we receive the harder it is to change the
> situation.

>
> You have growing sympathy in Washington, DC. Sen. McCain and others are asking why,
> if a-la-carte works in the much smaller market of Canada, why can't it work here?
> Conversely the cable, satellite, and TV networks are largely opposed to it, claiming
> it will hurt smaller networks and make it harder for new ones to get on the air. Of
> course, the fact that 90% of all new networks are now just spinoffs of existing
> networks (e.g. the growing clones of ESPN, Discovery, MTV, etc.) the reality is that
> startups have little chance anyway. A-la-carte or not, footy is not likely to return
> to ESPN or ESPN2 anytime soon so fans should expect it will cost extra to get it one
> way or another.
>

A la carte in other countries is different than here. In a governing state that only receives 22% distribution on Fox SW, with a la carte the network would cease to exist. You may say I am biased (see e-mail address), and you are right. A la carte will reduce diversity of networks. Canada has an a la carte system married with a packaged system of cable distribution. Well over 80% of the subscriber base take the package because it is cost-ineffective with a la carte. The majority of programmers did not even know that Canada was offering programming via a la carte until it recently came out in the news. Expect changes.

> -Rob de Santos
> AFANA Chairman
>

Hi Tyler,

Welcome to the BBS.

> A la carte in other countries is different than here. In a governing state that only
> receives 22% distribution on Fox SW, with a la carte the network would cease to
> exist. You may say I am biased (see e-mail address), and you are right. A la carte
> will reduce diversity of networks.

You may well be right that FOX Sports World would not survive under a-la-carte, I don't know. It's also quite possible that new channels unable to survive in the current environment would have a fighting chance if they could get a dedicated number of subscribers at say, $2.95 a month. I am not sold on a-la-carte but I am believer in the consumer as the arbiter of success in a free market.

> Canada has an a la carte system married with a
> packaged system of cable distribution. Well over 80% of the subscriber base take the
> package because it is cost-ineffective with a la carte. The majority of programmers
> did not even know that Canada was offering programming via a la carte until it
> recently came out in the news. Expect changes.

You may have hit on the best solution to the problem. Keep the current package distribution system but allow me, the consumer, to buy a channel outside the package if I am willing to pay to get it.

AFANA and most fans understand that Australian football is not going to be "free" anytime soon no matter which channel carries it or how it is distributed since some way must exist to cover the cost of getting the programming here.

AFANA continues to believe (and the success of this web site is proof) that a sufficient fan base exists for the sport that given proper distribution and promotion it could be a television success here. Twenty-five years after ESPN went on the air, one of the first things people will tell you they remember from those early days is the coverage of Aussie rules.

-Rob de Santos
AFANA Chairman

AFANA Blog