Plus other news: ITVN's future; Setanta for sale? (Updated: see comments: ITVN On Life Support)
The first live coverage of AFL for 2008 begins this week with the Brisbane v Essendon match at 4:30 AM EST this Saturday morning. For more info, see our TV pages -- links on the sidebar and top menu. This is the first time ever that fans in North America have had any coverage of the preseason competition. Setanta has indicated to AFANA that they plan similar coverage for the rest of 2008 as we had in 2007. Setanta may cover up to 4 matches per week if schedule space permits. Initially, only 3 are scheduled for Round 1 of the AFL season.
AFANA has been monitoring the situation with ITVN closely. They remain "on the net" (or "on the air" if you will) and the Setanta feed continues however ITVN is no longer taking any new subscribers. Until recently, we had been able to maintain an e-mail dialogue with them and felt assurred that the "reorganization" meant they might survive. However, it's now been some weeks since we have heard anything and they have not indicated whether the funds owed AFANA will be paid soon, if at all. Accordingly, if we don't hear from them shortly we will be disabling the links to them until such time as the situation changes.
Rumors have aqain surfaced that Setanta could be for sale. The company has said that no "formal process" is underway but that bids for the company will be accepted. Sportsbusiness.com reported yesterday that potential bidders include British Telecom, ITV, Virgin Media and Disney and that the asking price was at least $1.3 billion. It's way too early to access what, if any, impact a sale would have on AFL coverage. It's likely that even if a sale happened in the next few months it would have minimal impact on 2008 AFL coverage.
Article last changed on Saturday, March 01, 2008 - 12:52 AM EST
Comments
Coverage in the UK and the countdown clock
Addendums:
Thanks to inquiries by readers in the UK & Ireland we can advise that fans in the UK & Ireland* will not get coverage of the NAB Cup, unfortunately. They will get at least 2 games per week initially, during the main part of the season. The issue is, not surprisingly, the heavy schedule demands of Premier League soccer coverage on the Setanta UK schedule. Once the soccer season is over in May, coverage will again parallel North American coverage.
The AFL has quietly decided to allow the Telstra Dome and other venues to put a countdown clock up on the TV screens at the venues in the last five minutes. US and Canadian sports fans are used to this as a standard feature at sporting events and on TV coverage. Until recently, this was not the case in Australia. The practice on the TV coverage however will remain the same: Foxtel and Seven will use a countdown clock but Ten will not. So, no change, from our end as viewers. It will be curious though when the crowd cheers or starts counting down the final seconds but the audience on TV can't see the same clock. There is an on-going debate about whether the countdown clock enhances or detracts from the excitement. I like it; but your mileage may differ and feel free to comment accordingly on any aspect of this story.
* Revised to include Ireland due to additional info received after original post. - Admin
ITVN Out of Business
It appears that ITVN has completely given up the ghost and is no longer available. We will be removing our links to them over the next few days. Recent reports confirm that you can no longer connect to their servers and they are "off the air".
This is a big loss for fans of footy.
re:itvn out of business
thats very disappointing for you guys in the states to here that will there be anything you can do about. how often to you see the games live over there well l live in melbourne l am lucky enough to see my team essendon play live at the venus every week. is there a televison station in the states that broadcasts the games live l would like to know
hirdyfan
Not all is lost...
We still have the network coverage. All we lost was the internet coverage of same.
A look at our TV pages should give you a good idea of what we get here. We get 3 live games per week via a satellite delivered channel. Thanks for the support.
thanks for the reply
thanks for your reply how much of the great australian game do you understand l my self undertand the rules ect . have you ever seen the banners that go up and the players run through what are your thoughts
We're very familiar with the game
The fans here range from the newbies to the experts. Many of us, myself included, have followed the game for over 25 years. We know the rules and the rituals quite well. In fact, our in house rules expert is a certified official who has worked the national championships here in the US. So yes, we have seen the players run thru the banners many times.
we're very familar with game
l see you are a geelong supporter,[ we have a nickname for them people used to call them the handbagers lol) long story how thet got that. By the way l am one of those who makes the banners for the Essendon cheer squad have being a member for the past 31 years l am glad you like them they take many days to make . plenty of crep paper .
hirdy fan
Sorry but you're wrong
I am not a Geelong supporter. Try clicking on my user name to see which clubs I support.
