Cats urge Pay-TV quota

[Beaussie]

Seems fair enough when you consider Collingwood's schedule on free to air in Victoria. Would a quota work though (ie: would the big clubs in VIC support it)?

Cats urge Pay-TV quota
Sportal
http://www.sportal.com.au/football.asp?i=news&id=94569

Geelong chief executive Brian Cook has called on all clubs to be handed a minimum number of pay television matches in future AFL television deals saying the recent agreement with Channels Seven, Ten and Foxtel had further extended the gap between the haves and the have-nots of the competition.

Cook said while he accepted those clubs with bigger supporter bases would always have more games on free-to-air television than those clubs with smaller supporter bases, he said the discrepancies this season were greater than ever.

Following the recent announcement of a deal between Seven, Ten and Foxtel for this season, in which Seven and Ten will show two games each week and Foxtel four, the huge gap in free-to-air coverage for AFL clubs this season was revealed.

While all six non-Victorian teams will have all 22 of their home and away matches broadcast on free-to-air television and the biggest Victorian club in Collingwood will have 19 of its games on either Channel Seven or Ten, fans of some of the smaller Victorian clubs will see little of their teams on television this year unless they subscribe to pay television station Foxtel.

For example Geelong has just 11 of its 22 games on free-to-air television this year while Hawthorn has just eight with its other 14 matches to be shown on Foxtel.

Cook said, as a result, not only are clubs such as Collingwood, West Coast and Adelaide able to generate more in sponsorship dollars as a result of increased television exposure, but their supporters have a lesser need to subscribe to pay television leaving them with more money to spend in other club-related income areas than fans of other clubs.

"There is a tremendous inequity in the exposure levels of AFL clubs now with the new (television) deal," he said on Wednesday.

"There have always been inequities but the margins and differences are greater now and I think there should be a desire in the future to reduce that gap."

"Whilst we shouldn’t all be equal (in terms of number of games on free-to-air television) there should be a certain number of pay TV games that all clubs have to have each year."

"That may be eight, it may be 10 but it's something we all have to talk about."

Cook said the Cats always aimed to attract 12 million free-to-air television viewers each season but admitted the fact only half the club's games were available on either Seven or Ten this year may make that task impossible in 2007.

"Last year we had 15 games on free-to-air TV so this year we are four short but hopefully it won't be reflected in our (viewing) figures in terms of TV audiences because a lot of our Skilled (home) games will be telecast."

However Cook said there is no way the Cats will attract as many television viewers as a club such as Collingwood, given the inequities of this year's television coverage.

"Collingwood's free-to-air television audience this year will be about 20-22 million viewers whereas Geelong's will be between about 10 and 12 million on free-to-air," he said.