Why the AFL Grand Final will not be shown in HD

Robert Somers
and others
• 3 min read
Bruce McAvaney

MORE: Your guide to the AFL Grand Final

Seven's AFL Grand Final coverage will be led by iconic callers Bruce McAvaney and Dennis Cometti, with a horde of other big-name commentators too big to mention.

But once again the one thing missing will be HD.


The Seven Network has declined to comment when contacted by Sportal.

It has apparently also ignored the pleas of fans group, including the increasingly vocal AFLinHDPlease group - which has seven times as many Twitter followers than the Channel 7 AFL account.

It's not as if HD is some futuristic fantasy. 

When Network Ten had AFL right, it shot all its AFL games in high definition.

So why won't Seven?

Since they won't answer media inquiries. We can only work in second-hand conjecture.

A couple of loose theories have been bandied around in recent years.

One suggests there is a clandestine deal in the AFL media rights dictating that Fox Footy is the only channel allowed to show high definition.  Another assumes Seven, after paying more $425 million for the rights, cannot afford to buy new HD equipment.

But we believe senior management at Seven continue their immovable campaign against the technology, blaming the government's regulations for the lack of HD.

Broadcasters are currently forbidden from showing their primary channel in HD and under the anti-siphoning rules main sports must be on a primary channel. 

The NRL has the same problem with Nine.

However nothing is stopping Seven from simulcasting the game on Seven and 7mate.
 
But they are not - airing on 7Mate at the time of the grand final are episodes of Swamp Men, motoring programs, Pimp My Ride and a collectible show called Bid America.

Seven does not even film the game in HD, ensuring rival Fox Footy will only be able to present an upscaled SD replay.

Fox Footy actually landed itself in hot water last year by advertising that 'all of its matches were in HD.'

The five matches Foxtel films itself are actually in native HD (1920 by 1080i), but matches sourced from Seven (all of the finals) are filmed at a lower quality and up-scaled.

The AFL's broadcast deal will expire in 2016, meaning negotiations for a new contract are starting to heat up.

Let's hope HD broadcasting is a stipulation in the new term, for everybody's sake.

 

Author(s)
Robert Somers