Glasgow 2014: 100 Days To Go (Media Spy)

With just 100 days to go until the Opening Ceremony of the XX Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland, Network Ten is proud to announce it will give viewers extensive coverage of every day of the competition, 24 hours a day across TEN and ONE. More than 260 hours of action, excitement and drama from the Glasgow Games will go to air, presented by a stellar team of hosts and commentators.

As the only television broadcaster for the XX Commonwealth Games in Australia, Network Ten will deliver first-class coverage from Glasgow live into lounge rooms around the country from July 24, 2014. In addition to 24-hour coverage on TEN and ONE each day, eight dedicated digital channels will also be available on www.tenplay.com.au, enabling viewers to watch their favourite events and athletes from anywhere, at any time.

Hosted from Glasgow by TEN’s Mel McLaughlin and Brad McEwan, the expert commentary team features an all-star line-up of former Olympians including Nicole Livingstone, Rob DeCastella, David Culbert, Melinda Gainsford-Taylor and more. Two of Australia’s most decorated netballers – Liz Ellis and Sharelle McMahon – will bring fans all the action from the SECC Precinct while former Wallaby and TEN Eyewitness News Presenter, Matt Burke, will be joined by TEN’s Gordon Bray for the Rugby Sevens from Ibrox Stadium. The expert commentary team also features a host of experienced specialists including TEN’s Greg Rust, Mark Howard and Lachy Reid, and experienced sports broadcasters Peter Donegan and Ian Cohen, with more to be announced soon.

Network Ten Head of Sport, David Barham, said: “The Glasgow Games are on track to be one of the most memorable Commonwealth Games ever and Network Ten is delighted to bring all the action to Australians with some of the country’s most successful athletes.

“The combination of TEN, ONE and tenplay, as well as our experienced presenters and commentators, will ensure that Network Ten’s coverage of this international sporting event is comprehensive, compelling and engaging.”

Network TEN looks at securing Super Rugby (The Roar)

 Network Ten have their sights set on acquiring the rights to broadcast Super Rugby – a move that would see them put the sport back on free-to-air television.

In a bid to boost ratings, Ten have expressed an interest in expanding their rugby coverage. Currently the network has the rights to some international matches, but the addition of Super Rugby would be a big step forward.

The interest in a flagship winter sport has been spurred by the ratings success Ten experienced with the Big Bash League over the summer, during which matches averaged 638,000 viewers.

The network will be hoping to compete with the likes of Seven (AFL) and Nine (NRL), who currently dominate the winter sports market.

Ten executive chairman Hamish McLennan has stated, “Rugby needs to broaden and get into the mainstream to build its fan base.”

Super Rugby fans would agree that free-to-air coverage would be a big boost for the profile of the competition, which struggles to find the attention rival codes receive.

The accessibility of Super Rugby has been a hotly debated topic for some time, with many of the view that the competition must make the move to free-to-air.

A move to Network Ten would see Super Rugby broadcast on free-to-air in Australia for the first time since it was created in 1996.

Whisper: Ten Network

On 2UE this morning, they said that there will be big changes in media regulations, in particular with one FTA network as it has been the most talked about network in rival channel (Seven West Media).

 It has been said that Foxtel will take over the Ten Network, and Ten will be relaunched as FOX News, similar to the channel in the US. 

This would allow Foxtel to have stronger packaging around news and sport. Hamish McLennan (Chief Executive of TEN) will replace Julian Clarke of News Corp.

They recently signed a deal to broadcast the KFC T20 BBL and V8s effectively from 2014 and 2015 till 2018 and 2020 respectively. 

But it remains to be seen as to what will be in the schedule if it does become a reality and what happens to ONE, ELEVEN, TVSN and SpreeTV.

Decrease coverage of MotoGP on TEN for 2014 World Championship (Source: Speedcafe)

Network Ten will retain full coverage of the Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix later this year in the wake of a last minute deal for all MotoGP categories to be shown on Fox Sports.

Under new arrangements struck shortly before the season opened at Qatar, Fox announced it would broadcast all Moto2, Moto3 and MotoGP practice, qualifying and races live in 2014.

It leaves Ten with live coverage of just MotoGP however the Network confirmed it will show full qualifying and races of the three categories at Phillip Island.

Details of the split arrangement which has given the bulk of MotoGP coverage to the subscription channel were not finalised until the 11th hour.

New arrangements regarding the sub licensing of the motorcycle classes for 2014 coverage were struck even though Network Ten is in the final year of its contract with MotoGP management.

“Every MotoGP race in 2014 will continue to be broadcast live, free and in High Definition on ONE,” a Network Ten spokesperson said.

“The Australian round of the MotoGP Championship, including Moto3, Moto2, qualifying and the race, held at Phillip Island, will still be broadcast on TEN.

“In addition, ONE will feature a pre-race and post-race MotoGP show.

“Hosted by Greg Rust and expert commentator Daryl Beattie, the pre-race show which will provide a detailed review and expert analysis from the qualifying race as well as a comprehensive preview of the race.

“A thorough post-race review and analysis will also be provided at the end of all 18 races, which cover 13 countries and four continents.

“Every MotoGP race, including the pre-race and post-race shows, will continue to be available via live streaming at www.tenplay.com.au.”

With the support events moving across to Fox for all non-Australian events, Network Ten could only run highlights in the lead up to its live MotoGP coverage in the early hours of the morning.

Network Ten takes over the V8 Supercars broadcast rights contract from next year under a fresh six-year shared deal between the free-to-air broadcaster and Fox and Fox Sports.

That deal means only Adelaide, Townsville, Sandown, Bathurst, Gold Coast and Sydney V8 events will be shown on free-to-air with one-hour highlights shows of the remaining events to be screened on One HD at 8.30pm (11.30pm on Ten) on the nights of those other race meetings.

NBL releases 2014 semi final dates (Source: NBL)

The National Basketball League grand finalists for 2014 will be decided in a fresh new format over six days in four cities.

Two semi-final series will be played simultaneously, with all games to be televised on free-to-air by the NBL’s broadcast partner Network TEN.

In a major boost for fans, the first two games of each semi-final series will be broadcast live nationally into all markets. Game 2 will be played as a live double-header nationally on TEN and ONE.

The first semi-final series will commence on Thursday, March 27 with the Adelaide 36ers hosting the Melbourne Tigers. The second semi-final series will begin the following evening in Perth with the Wildcats taking on either Sydney or Wollongong.

NBL Chief Executive Fraser Neill said fans would be the big winners from the revitalised finals format.

“Scheduling a finals series across four cities while still having the uncertainty of exactly who will be playing isn’t easy. But whether you’re at one of the venues watching courtside, in your lounge room or using the live streaming service you will have access to the NBL finals this year,” Mr Neill said.

The semi-final schedule is:

Group B

Date	Game	Teams	Venue	Tip-off Time (Local)
March 27, 2014	Game 1	Adelaide v Melbourne	Adelaide Arena	7:00pm
March 30, 2014	Game 2	Melbourne v Adelaide	Hisense Arena	1:00pm
April 1, 2014	Game 3	Adelaide v Melbourne	Adelaide Arena	7:00pm

Group A

Date	Game	Teams	Venue	Tip-off Time (Local)
March 28, 2014	Game 1	Perth v Wollongong	Perth Arena	6:30pm
March 30, 2014	Game 2	Wollongong  v Perth	WEC	3:00pm

Airdate: 2014 Rolex Australian Grand Prix

The 2014 Australian Formula 1 Grand Prix is heating up at Albert Park this weekend for the opening round of the Formula 1 season.

Mel McLaughlin and Greg Rust will be hosting 10 Network coverage of the Australian Formula 1 Grand Prix, they will be joined by expert commentators from Alan Jones, Mark Webber, Daryl Beattie, James Allen and Tom Clarkson. As they will cover the on-track action on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, which is live and exclusive to TEN and ONE.

 Check your local and electronic guides, depending on where you are tuning in from.

EDIT: During the broadcast Mel McLaughlin said that "You can see the entire V8 Supercars from 2015 LIVE and Exclusive to 10" when an actually they will be broadcasting 6 races live and the rest on a hour highlights package either on ONE or TEN during prime time. 

About Me (William)

Is that I really enjoy the politics of sport and what goes on behind the scenes, the dramas, the conflict and TV rights for major sports here in Australia on FTA and Pay TV. In particular, Channel 10 is my currently favorite network in Australia, as they had the KFC T20 Big Bash League, Sochi Winter Olympics and I am waiting for the Albert Park Formula 1 Grand Prix on March 14 on ONE. I hope that the west Aussie (Daniel Ricciardo) gets a spot on the podium at his home GP. But last of all, I also enjoy talking to people who follow the same sports that I follow.