CHANNEL Nine chief executive David Gyngell demanded and received two more prime time semi-finals in a shrewd trade-off for a 5pm (EDT) grand final.
Fans and officials who have campaigned for the scrapping of night-time deciders were celebrating the decision to bring forward the 2008 finale by two hours, but while one tradition was partially restored, another – Sunday afternoon semis in weeks two and three of the play-offs – was taken away.
At Gyngell’s instigation, those matches will revert to Friday, where they will more than compensate Channel Nine for an anticipated loss of 300,000 viewers with the earlier grand final kick-off.
And the network is adamant the 5pm start is, at this stage, just a one-off to mark the code’s centenary in Australia.
"We changed to Sunday afternoon (semis) last year but we got feedback that people were missing Friday night footy," NRL chief executive David Gallop said when asked about the deal.
"And with the change to the home-and-away finals, there was a feeling that Friday nights were better. There are better ratings on Friday night and it was part of our discussions."
The public pressure to scrap the night-time grand final was unequalled since South Sydney’s deeply unpopular ejection from the 1999 premiership.
But the re-introduction of Sunday semis last year was also the result of a public groundswell – and now they are gone again.
NRL officials point to the North Queensland-New Zealand Warriors semi-final, played in sapping heat on September 16, in saying the decision suits all parties.
But the Melbourne-Parramatta preliminary final the following Sunday attracted 33,427 to Telstra Dome and was one of the most dramatic games of the season.
While the league insisted it could and would stand up to the broadcasters, Nine emerged from Tuesday’s discussions adamant it could have contractually blocked the 5pm grand final if the NRL had not given up something in return.
Television executives hope they will be able to convince the league to put the grand final back to night-time and keep their two Friday night finals, giving Nine a clear victory out of the talks.
Network Nine chief executive Gyngell issued a brief statement and declined to comment further.
It said: "Channel Nine has worked with the NRL in the spirit of the game and is happy with the outcome."
Gallop brokered the deal in person with Nine sports director Steve Crawley at Fox Studios Tuesday morning.
"Steve spoke to David Gyngell a number of times during our meeting," Gallop said.
The switch was then endorsed by the NRL partnership committee and the league’s board.
Clubs were evenly divided on the issue last week. Most accepted the compromise although Parramatta and Melbourne were vocal in their opposition.
Gallop said: "There were times it looked like being a difficult result but I think we’ve come up with something that’s near to perfect.
"It obviously takes into account the broadcasters’ position and also the players, in terms of heat levels not only for first grade but the preliminary games.
"And it’s certainly a great example of the feelings of our core supporters being taken into account. We’ll look at it on an annual basis and see how it performs."
Aside from strong opinion from the public and media commentators, factors which influenced the decision included making it possible for more children to watch, allowing teams to return to their home cities after the match and the lack of a public holiday the next day in Queensland.
But there is certain to be debate in the days ahead over whether the league gave away more than it received in the talks.
Source: The price of an afternoon kick-off
