Awarding broadcast rights for the Tour Down Under to Channel 9 is akin to selecting a manufacturer of car tyres to make a specialist bike tyre… resulting in one big skid mark! Harsh you may say? Judging by the outcry from cyclists this past week it would seem not.
Events South Australia have clearly ostracised cycling fans across the country with their decision to award a three-year broadcasting rights contract to Channel 9. The proof is in the pudding and a smelly black pudding it is! The reaction of the cycling public has hit a rather large snag for TDU organisers and said broadcaster…leaving a bloodied trail all over online social media, websites and blogs such as this one.
Perhaps awarding the rights to Channel 9 was purely a financial decision, or was it an expectation that a mainstream commercial broadcaster could connect with a broader audience – one of the ‘common man’ thus bringing more interest and revenue (…oh look, there’s that word again), to the Tour Down Under.
Is it fair to describe Channel 9 as a general purpose mainstream sports broadcaster? Probably, yes. From what I can gather they do a pretty good job of footy and cricket, swimming or what-ever sports. Not being a ‘Tele’ watcher I’m not exactly sure which of the broadcasters number thingies – 7, 9, 10 do what. From where I pedal they’re all seem to be cooked from the same recipe. Throw in ‘an anchor’, some panelists, someone with wisecracks and someone with teeth, a few “good on ya mate’s” and “go you good things”; blend with an overdose of overly loud advertisements and the general public will hit the recliner, beer and bucket of chicken in one hand, remote control and cholesterol tablets in the other.
Some of you may recall back to 2000 and the Sydney Olympics road race, when the strong German team got Jan Ullrich up to take the honours. Unfortunately nobody informed the Seven Networks commentator that a cycling road race is actually a team event, in spite of the misplaced Olympic individual medal classification. However I am sure there have been more – I just make a habit of not watching them on mainstream commercial TV, to deprive myself the angst of throwing my stubby at the set.
I must, at this point, apologise to my Mum. She is of the view that if you can’t say anything nice, then don’t say anything at all! In which case I should, strictly speaking, delete the previous five paragraphs. Sorry Mum but I needed to vent in order to provide sufficient contrast.
You see cycling fans such as myself have enjoyed these past years, enjoyed them so much it seems that we now can reflect with some ignominy that in the words of the 80’s Glam Rock band Cinderella, you “Don’t Know What You Got (Till It’s Gone)”. With the benefit of hindsight I can say however, that we did know. We did know that SBS provided brilliant, highly informed specialist coverage that universally appealed to the cycling public, thanks to their knowledgeable professionalism and cycling expertise.
If you weren’t watching SBS free to air on the ‘Tele’, with far more agreeable commercial content, you could enjoy as I did, streaming coverage online that wasn’t written in flash (Channel 9), so I could watch it on my iPad when I was on the go; accompanied by the plethora of Cycling Central’s interviews and insights from insiders, career journalists and aficionados. One and all, lovers of the sport, the art of cycling. Anyone who tuned in to Le Tour de France or the Paris-Roubaix would know what I am talking about.
The problem for cycling fans in this country, is that it seems that TDU organisers clearly don’t know what I’m talking about.
CRASHION 
Nice work Mark. It will take a lot more of this support to help return TDU to SBS.
Glad to see Cinderella get a mention here.