Another WNBL season has started; Twitter is ablaze with
excitement.
Australian sports fans are riding high on the hype after the
London Olympics; now is an opportune time to promote the Women’s National Basketball
League. Spectators who may not have considered watching women’s basketball
before, surely could not help being swept up in the action in the Opals games,
televised live on Foxtel.
With world-class players returning to our shores, including
the World’s Best Player, a number of imports added to the mix, and the young
talent of the Australian Institute of Sport dispersed among the teams, Season 2012-13
is full of promise.
So, what is the coverage like? Basketball Australia
announced their new “improved coverage” deal with long-time broadcaster ABC,
just 3 days before the season opener. The new agreement includes a live webcast
on ABC Grandstand every Friday night, and a delayed broadcast on free-to-air
channel ABC1 in a one hour timeslot.
If you’re thinking “how is this possibly improved?” then I
share your cynicism. Yes, some of us can still recall the one-hour-of-WNBL-highlights
days.
The spin-pill that fans are expected to swallow, is the new
timeslot will attract more viewers to the sport, and the flexibility of the broadcast
arrangement allows fans more choice of how they watch at home. You know,
because fans like seeing just parts of games. And poor resolution webcasts. We
love having that choice.
Look at what programs are on ABC instead. Saturday afternoons,
viewers can watch old Pink Panther movies before the game, the Wonder Years
repeats after. Both equally justifiable reasons to cut the WNBL broadcast
short... And Friday nights on ABC2 hold repeats of Spicks and Specks, and food
shows. Which validly explains why the 2008-09 media deal cannot be replicated...
What is also disappointing to see, is the teams and players promulgating
this propaganda. It appears that only the fans are concerned with demanding better
standards for women’s basketball from ABC, Basketball Australia, and BA CEO
Kristina Keneally.
Women’s basketball simply deserves better. It will be a detriment to the sport if supporters
no longer get to see games in full, or in reasonable picture quality.
WNBL fans are loyal to the women’s game. It’s about time
that loyalty was reciprocated.
