Ashes to be shown in HD on GEM

[JohnS]

For Australian Cricket fans, and perhaps Australian sport fans in general, finally....a little confirmation that we actually matter and that a Free-to-Air Television channel will broadcast a major sport contest (in this case, the upcoming Australia vs. England Test Cricket series) in High Definition!

Ashes to be shown in HD on GEM as Nine deals with sport logjam

The looming fixturing clash between the first day of the Ashes and the State of Origin decider, the first in history, will not pose a problem for host broadcaster Channel Nine, as its high-definition channel will be home to the cricket for most of the series.

When the series begins on July 8 the origin decider from Suncorp Stadium will be shown on Nine, with the cricket from Cardiff to be shown on GEM. The preference for GEM over Nine's main channel is likely to be welcomed by cricket fans given it will be shown in high-definition, rather than the standard-definition signal of the main channel.

Nine's head of sport, Steve Crawley, said he did not have any frustration that the origin and the Ashes would be competing for viewers.

"Not at all. The bosses now go with the network share, so it's not so much Nine versus GEM. They're all playing for the same side," Crawley said. "It will be hard. I'll be producing the rugby league coverage and it will be hard not to want to watch the second television to watch the Ashes as well . . . I'll just have to iQ it, I guess."

Nine's delight with the ratings achieved in Melbourne in last week's game two of the origin series has cemented its intention to keep the rugby league on its main channel even in AFL-dominated southern markets.

Even though Nine will show little of the series on its main channel its interest in the series has been underlined by its decision to, for the first time in more than a decade, send its own commentary team to England, rather than relying on the commentary from England broadcaster Sky Sports.

"We used to do it years ago, when Kerry [Packer] had the river of gold," Crawley said. "David Gyngell, the CEO of Nine, is a real sports fan."

Michael Slater, Mark Taylor, Shane Warne, Brett Lee and Ian Healy will travel to England for Nine, which has also signed English duo Michael Vaughan and David Lloyd to be part of its team. It means Nine will be able to replicate its coverage structure from home series, with long introductions to match coverage and analysis during the breaks.

Crawley welcomed the introduction of multi-channeling, because it prevented Nine having to choose between simultaneous sporting events as it used to when it had only one channel. He said the best example of this would come on July 17 when it makes Australian history by showing three different live sporting events on all three of its channels: Melbourne Storm versus Penrith on Nine, the Ashes on GEM and the Liverpool versus Brisbane Roar soccer exhibition match on GO!.

"Before, only one of them went to air, and it was frustrating. Now, three of them are going to air, and it's exciting," Crawley said.

Source: http://www.smh.com.au/sport/cricket/ashes-to-be-shown-in-hd-on-gem-as-nine-deals-with-sport-logjam-20150621-ghtraq.html

[Fuzz]

I think I've been here on FOH too long. My first thought when reading this thread title was seeing pictures of cigar ash in HD...

[Guybrush]

x2

[Squarehead]

I think I've been here on FOH too long. My first thought when reading this thread title was seeing pictures of cigar ash in HD...

Same here

[...]

Yep, makes us three

[JohnS]

I think I've been here on FOH too long. My first thought when reading this thread title was seeing pictures of cigar ash in HD...

Ha...I never thought of that!

[madbunny]

now to get the footy in hd

[khamy]

i was expecting a call from Eddy when i read that!

[Rye]

My entire imagination went here reading this title...

Safe to say I was pretty bummed that it was just another lousy sports thread

[partriar]

Stoked about this.... Still presents the age old problem....

I must watch every ball on the ashes but i cant possibly not watch every second of the footy..... Guess the recorder is going to get a workout....

[madbunny]

yep same here i'll delete all the kids show off mine and have heaps of space hehe

[Coolio]

For Australian Cricket fans, and perhaps Australian sport fans in general, finally....a little confirmation that we actually matter and that a Free-to-Air Television channel will broadcast a major sport contest (in this case, the upcoming Australia vs. England Test Cricket series) in High Definition!

Ashes to be shown in HD on GEM as Nine deals with sport logjam

The looming fixturing clash between the first day of the Ashes and the State of Origin decider, the first in history, will not pose a problem for host broadcaster Channel Nine, as its high-definition channel will be home to the cricket for most of the series.

When the series begins on July 8 the origin decider from Suncorp Stadium will be shown on Nine, with the cricket from Cardiff to be shown on GEM. The preference for GEM over Nine's main channel is likely to be welcomed by cricket fans given it will be shown in high-definition, rather than the standard-definition signal of the main channel.

Nine's head of sport, Steve Crawley, said he did not have any frustration that the origin and the Ashes would be competing for viewers.

"Not at all. The bosses now go with the network share, so it's not so much Nine versus GEM. They're all playing for the same side," Crawley said. "It will be hard. I'll be producing the rugby league coverage and it will be hard not to want to watch the second television to watch the Ashes as well . . . I'll just have to iQ it, I guess."

Nine's delight with the ratings achieved in Melbourne in last week's game two of the origin series has cemented its intention to keep the rugby league on its main channel even in AFL-dominated southern markets.

Even though Nine will show little of the series on its main channel its interest in the series has been underlined by its decision to, for the first time in more than a decade, send its own commentary team to England, rather than relying on the commentary from England broadcaster Sky Sports.

"We used to do it years ago, when Kerry [Packer] had the river of gold," Crawley said. "David Gyngell, the CEO of Nine, is a real sports fan."

Michael Slater, Mark Taylor, Shane Warne, Brett Lee and Ian Healy will travel to England for Nine, which has also signed English duo Michael Vaughan and David Lloyd to be part of its team. It means Nine will be able to replicate its coverage structure from home series, with long introductions to match coverage and analysis during the breaks.

Crawley welcomed the introduction of multi-channeling, because it prevented Nine having to choose between simultaneous sporting events as it used to when it had only one channel. He said the best example of this would come on July 17 when it makes Australian history by showing three different live sporting events on all three of its channels: Melbourne Storm versus Penrith on Nine, the Ashes on GEM and the Liverpool versus Brisbane Roar soccer exhibition match on GO!.

"Before, only one of them went to air, and it was frustrating. Now, three of them are going to air, and it's exciting," Crawley said.

Source: http://www.smh.com.au/sport/cricket/ashes-to-be-shown-in-hd-on-gem-as-nine-deals-with-sport-logjam-20150621-ghtraq.html

I'm excited. Never been to the UK before but will be there in late July/early August, and have bought a ticket to day 1 of the 3rd Test up at Edgbaston.

Cant wait to watch the other Tests on free to air here.

[JohnS]

I'm sure it will be a good series. That's fantastic that you can catch a test in oerson.