Televised AFL where is it headed?

Skycam was first used for AFL telecasts by Channel 9.

There is no doubt TV coverage of AFL football has improved over the past fifteen years, but the last five?

I seem to recall when Channel 9 had the TV rights they took the game to a new level developing Friday Night Football into a marquee event expanding the broadcast horizon with a number of innovations including a host of different camera angles and cameras.

Since those days, in the hands of Channel 7, the telecast seems to have stagnated. The much maligned Mega Wall its greatest invention? That's probably a bit harsh. Bringing back some old guard tiring commentators hasn't helped either.

Ch 7's greatest sin though was to extend the delay to a full hour from Ch 9's half hour, the actual game was half over by the time the viewers tuned in. Friday Night Football lost its zip and action feel in my opinion. Many viewers have drifted with the delayed telecast and sought alternative ways of watching the game live. (hint hint)

In 2012 though every Friday Night game will be live, but only in high definition on Foxtel, Ch 7 yet to take the leap.

The advent and greater use of High Definition should allow both Channel 7 and Foxtel to take their coverage to a new level with innovative cameras and camera angles. The pace of technological development in this field is simply staggering. In the past, small cameras and standard definition meant grainy often unusable pictures.

Digital cameras, advanced robotics and high definition could take televised sport to another level. The AFL is the perfect vehicle to try out new camera technologies.

 AFL football is without doubt the most difficult football code to televise with it's vast playing field and high speed often unpredictable movement in the air. This means TV Directors are often forced to use the wide view rather than the zoom to capture the action.

What we the viewers end up with is zoomed action on congested packs not the spectacle of kicks to a leading player or a soaring mark.

TV cameras positioned around the ground at a distance to the play can only capture some of the action, what we need is innovation. The cynics will deride innovation as gimmickry but if a broadcaster can master the new technologies and get it right we are in for some spectacular results

The Oktokopter - a remote controlled camera that hovers above the field.

The Big Bash League (BBL) trialled a new innovation called the Oktokopter at a few SCG games this year. This remote controlled beast hovers above the players and captures the angle from above rather than the side. The is not dissimilar to the Skycam however without the wires it is free to roam the full breadth of the field.

Now I would be the first to query its use above the players from a safety perspective and even the possibility the Sherrin might take the OktoKopter out, especially with a well drilled torpedo. However, with the right protocols for its use and extensive testing (and backup motor) why couldn't the Oktokopter bring a dramatic new dimension to the televised game?

In athletics and the rectangle football codes they use camera dollys (cameras on wheels) which run parallel to the action moving with the flow of play. A high definition camera mounted on the second tier of the MCG or Etihad could offer a similar capture of ball and player movement. No doubt costs come into the equation, however I believe this would also bring a new dimension to televising AFL football.

The alternative is for the AFL itself to develop and trial these technologies, it is very much in their own interest to do so. This is perhaps a task for the new AFL Media division.

Is a lack of controversy good for football?

It's been12 months since the St Kilda school girl saga exploded on social media and then spread like a virus to all forms of media.

I doubt the AFL has ever experienced a bigger off field controversy that would tarnish not just a player, but a club and even the whole competition. The photos of various players in dubious poses published by an alleged under age girl who had sex with the footballers must have given AFL CEO Andrew Demetriou a few sleepless nights.

Demetriou knows Australian football is a family game attended by all ages, both sexes, the haves and have nots; a true demographic profile of Melbourne.

On one hand it appeared that the whole episode was damaging to the AFL competition brand.

On the other, it kept the AFL in the news right through summer on the back of the Ablett, bomber Thompson 'on field' controversies, in fact it felt like there was little break between seasons 2010 and 2011.

So far we've only had the odd driving offence and Ben Cousins in rehab. The worst Fev had got up to was coming off second best with an arachnid. It's all been a very low key AFL off season.

The cricket with India has been intriguing, it seems to have brought a lot of devotees back who had drifted.  Of course it's always more enjoyable when Australia are winning, helped by a lean patch of late. Overall the summer feeling is that cricket is back especially with the success of the Big Bash T20 League (BBL).

The crowd at the BBL games in Melbourne appears to mirror an AFL crowd as described above, perhaps a little younger but certainly dominated by families.

Thus we've had a good break from football. With one test to go and the odd bit of tennis the bounce of the sherrin is not too far away.

Will the arrival of the 2012 AFL season be met with huge crowds and TV ratings. The first game is in Sydney a full week before any other matches I wonder if this non traditional start will be met with widespread enthusiasm?

It's more likely the season will have two starts, a cautious one in Sydney (Swans v GWS) and the real stuff in Melbourne, Perth & Adelaide a week later.

 Now don't get me wrong I am expansionist proponent of our great game but I wonder if a one sided thrashing is fit to start the season. Oh hang on, Carlton v Richmond games started the season previously (insert smilie).

Still, starting the season in Sydney is a gamble but one perhaps saved by the interest in Izzy Folau and the Giant's debut. Regardless, it certainly won;t feel like the start of the season in the traditional home of the game. The media's treatment will be interesting to watch.

Of probably greater importance to the 2012 season and the interest in it is the emergence of new powers. Forget controversy, Richmond downing Collingwood in front of 70,000 at the MCG would get the blood pumping in season '12 and you only have to wait until round 2 to see it.

Disclaimer: the blogger is an Essendon supporter.