FORGET our previous story, regional Australians (and all those without ONE HD access) will once again be stiffed by Channel 10 and the Southern Cross regional network and they will not be getting full coverage of the Final Round of the 2009 US Open, which begins around 11pm Monday Sydney time tonight.
Channel 10 Network television and the Southern Cross Network will be broadcasting a portion of the final round from 12.10am Tuesday till 2.30 am.
Those able to get ONE HD or SD will get the broadcast from 11pm Monday till a forecast 5.15 am.
There must be some good reason why Network 10 needs to show (a probably out of date) David Letterman show. You never know with this show whether it’s a recent show or if George Bush will still be president.
At 12.10 am there will be golf – just enough of the final round to wet the appetite before, at 2.30am they switch over to the very necessary broadcast of a canned US religious show.
We suggested to Channel 10 that a lot of people might have sudden conversions at 2.30 when they realise the broadcast is being terminated.
Just switch over to ONE HD, they helpfully suggested.
The problem is, 5.7 million Australians can’t get it at all yet and not everyone has the digital equipment.
But then, why should Channel 10 give a shit about their loyal viewers.
(Update: In the end, the 10 network did broadcast the final till the last ball around 3.35am. If that was the original plan, why couldn’t they have had that information on hand for callers to the station. Maybe it just wasn’t the original plan. It certainly made the viewing even more compelling over the final four or five holes, thinking that at any moment the broadcast might end. Fortunately, we are now more aware of resources such as justin.tv, where you can get live sports and other events streamed live on the internet. Not alway the best solution, but with faster broadband becoming more available, people will no longer be at the whim of television networks who get the rights to important events and then only half-heartedly broadcast patches of them.)
Previous Story
REGIONAL Australians can rest easy with Channel 10 confirming it will broadcast the US Open Golf on its normal free to air service.
Golfers were understandably nervous that 10 would stick the Open on One HD, a service still unavailable to all those on the Southern Cross 10 network.
The SC10 “regional” network covers such out of the way places as Canberra (still apparently the national capital), Newcastle and Wollongong and all together there are a potential 5.7 million people in the viewing area waiting for the network to get its act together with the One Sports channel they continue to see touted.
A call to Channel 10 in Sydney confirmed the free to air broadcast on both Network 10 and One HD for the four days of the tournament beginning on June 19.
Those fortunate enough to have both the right digital equipment and be resident in metropolitan areas will be able to catch the action on HD.
Broadcast Times
The 2009 US OPEN to be televised LIVE on Network Ten and Ten’s ONE HD digital channel with more than 24 hours of live telecasts from Friday to Monday. The telecast will be shown on Friday and Saturday from 3am to 9am in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, 2:30am to 8:30am in Adelaide and 1am to 7am in Perth. Sunday’s coverage will air from 4am
to 10am in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, 3:30am to 9:30am in Adelaide and from 2am to 8am in Perth. The final round will be shown live Monday from 3:30am to 9:30am in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane,
3am to 9am in Adelaide and 1:30am to 7:30am in Perth. Times are the same for both Ten and ONE HD.
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