Triple M picks up Saturday NRL radio rights
Southern Cross Austereo station Triple M has won the exclusive commercial calling rights for Saturday afternoon NRL games for the remaining five games of the season and for the next five years.
The move comes as NRL reorganises matches to hold more games on Saturdays, in addition to the existing Saturday evening games broadcast on Macquarie Radio Network station 2GB.
Triple M has held the exclusive calling rights to NRL matches since they began on Monday nights in 2007, and has signed a five year deal to have exclusive calling rights to the new Saturday afternoon matches.
2GB’s Ray Hadley and the “Continuous Call Team” on 2GB and across the national Macquarie Radio Network will continue to broadcast from noon to Saturdays without the afternoon live call. And 2GB will retain the rights to Saturday evening games, as well as one game on Sundays and another on Fridays.
Mark Noakes, Macquarie Radio Network group sales and marketing director, told Mumbrella the Triple M win did not concern him: “We have got the best commentary and the most established football brand with the Continuous Call Team and as far as I’m concerned the score is on the board in terms of the ratings. We rate a 15 per cent share and they rate at five per cent.
From Saturday Triple M will call the new Saturday afternoon game on Triple M 104.9FM in Sydney and 104.5FM in Brisbane as well as the ‘Saturday Offload’ show with Gorden Tallis, to give Triple M listeners all day NRL coverage from 9am-6pm. Triple M also runs dedicated NRL shows The Rush Hour, Dead Set Legends and The Offload on Saturdays and Sundays.
Jamie Angel, Triple M Sydney Content Director said in a statement: “It’s bloody awesome to have footy back on a Saturday arvo! We’re adding to an already rocking NRL broadcast schedule, with the most complete NRL coverage on weekends and an unrivalled talent roster. At the M’s we live and breathe NRL, just like our fans. We’re passionate about the game and bringing our listeners all the action – on and off the field.”
David Kidd, program director at 2GB, said: “Good luck to Triple M. They certainly need to do something between 3 and 6pm on Saturday because whatever they’re doing now isn’t working.
“In the last survey, 2GB was number one 10+ with a share of 9.5 per cent of the audience, while Triple was at the back of the pack on 2.8 per cent. If we focus on demographics like 25-54’s, 2GB has a share of 8% which is double Triple M’s 3.9 per cent. And look, Triple M make a big deal about their male listenership; but here’s the reality-2GB is the number one commercial station on Saturday between 3 and 6pm with males aged 25-54. Our share is 10.2 per cent while Triple M’s is a paltry 4.4 per cent”.
Triple M’s NRL coverage team
Typical 2GB – rain on everyones parade. I remember the folk at 2UE getting similarly cocky when they were No 1. How quickly they can fall.
User ID not verified.
Ah yes Ben but the reason why 2UE fell was that they lost two key announcers.
User ID not verified.
“Triple M has held the exclusive calling rights to NRL matches on Monday nights since the station’s inception in 2007”
I vividly remember listening to Triple M in the 1990s. That was when they played a lot of music from the 80s.
Considering how important sport is to TV and radio stations, and the significance of live coverage to media buyers, I am amazed at how poor Mumbrella is at covering sport. Does nobody on the editorial staff follow sport?
User ID not verified.
Hi Patrick,
Thanks for flagging that up – we intended to say since the inception of the Monday night games.
For the record, we are a poor sporting editorial team, with the possible exception of cricket and football, sorry, soccer.
Cheers,
Tim – MUmbrella
Well said Ben. Pride cometh before a fall.
I wonder if Mr Hadley was able to keep his opinion to himself this time within the corridors of 2GB.
User ID not verified.
Hi Tim, thanks for replying. You might be interested to know that your front page is currently running a story saying State of Origin was played on Thursday. Of course these are just minor errors but they show a lack of interest in sport which is interesting considering how much money your readers are investing in such programming.
You might also be interested to know that Monday Night Football started in rugby league decades ago. I remember being at the SFS the day Alan Gee tapped the ball before placing it to hand the then Sydney City Roosters a remarkable 2-point win over Brisbane on a Monday night.
I call it association football to keep everybody happy.
User ID not verified.
Hi Patrick,
Good point well made. Typo on the date now fixed – somewhat ironically, given our debate, we were rushing our email somewhat yesterday so we could get to the lunch we’d organized alongside ADMA with the marketing director of Manchester United. That’s sport I’m happy to talk about!
Cheers
Tim – Mumbrella