"Programming Arrogance" Bites AFL On The Bum

JB not happy with primetime games


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Triple M Footy’s James Brayshaw believes “programming arrogance” has come back to bite the AFL “on the bum” as TV viewership continues to nosedive in primetime slots.

JB and Damian Barrett are adamant that giving struggling teams such as Carlton and St Kilda so many Friday night and Saturday night games respectively this year, thinking people will watch the games regardless, has backfired badly on the AFL. 

“Right back when Carlton were given five of them (Friday night games), I think there has been AFL programming arrogance that has really bitten them on the bum,” JB told Triple M’s Rush Hour.

“That is a big problem with Friday night which used to be the thing you couldn’t wait for.”

Damo added: “There was an event element to it, wasn’t there? Let’s look forward to it, let’s sit down, go to your mate’s place, are you going to be home, are you going to the game yourself? But you don’t have that same apprehension and anticipation about it, do you?” 

Fixturing is just one element of a broader malaise that is affecting footy at the moment and JB, Damo and Billy Brownless all think immediate action needs to be taken to improve the state of the game.

“Every time you hear there’ll be stuff introduced to fix it, you get almost everyone who has played the game at the highest level say, ‘Don’t do that, let it go, it’ll work itself out, no more rule changes’,” JB said.

“But as we sit here today, the question I’ll ask all those people is, ‘How much longer are we going to put up with what we’re seeing at the moment before something happens?’” 

18 June 2018




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