I’ve corrected it, even though there’s less than one day left.
Gold Coast v Brisbane is scheduled on the main channel in Brisbane, so viewers may actually miss out on a HD telecast of this game if the channels are switched in Brisbane.
Probably wouldn’t have been in HD anyway. Seven has never shown a Fox game in HD.
Makes a mockery of the whole idea of switching an entire channel to HD when most of the home teams games aren’t even in HD anyway.
It’s one of the most stupid things I’ve ever seen in TV land.
8 Likes
I can understand why people in Perth want live coverage of their preferred football code in HD but we all know why a lot of live AFL coverage doesn’t air on the main channel over in the West: Because timing of the night games clashes with the early evening lineup due to the time difference between WA and the Eastern States.
In Sydney & Brisbane, the only people that benefit from 7mateHD are the minority of AFL fans in both markets who don’t have access to Fox Footy but still want to see the games in HD. Yes, the Grand Final and important Swans/Giants games (or Lions/Suns games in the case of Queensland) should receive HD airings in Sydney but they’re probably shown on the main channel locally anyway.
So in conclusion, Seven needs to just bite the bullet and simulcast the HD channel in all markets like Nine, Ten, the ABC and SBS do! Of course I remain slightly optimistic that the main channel might continue to be shown in HD nationwide, but at the same time I’m not holding my breath.
4 Likes
So you want Perth to go without HD football just so you can see your beloved 7 channel in HD? How is that even remotely fair for the Wait a while state? 
I’m so just fricken glad we get it live, back in the day when it used to be delayed was so fricken annoying.
1 Like
I wouldn’t say that Channel Seven (or the network in general) is something beloved by me, I certainly disagree with a lot of things the network does especially in the Sydney market. But Nine and Ten also get criticism by me when warranted.
And like I said before, I can understand why Seven might want to air HD AFL coverage in Perth. The AFL over in your state is widely followed, I get that.
But I hardly think it’s unrealistic to expect Seven to run the same HD service (localised to each area of course) in every market. If there was a Nine/9Gem HD or a Ten/One HD split for sporting coverage, I’m sure the complaints would be directed at those networks.
2 Likes
If the content was worth the ratings, it would be on the main channel. It isn’t and is bumped to 7mate, but the precious minority of AFL fans in Sydney/Brisbane/Perth have to have your beloved footy in HD.
If they must have AFL in HD, at least do breakway, like in the original days of 7HD so that the higher rating content remains in HD.
9 Likes
Think again, its not live well for 3 matches for each club. As the delays are quite large with them being on a 165 minute delay for the Saturday afternoon slots.
1 Like
Seven aren’t producing any Saturday afternoon games this year. The delays for SA/WA teams are for Foxtel produced games, which FTA viewers are lucky to see at all.
Well that didn’t happen.
Yet that is.
While we should continue to regularly monitor the EPG on terrestrial TV for a little while longer, perhaps common sense just might finally be prevailing at Seven HQ when it comes to their broadcasting strategy for HD?
I still have plenty of issues with their programing and news service but if I can still see Seven’s main channel programing in HD when I return to Sydney next week and on a permanent/regular basis, that’s one less thing about the network for me to complain about.
But DeciderTV said the switch was going to happen today and they’re usually so reliable!
https://decidertv.com/page/2017/3/19/seven-makes-changes-to-hd-channel-again-this-week-channel7
11 Likes
Are you saying they can’t make the switch at 7pm AEDT just prior to the AFL telecast commencing?
I’d love to see them do it just so we could witness the fallout as viewers go apeshit over having their series tags stuffed up. The backlash would be incredible which is probably why they’ve backed away from doing it. It wouldn’t worry me. I got sick of watching their reheated crap ages ago.
2 Likes
Still 7HD in Perth
Has anyone noticed a change in the picture quality of 7mate? I’m wondering if they’ve adjusted the bitrates across their suite of channels to improve the quality of 7mate in NSW, Qld and WA for the AFL.
2 Likes
In Queensland it is currently, if anything, well down on usual though the current bitrates make no sense - the MPEG4 Racing higher than the MPEG2 streams.
Picture bit rate 5 minute average:
7HD 5.0
Seven 2.9
7Two 3.4
7Mate 2.5
7Flix 2.8
7Racing 3.9
4 Likes