Bloody hell Rhett, you are unbelievable for this sort of thing
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Trying to get it made available on youtube or something. At the very least I’ll be able to put snippets I think
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Okay, here’s the first snippet I’m allowed to post.
Unseen for 50 years in colour.
The famous Fowler/Nicholls incident
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@rhettrospective im interested in how you unearth these gems and how successful you’ve been - you obviously knew it went to air, it’s kind of amazing it hasn’t been unearthed before now
Is this content being digitised (hence the discovery) or are you (or someone else) trawling through archive tapes?
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Because its 50 years ago this year, I had heard rumours the 9 had filmed it in colour and made enquires.
So up until my enquiry the footage has not been digitised. But remained in a vault, hence I assume the great quality of it.
I seem to have quite a good relationship with Ch9/7/ and AFL. ABC are by far the most difficult, mainly because they ask for $30 per 1 second of footage - minimum of 30 seconds. So trying to get through the red tape there is far more difficult. Ch 9 however was a breeze. An absolute breeze. I believe they are planning on doing some recognition of the “discovery” down the track
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A very impressive find. Was it broadcast in colour or just filmed in colour? My understanding was that it was 1975 for colour broadcasting but I assume there would have been some tests and stuff prior but would 1973 be too early for that? Would there have been many able to watch in colour?
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AFAIK there was no colour transmission in 1973. It wasn’t until October 1974 that test colour transmissions were approved to begin, but stations had obviously installed and started using colour equipment well before then. ABC’s coverage of the opening of the Sydney Opera House in October 1973 was produced in colour for overseas use and archival purposes, but transmitted in b&w domestically.
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The tv guide of 1973 Grand Final doesnt say if Ch9’s reply was in colour
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Ch9 colour footage of The Neil Balme incidents from 1973 GF
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there was no colour transmission here in 1973.
Here is TV Times’ feature ahead of the grand final though Collingwood ended up not making it!
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I’m following up a rumour, wit Ch9, that they also filmed the previous week’s Preliminary Final in colour as well
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Excellent find Rhett! What a contribution Channel 9 made for their last VFL telecast which went live to Sydney as well.
Watching the footage from the 2nd semi-final and elimination final, I think Nine’s camera vision was also used at those games by all three stations as they appear to have the same camera angles as Nine’s grand final footage.
Those games may have been filmed in colour by Nine too if the preliminary final was.
Also, would you be able to find out who Nine’s OB director for this grand final was?
I know Alf Potter was Seven’s long-time OB director, but the Nine and ABC directors seem to go unnoticed by comparison.
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On another note, was that 1973 GF the last game 9 covered into Melbourne until the 1988 bicentennial carnival?
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9 had the rights to the 1976 NFL Night Series, the VFL split away from that the next year, partly because 7 weren’t happy.
I think 9 also had the rights to the SANFL for some years in there and they could’ve shown the Grand Finals into Melbourne for some of those years.
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Ch9 colour footage of Richmond receiving 1973 premiership cup.
(Ted Whitten also mentions the name of the director)
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Hey Rhett, I’ve got one for you that I know you can find.
I’ve had the damn tune stuck in my head for years - it was for Channel 7’s footy commercials in the mid-to-late 90s… something along the lines of…
Footy time, are you ready? Ready for the footy tonight! Ah-ah, ah-ah, Footy’s on Seven tonight.
Footy’s Home Ground
Ring any bells? I am sure I am not making this up…
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Fantastic, thanks so much Rhett! John Crilly also became a senior director of their World Series Cricket coverage a few years later.
Something like this?
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Footy’s on the what? Obviously an edited version of the Seven promo but what does it say?
SES 8 version from 1997 (at 1:14):
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I can’t work out exactly what it said either, could be anything. My best guesses would be “Footy’s on live today”, “Footy’s on Sunday”, or the less likely “Footy’s on Prime today” despite it being in WIN Mildura territory.
I remember as a kid watching a version of this that aired in Tassie on Southern Cross. Can’t remember which version was used for that one though.
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