AFL

Begins Sat 29 May, LIVE on FOX SPORTS 1HD & FOX SPORTS 1

Port Adelaide v Richmond, Sat 29 May, 3pm

St Kilda v Adelaide, Sat 29 May, 7.00pm

Hawthorn v Sydney, Sun 30 May, 1.00pm

Fremantle v North Melbourne, Sun 30 May, 4.00pm

11:30pm – Friday, May 28 on Seven

The Bulldogs have the wood on the Bombers in recent times winning the last six encounters. It promises to be a high scoring shoot-out with both teams employing an attacking game style in past encounters. Can Matthew Knights’ charges outrun and out score the classy Bulldogs?

Channel Seven has indicated that it is seeking to get its foot in the door of three-dimensional television, disclosing that it will attempt to broadcast this year’s AFL Grand Final in 3D.

Seven’s general manager in Melbourne, Lewis Martin, said that the network was determinedly “working towards” being able to show the September game in 3D, following the lead of other Australian broadcasters.

“We have seen a number of 3D demonstrations and we think it’s an exciting technology. Ultimately the viewers and consumers will decide.

“Collectively here at Seven – not only our production team and executive teams – [we] are working towards a 3D option for this year’s Grand Final.”

Several of Seven’s counterparts have already put plans in place for 3D broadcasting. On Monday night, Fox Sports held Australia’s first 3D broadcast by screening the Australia-New Zealand football friendly on its special Fox Sports 3D channel.

Meanwhile, Nine are broadcasting this year’s State of Origin rugby league games in 3D (Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne and parts of Newcastle and Wollongong), while SBS will be showing at least 15 games from the FIFA World Cup as part of its 3D trial.

Source: TSR

The Nine Network’s figurehead, Eddie McGuire, has voiced his opinion in the wake of Friday night’s live telecast of the AFL blockbuster on rival station, the Seven Network.

According to preliminary overnight OzTam data, the game between Geelong and Collingwood at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) attracted an average of 663,000 viewers and peaked at 784,000 in Melbourne alone.

This result made it the highest rating home-and-away game since the 2009 season opener between Richmond and Carlton, in which Ben Cousins made his return to the code.

Over the weekend, Seven released a press statement outlining the national average of 1.01 million viewers and a peak audience of 1.167 million.

The sporting hype surrounding the clash was enough to persuade Seven to drop Friday night ratings winner Better Homes and Gardens from its timeslot in favour of live football.

McGuire, however, said the move was unlikely to strengthen the campaign for more live telecasts under the new broadcast deal.

“Seven have done the sums on the business model. You can’t have it both ways. You can’t get the big money then skint.

“I think everyone would love to go live with Collingwood and Geelong every week. But media companies have just gone through, as we all know, two of the hardest years in the history of the media.

“They have got to make a return, otherwise there will be no money next time.”

Seven’s general manager in Melbourne, Lewis Martin, told the newspaper that Friday’s game was only shown live because it was a “major event”.

Martin confirmed that his network would need upwards of 700,000 viewers each week to make the live telecast financially sustainable. Although, he refused to confirmed that Seven was unwilling to have all Friday night matches shown live if the network was successful in retaining the rights in the future.

Nine has confirmed that it will bid in the upcoming 2012-2016 broadcast deal after it lost the rights in 2007. Nine is expected to guarantee live coverage of Friday night games into Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania as a major component of its telecast if its offering is successful.

Nine also has plans, anti-siphoning laws permitting, to broadcast games live into the rugby league dominated states of New South Wales and Queensland on a second digital channel. NSW and QLD currently see NRL live on Friday nights, while the AFL on Seven tends to be played very late night, Friday in these states.

Source: TSR.

1:00pm – Sunday, May 23 on Seven

Hawthorn’s start to the year has been terrible after lofty expectations. But they have beaten the Blues in their last six matches. Carlton will fancy itself to reverse this trend as they do have a prized scalp under their belt in Geelong this year. Can Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson manufacture another win against the Blues after such poor form in 2010?

PLEASE NOTE: Airs at this time in Sydney and Brisbane only. Check local guides for details.

10:00am – Sunday, May 23 on 7TWO

Host Hamish McLachlan and the AFL Game Day panel give you all the latest footy news, reviews and expert views. Western Bulldogs captain Brad Johnson and former Melbourne champion David Schwarz join the panel along with Herald Sun’s Mark Robinson.

Begins Sat 22 May, LIVE on FOX SPORTS 1HD & FOX SPORTS 1

Sydney v Fremantle, Sat 22 May, 2pm

Melbourne v Port Adelaide, Sat 22 May, 7.30pm

Adelaide v Brisbane, Sun 23 May, 1.00pm

West Coast St Kilda, Sun 23 May, 4.30pm

11:30pm – Friday, May 21 on Seven

Geelong had two convincing wins over Collingwood in 2009. Given the form of the Cats in 2010, the Magpies will have their work cut out to reverse this trend. But the Magpies are a different outfit this year, so expect a Friday Night thriller from the MCG.

Begins Sat 22 May, LIVE and EXCLUSIVE on FOX SPORTS 1HD & FOX SPORTS 1

Sydney v Fremantle, Sat 21 May, 2pm
Melbourne v Port Adelaide, Sat 21 May, 7.30pm
Adelaide v Brisbane, Sun 23 May, 1.00pm
West Coast v St Kilda, Sun 23 May, 4.00pm

Channel 7 will show Friday night’s top-of-the-table blockbuster clash Collingwood versus Geelong live into Melbourne as a special event from 7.30pm.

“Friday night’s Collingwood versus Geelong fixture has presented us with a unique opportunity this week for a big TV event as first plays second in front of a massive MCG crowd,” said Channel 7 Melbourne General Manager Lewis Martin.

Seven Sport brings Melbourne viewers all the action LIVE from the MCG with host Bruce McAvaney, and expert commentary from Dennis Cometti, Leigh Matthews, Tom Harley, and Tim Watson.

Melbourne broadcast details:

Friday May 21

Collingwood v Geelong

LIVE from MCG

Melbourne     7.30pm – 10.45pm LIVE

Saturday May 22

Better Homes & Gardens

Melbourne     6.30pm