ABC Grandstand Please Explain

The Grandstand team at the ABC are the subject of many complaints after their ordinary attempt to show coverage of the W-League semi-final between Brisbane Roar and Sydney FC.  With an intriguing and at times a controversial and farcical game the stage was set for even more dramatic scenes with the game about to go into a penalty shoot-out to decide who goes through to the Final.


Here I was starting to think about what I would write about the game when the ABC's coverage online decided to stop.  At no point did it return and most were left reliant on twitter feeds to find out what was happening.


The first question that has to be asked is what happened? And I do not accept the following response from @ABCGrandstand: "We experienced problems with our feed and are extremely sorry we could not bring you the penalty shoot-out #wleague" Especailly when it is followed up with: "Highlights from the #wleague semi-final can be seen on ABC1 at 6.00pm"  Were they just ensuring a maximum audience for their package?


It seems to me that because the game was on Sunday, the ABC tech in charge of the stream set it up on the site, started the timer to cover the standard length game and a few interviews and then went home for a Sunday afternoon rest.  Obviously there was no thought that the game could possibly go to extra time and a penalty shoot out.  This is what happens when you leave decisions like this to people who know little about the game.


What's more, all this could have been avoided if SBS were given the rights to the W-League as they requested instead of the ABC, who in their wisdom with 3 channels thought the only avenue was the internet for viewing and a highlights package later in the day on TV.  This is also from an organisation that publicly states that the A-League and many other sports should be on free to air TV.  If the A-League and W-League are serious about furthering their reach into the market place the best thing they can do is dump the ABC and let SBS take over.  


The ABC get my first Poor Form Nomination for 2012.