It’s reported today that the next 5 years of football likes like being a wholly free-to-air deal between channels 7 and 10. As they’re not looking to on-sell up to 4 weekly games to Foxtel, some games may even be shown on community TV station Channel 31.

Great. Not.

Where we live (near Moonee Valley racecourse), our free-to-air signal is “dodgy” at best. We don’t EVER watch channels 7 and 10, as their signals are low-quality for our home. (OK, maybe once every year or so we tolerate an afternoon of one of them for the Melbourne Cup). But we get perfect digital quality reception for channels 9, SBS and the ABC, as they’re re-broadcast through the Foxtel satellite service.

We tried a digital set-top box, and that didn’t help either. Foxtel works as it’s via satellite, otherwise Brunswick West is in the way of our signal reception, as we’re literally in a “valley.”

As for channel 31, if I can’t get 7 and 10, then I’m not even going to try that signal.

As to why channel 10 and 7 don’t re-broadcast their signal through Foxtel, obviously that’s up to them. But for anyone advertising on those two free-to-air channels, I can tell them that I’ve never seen their ads!

(Then again, we wouldn’t watch 1 hour a month of channels 9, SBS and the ABC via Foxtel, so I can’t say I remember ANY free-to-air advertising this year!).

Looks like footy news is coming to our home via the internet or newspapers for the next 5 years!