As easy as ABC

It appears that sheer bloody mindedness (and a hefty whack of cash) will mean that the ABC will most definitely have a decent share of the radio broadcasting pie when the new deals with the AFL are ironed out.

I love Gerard Whateley! Perhaps a little more than a grown woman with a perfectly lovely boyfriend should. But he’s just so absolutely wonderful and knowledgeable and is able to humour just about anyone including Red Symonds and wasn’t he cute when he began a little baby reporter on Channel 10, and then hit the big time doing the tips on Beyond the Boundary (kiddy football show in Saturday afternoon - you’ll be pleased to know the tipping section is now done by a dog). And earlier this year he said very clever things about the sham that was this years Tour de France on Offsiders on Sunday mornings and then didn’t even gloat about it when he was right. And he’s cute too, in a retired jockey kind of way. Sorry I digress…

Gerard and the rest of the team have waged a wonderfully successful campaign (with the support of the always enthusiastic ABC radio listeners), and have made it abundantly clear the AFL that they were being stupid to give the ABC the scrapings of the bottom of the broadcasting barrel. I particularly like the fact that the ABC have started podcasting the last quarters of the best grand finals for the last 30 years, just to illustrate to the AFL what they would be giving up. But the coup de grace was getting the listeners of Saturday football to call and sms in to tell them were they were listening from, showing the AFL they’d be mugs to give up the kind of coverage the ABC can offer them.

So, Yay to the ABC for showing the AFL that’s its not always about money and for making sure that I don’t have to listen to the knobs in 3AW and Triple M to get my football fix. Oh, and a special hello to Gerard too.