The Victorian cricket team are taking on the world in the International Twenty20 Champions League and are absolutely dominating!

The event is worth over $6.8 million to the Vics if they can manage to win the tournament, and would be invaluable to local cricket here in Victoria.

But even if the Bushrangers don’t manage to get their hands on the trophy, the coverage they are receiving here in Australia will be worth millions in itself.

Articles in both The Age and The Herald Sun have been a regularity this week, enhancing the profile of several young Victorian stars, as well as giving the side much needed sponsorship exposure.

While I might’t be the biggest Twenty20 cricket fan, the fact that local cricket is getting significant exposure on the world stage is absolutely fantastic.

Hopefully the Vics can advance through to the final and show the world that all the best cricketers come from the mighty state of Victoria!

Is there anything better than the Spring Carnival?

As the first of the major races arrives this weekend at Caulfield, so too does the intense media coverage that the races bring.

Free-to-air television simply doesn’t cover any races throughout the year apart from Melbourne’s Spring Racing Carnival, and the online and print world are covered in stories from fashion to the phillies.

Today’s Herald Sun has 14 pages in its sport section devoted entirely to horse racing. Even the news section has several articles relating to the sport.

On its website, the Herald Sun runs a specialised section known as SuperRacing, and it includes form, tips and stories all relating to the Spring Carnival.

Today’s back page in the Herald Sun even manages to link the great rivalry between Australia and England to the racing world.

The article entitled “Two Good” includes the phrase:

“The Poms have the Ashes and the Brits beat us in the medal tally at last year’s Olympics. Now those in the know say English-based horses will clean up at Caulfield tomorrow.”

This rivalry enables the reader to link the Racing to sports like the Ashes and brings readers back as they will want to know the results to see if we managed to beat the Poms!

With increased coverage and record crowds, this year’s Carnival is expected to be better than ever before!

While I have never envisaged myself as being someone who might one day work for Champion Data, after reading this post, you may think otherwise…

So who is actually reading this blog? Where are you coming from and what can I do to keep you here for longer and to come back more frequently?

Yeah, my blogs like national and stuff…

Yep, that’s right, throughout this semester this little blog about the wonders of the sporting media has had visitors and viewers from right across the country. I’ve had a total of 238 page views from 107 visitors and in fact, at the time of writing this post, my last visitor was from Sydney. In my last 100 visitors, there have been fans from Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide, Perth and even from Tasmania! I didn’t even know they had the internet there yet! Nah I’m just joking, I wouldn’t want to lose my only overseas visitor. In Victoria, the blog has had visitors from Trawalla and Warragul, as well as several visits from my friends and fellow students here in Melbourne.

TIP FOR IMPROVEMENT: In order to get a more diverse range of visitors and viewers to my blog, I need to get my name out there. Firstly, being seen on the blogrolls of some popular bloggers would dramatically increase my visitation. Sites such as Bigfooty and Bigcricket have several bloggers that each get thousands of hits per day. If I could get my blog linked on their page, it would go a long way to increasing my visitation numbers.

How long were you here for?

With this blog being updated only once per week, it was natural that my visitation length wasn’t going to be very long. Visitors stayed for an average of 1.47 minutes – about the length of time to read one blog post. However, when anaysing the data closer, it seems that some visitors were spending up to 30 minutes on the blog, while others were only staying for less than 10 seconds, resulting in the misleading average of 1.47 minutes.

TIP FOR IMPROVEMENT: Increase the frequency of posting on my blog. When I’m only posting on the blog once per week, there’s hardly any reason to stay on the site to keep reading something you’ve already read a week prior. In order to keep visitors staying here longer, I need to have more posts, better linking to them from the homepage, and perhaps videos that will keep them here for those extra few vital minutes.

My entry location is a bit ‘Raws’

Yeah ok, so that was a lame joke, I apologise. But what is really concerning is that every one of my visitors came through the Raws blogging system. 

TIP FOR IMPROVEMENT: I need to get on the social networking bandwagon. Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and others are an excellent way to increase traffic to my blog. If I tell all of my friends on Facebook and Twitter that I have updated my blog, hopefully some of them will visit it and subscribe to become regular ‘Back to Front’ fans.

SOME OTHER TIPS: One of the best things about blogging is the interaction between authors and users. What I need to do to my blog is increase the number of comments being made about my posts. One of the ways to do this is by simply commenting on other people’s blogs. If I say something interesting or controversial on someone else’s blog, readers are more inclined to want to read what I have to say on my own blog, especially if I have linked to my own blog as part of my comment. Through replying to comments (even when they might disagree with my opinion), I will increase the number of views and visitors to my blog.

I also want to make sure that my blog posts are timely, and are up-to-date with what’s happening in the sporting news of that day. People are going to want to read about my opinions on issues that are in the newspaper. That way, they will also have their own opinion as it is fresh in their mind and are therefore more likely to comment on my blog. In saying that however, I also want to ensure that some of the posts on my blog are timeless, and that readers will still find them interesting in a year’s time.

With player’s futures on the line, absolutely every footy fan craves up-to-the-second information about where their favourite players might be moving to.

SEN Radio claimed to have never had as many texts and emails in its history as they did in trade week, and had two dedicated journalists on location at Etihad Stadium to provide the latest news.

When Hawthorn favourite Campbell Brown was hinted to be moving to Port Adelaide, Hawks’ President Jeff Kennet reportedly received over 10,000 emails from fans within two hours begging him not to let the trade go through.

On the football forum, Bigfooty, a thread discussing the issue had over 800 posts within hours of the story being broken on the Herald Sun website.

The Herald Sun ran a live blog from trade week, with fans being able to simply click on the page to find out the latest deals.

As a Hawthorn supporter myself, all of the above outlets provided me with perfect information sources, and I was relieved to hear on SEN when it was announced Browney wouldn’t be going anywhere!

Such is the instant nature of the online world and the ability of bloggers and forum posters to discuss news, that much of the information I received about trade week came from forums and blogs.

While they often can be misleading and be full of mistruths and rumours, in the case of the AFL Trade Week, they were the ideal avenue to find breaking news.

And when it comes to such a site, there’s no better than Fox Sports.

 Today, I’ll be having an in-depth look at the Fox Sports website, and how they go about setting up their website to deliver all the latest sporting news to die-hard fans like me.

The first thing users notice when logging onto the website is that there’s information absolutely everywhere! If a visitor had just woken up and wanted to know an overnight sporting result, they’d find their answer almost instantly.

The banner across the top of the page is extremely effective in setting out the website. Each sport is split into different tabs, with drop down menus on each letting visitors get exactly the information they need. The great thing about these tabs is that no matter where you navigate to on the Fox Sports website, they remain at the top of the page. This allows visitors to easily navigate their way around the coherent site, meaning they can click on a different story immediately after they’ve finished reading.

 Similarly, the Fox Sports logo at the top left corner of the page remains in this position at all times, meaning visitors can find their way back to the home page by simply clicking on the logo.

As the website is designed for all Australians, it doesn’t just focus on AFL or NRL like a Melbourne or Sydney newspaper’s website would. On the home page, both the NRL and AFL are split into two boxes, each providing a photo, a main story, and several other stories visitors might like to view. The bold headings, as well as differing font colours for each catagory make navigating around the site an absolute breeze. Live updates are shown in red font, making them clearly stand out from the rest of the website, while galleries, polls and comment sections are included in each sporting catagory box. The main stories of the day are always shown in a dark, bold font, making them stand out from the other stories, allowing the visitor to easily recognise the importance of the breaking story.

Perhaps the best feature of the Fox Sports website is the live scores box. The box provides instant updates for every live match going on around the world, meaning visitors do not have to click on a specialist site to get their sporting fix.

In terms of unity, the site keeps the same basic format throughout, with stories presented in an easy to read, black font, with video and comment sections made available where necessary. Over the course of the last week, I have visited the website every day and not once has there been a day where the main stories on the homepage have been the same. However, because the site still looked the same and took on the same format, I felt comfortable and familiar with the site as its basic structure and setup remained the same.

With AFL and NRL finals in full swing, the Fox Sports website obviously devotes much of its attention to these two major sports. On the home page, the two sports are given the prime viewing positions, showing their importance. However, such is the ease of navigating around the site, that if I wanted to view a story from the English Premier League, I would simply have to click on a tab at the top of the page and I would be redirected to my area of interest instantly.

Whether it be AFL, NRL, Cricket, Formula One or Golf, the Fox Sports website has it all.

It was extremely easy to use and any sporting fan should certainly have it saved in their favourites, if it wasn’t already their homepage!

What did you think of the Fox Sports website?

Tell me below….

After the extraordinary hype and excitement that followed all of the five tests of the Ashes series, there seems to be distinct lack of any care-factor when it comes to the shorter version of the game.

When you actually take a look at the series, Australia’s performance has been nothing short of brilliant and inspirational. But you certainly wouldn’t know it if you picked up today’s Herald Sun or The Age.

In the Herald Sun, readers must sift through no less than 16 pages of AFL before they find any mention of cricket. Even then, Australia’s one-day feats receive very little attention. Only a banner at the top of the page reading “Six of the Best? Find out how the Aussies fared in the sixth ODI against England overnight at heraldsun.com.au” tells the reader about the one day international side.

Along with an article about England’s Andrew Flintoff and a piece about the importance of playing Test Cricket for Australia, page 112 of the Herald Sun was entirely devoted to cricket…they just decided winning five matches in a row wasn’t worthy of any follow-up articles.

Sure, the sixth match was played overnight and there would have been absolutely no chance of including it in the paper, but when visiting the online site, only one article, from AAP, informs the reader about Australia’s heroic feat against the Poms.

Similarly, in The Age, cricket receives almost no coverage. After nine pages of AFL and two pages of Soccer, the only mention of cricket comes in the form of a brief piece on the side of page 13 about Andrew Flintoff’s injured knee. There was not one article on Australia’s one day team, or any reference to view their website to see the overnight results.

Admittedly, their website’s article provides far more information and review about the sixth match than the Herald Sun’s. It will be interesting to note if the same article, or something similar will appear in tomorrow’s edition of the newspaper.

For Australia’s national sporting team to be receiving so little attention in the media just doesn’t seem right. While I’m up there with the biggest fans of AFL in the world, it would be nice to be able to find out a little more about my other sporting passion when I pick up my morning newspaper. It seems that when September rolls around, AFL is the only sport that counts.

Is there too much AFL in the media? Tell me what you think below!

Thursday’s Racing Coverage on both Sky Sports and TVN was disrupted, with a heated exchange between Melbourne Cup-winning jockey Glen Boss and trainer Rick Hore-Lacy on TVN drawing attention across the country.

The vision was picked up by Fox Sports News online, which ran this video on its main online page.

Such was the intense interest in the jockey strike, that Melbourne’s Herald Sun ran a live blog on its website to help readers understand the situation.

Racing journalist Matt Stewart answered questions from interested readers in real time, some of which resulted in heated debate on the blog.

Stewart mostly supported the jockey’s stance on the issue, while some readers also opposed his view. The following is a brief snapshot of what appeared online:

Reader Comment: “I’ve owned race horses all my life, as well as please horses and that statement is a load of crap [that whipping hurts horses]. These jockeys do this every single day, so I think they know what they’re doing. I know Glen, Nash and Brad [highly regarded jockeys] and they are no fools”

Matt Stewart’s response: “I agree. A lot of weight must be placed on the opinions of those who ride these animals and take great risks to do so.”

Stewart’s answers also invited readers to respond:

“It’s a tightrope – do we carry on and ignore welfare groups or do we acknowledge that they offer an insight into society’s views?”

In just one hour of the online blog, there were over 100 posts from readers, highlighting that interaction with readers through the use of live blogs is an ever increasing way of improving the quality of online journalism.

While the jockeys needed to take a stand on the issue, I don’t think they went about it in the right way, and a public spat with a trainer on national TV certainly didn’t help their cause.

And while his depressed photo on the front page of Wednesday’s Herald Sun may have captivated almost every female reader over their morning breakfast, it was nothing compared to the coverage his tribunal case received online.

One particular website, Sportsentral provided up to the second updates on both his tribunal and appeal cases.

When the final verdict was eventually handed down, their pre-planned article appeared on their website within 30 seconds. The same thing occurred on almost every major Newspaper’s website, as well as scrolling banners on television stations informing the viewer of the verdict.

Such was the high interest in the ‘Buddy’ case from SEN (the radio station Sports Entertainment Network that runs the Sportsentral website), that their reporter, Tony Shebecki, was Twittering live updates from inside the tribunal hearing. Following the Twitter updates, the website Sportsentral wrote an article outlining how fans were outraged with the AFL’s verdict, using quotes from their own Twitter page.

On top of this, Twitter users were encouraged by the Tweets to call the SEN radio station, which had extended its AFL talk-back show from its regular slot of 7-9pm to 7-11pm to cope with the influx of callers.

The SEN network of radio and online certainly used each other’s resources to their full extent to provide the public with instant news, while at the same time, allowing them to voice their opinion through both talkback radio and online comments.  

With the online branch of newspapers growing everyday, the video section on the Herald Sun’s Superfooty site is one of the best and most entertaining.

A personal favourite of mine is Footy at 4 presented by Sam Edmund (below right) and Jon Ralph (below left), which takes a look at all the day’s big news in AFL, in a light-hearted but professional manner.

The three and a half minute piece tells the viewer everything they need to know about the day’s AFL news, including press conference reports, statistics and weekly team selections.

Yesterday, the boys reported on the news of Russel Robertson’s retirement from the AFL, and how in their opinion, his retirement could free him up to “pursue the billboards top 20 charts”. Such light-hearted banter is perfect for the online world, and gives online viewers something different from the straight forward alternatives on offer in print and television reports.

The video section of the Herald Sun website caters for more than just AFL: with NRL, soccer, cricket and tennis just some of the other sports available.

During the current fifth test of the Ashes, the Herald Sun video section provides up-to-the-minute video links to its affiliate Fox Sports News, where viewers can instantly log-on and view the wicket they may have missed on the TV broadcast.

The quick, instantly-updated videos are perfect for any sporting fan.

Yeah, we get it, he’s a massive star, he’s getting paid millions of dollars, and every Queenslander now wants to play AFL. But does that really mean we should be subjected to a double-page spread in The Age’s sports section about him having a nice little coffee date with his new coach, Guy McKenna? Samantha Lane’s article sounded like nothing more than a glorified press release.

In the article, McKenna describes Hunt as “an absolute freak” and that he had a technique “that some full-forwards in the game would be very envious of”.

Take a look at the following piece of footage released by the Gold Coast Football Club of Hunt in action with the oval ball. I highly doubt that Lance Franklin and Brendan Fevola are even remotely close to “envious”.

Such has been the enormous media hype around Hunt’s crossover to AFL (a Google news search shows 531 articles on the day of its announcement), that a report in Thursday’s Herald Sun found the value of his media coverage was worth more than $7.5 million. Considering his contract is worth about $700,000 per year, it appears to be a very wise investment from those in the know at GC17.

According to the Herald Sun article, Hunt’s signing “attracted unprecedented interest in the AFL in New South Wales and Queensland”. It was “the lead news item carried by all major news outlets in those states, as well as traditional Australian football states, throughout Wednesday, July 29″. There were also 5000 individual media reports on TV, radio and in print on the issue in the three days that followed. In fact, such was the magnitude of the story that it had a reach that equated to it being seen and heard a total of 130 million times.

Let’s just hope he doesn’t partake in any misdemeanours like other NRL players have done this year, or else Australia’s media will actually go into meltdown!