7 February 2013
Ski Racing Australia has today confirmed a broadcast deal and schedule that will see water ski racing broadcast on commercial free ?to?air television for the first time in the sports long history.
Seven Network’s 7Mate channel will broadcast one ?hour episodes of all three rounds of the inaugural Australian Waterski Racing Championship (AWSRC) beginning with Redcliffe on Sunday,
10 February at 12:30pm.
Geelong and Newcastle will follow at the same time on the 17 & 24 February respectively. The Championship action will be followed by hour ?long broadcasts of both the Bridge to Bridge and
the Southern 80 river races, again at 12:30pm on Sunday the 3 & 10 March.
Noel Griffin, Ski Racing Australia Chairman, says the formalising of the broadcast arrangement represents a coup for Australian ski racing.
“This is the most significant television deal in the sport’s history, and huge step forward for all our participants” said Mr Griffin.
“We were confident that the new Australian Championship would be an attractive proposition for television – this confirms the appeal of the sport as a whole, whether it is the elite championship
competition or the river classics.
“To have five hour ?long broadcasts on free?to?air commercial television is a first for us, and we are proud to partner with the Seven Network as we continue to grow participation and interest in the sport in this country.”
Described as the twenty ?twenty format of waterski racing, the Nautilus Marine Ski Racing Championship events comprise of shortened World Championship course races that are less than
20 minutes in length with up to 40 boats on the course at the same time, racing at speeds of up to 220km/h. Combine this with the fact it is the world’s richest ski racing championship with a total prize pool of $60,000, the AWSRC presents the highest quality and most intense racing the sport has ever seen.
Scott Young, head of V8 Supercars Television, and his company 5 Oceans Media were engaged to produce the broadcast packages for the Seven Network, securing Nina Fordham as Producer and Nathan Prendergast from Ignition Productions as the Director, further increasing the quality and professionalism of the television broadcast.
The television schedule on 7Mate is as follows:
NAUTILUS MARINE SKI RACING CHAMPIONSHIP on 7MATE
EP 1 – 12:30pm (EDT) R1 – Redcliffe SUN FEB 10
EP 2 – 12:30pm (EDT) R2 – Geelong SUN FEB 17
EP 3 – 12:30pm (EDT) R3 – Newcastle SUN FEB 24
RIVER ENDURANCE RACES on 7MATE
EP 4 – 12:30pm (EDT) Bridge to Bridge SUN MAR 3
EP 5 – 12:30pm (EDT) Southern 80 SUN MAR 10
