ERROL PARKER | Editor-at-large | Contact
Unusual seismic activity was recorded in the NSW Hunter Valley last night as Kerry Packer turned in his grave at news that Channel Nine prioritised the absolute bottom drawer of our society over a cricket world cup final.
Branding itself as ‘Australia’s home of free-to-air sport’, Channel Nine came under fire for choosing to broadcast Married At First Sight on their main channel over the women’s cricket T20 final.
Executives at Network Nine have yet to break their silence on the controversy and aren’t really expected to, either.
That hasn’t stopped several media and sporting commentators from adding their opinion on the matter.
One anonymous prominent former rugby player who writes books on history while occasionally presenting the odd TV show has told The Advocate that Nine’s actions last night were ‘disgraceful’ and ’embarrassing’.
“It’s not good enough,” they said.
“Channel Nine hasn’t been the home of sport for years now. Is the name ‘Wide World of Sport’ supposed to be ironic? The only international sport they have left is tennis! Yawn!”
The animatronic robot that replaced Channel Nine’s favourite leatherman, Richard Wilkins, told our reporter that while it doesn’t understand sport in general, he’s always thought Nine prioritised sport over dribbling attention-seekers.
“Beeeeeeeeep. Beep. Beep. Bop. Whaaaaa Kuuuuuuuushhhh,” it said.
“Srrrrrrrrrrrrrrkkkk. Sport will always have a home at Channel Nine.”
Nine’s newspapers have, for the time being, resisted calls from upper management to exclusively cover the unfolding drama on Married At First Sight.
However, it’s understood by The Advocate that a number of high profile journalists at The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age have agreed to tie plastic bags over each other’s heads before they’d give a single keystroke to the show.
More to come.
