Rowing Australia Annual Report 2009-2010 - Australian Sports

Media Report
Rowing Australia has continued to push forward in the
media and communication sector in the past 12 months
and services the community, stakeholders and the media
through a variety of mediums.
The social media frontier has been a major target and
Rowing Australia continues to effectively run Facebook
and Twitter pages, while a YouTube channel was released
in time for the 2010 World Rowing Championships.
Rowing Australia has continued to work on several
important relationships with key media around Australia
and these ties have strengthened over the second half
of 2010. ABC Grandstand and Radio Sport 927 remain
excellent supporters of Australian rowing and run regular
segments on their respective shows.
On the television front, FISA’s agreement with Fox
Sports has opened the door for more rowing to be
broadcast live into Australian homes, while WCSN’s
introduction of Rowing.tv on the internet is an exciting
step forward.
Substantial media was driven around the 2010 World
Rowing Championships and the 2010 Australian Rowing
Championships, while other events to be covered in
2010 included the national selection trials, World Cup 1,
2 and 3, the 2010 Youth Olympic Games, as well as the
Under 23 and Junior World Rowing Championships.
2010 Australian Rowing Championships
The 2010 Australian Rowing Championships were held
at Lake Nagambie in Victoria from 1–7 March.
The national championships welcomed back a number of
Australia’s key athletes who had enjoyed a year off from
rowing and there was significant focus placed on these
athletes competing.
A focal point of the week was keeping the regatta website
up to date with stories and images. 16 media releases
were distributed during the regatta, which brought about
just under 100 newspapers articles and a number of radio
interviews.
Media coverage centralised around New South Wales
winning their third straight King’s Cup regatta, while
there was also a lot of focus on Chris Morgan becoming
South Australia’s first ever winner of the men’s interstate
single scull.
24 Rowing Australia Annual Report 2009–2010
2010 World Rowing Championships
The 2010 World Rowing Championships were held at
Lake Karapiro in New Zealand, with 15 Australian crews
competing across the eight-day regatta.
There was significant media interest from both
New Zealand and Australian media when it came to the
Australian team and coverage easily eclipsed that of the
2009 World Rowing Championships.
Over 230 newspaper articles appeared in newspapers
across Australia throughout the regatta, while Australian
athletes and team officials conducted multiple radio and
television interviews during the week.
ABC Grandstand continued their wonderful coverage
of rowing with regular live crosses during their weekend
programs.
FISA signed a deal with Fox Sports shortly prior to the
regatta which also enabled significant television coverage
in Australia. All A Finals were shown live on Fox Sports,
while news channels were provided with television
packages including race footage and Australian athletes
being interviewed after their races.
The Rowing Australia website was also kept regularly
up-to-date with reports on every Australian race, image
galleries and interviews, while Rowing Australia’s
Facebook, Twitter and YouTube channels were also
updated throughout the week.