The highly anticipated clash between Melbourne Victory and Sydney FC on Saturday night was broadcasted live on Fox Sports and  free-to-air TV on Network Ten’s secondary channel - ONE, for the first time.

However many fans who watched the game at home took to social media to vent their frustrations after commercials were played during substitutions in the second half.

SBS has played ads during its coverage of the EPL however it has not disrupted play with commercials only taking up a small part of the screen.

Ten defended the move and the commercial network told FourFourTwo it would continue with the ad strategy.

“The inclusion of ad breaks within Network Ten’s broadcast of the Hyundai A-League is consistent with all sport on free-to-air television,” a spokesperson said.

“All goals will be replayed in full to ensure that fans don’t miss a minute of the action.”

 

 

 

 

 


The Big Blue finished 1-0 to the visitors at Etihad Stadium which had 24,804 people inside the stadium.

The spokesperson said Ten were “very pleased” with viewer numbers on Saturday.

“The viewing was up 75 per cent on the average audience SBS achieved during the 2016/17 season,” they said.

“Our coverage was No.1 in its timeslot in ONE's target market of men 25 to 54. It was a great start to our coverage of the A-League.”

The next game set to be broadcasted on ONE will be next Saturday’s Melbourne derby at Etihad Stadium.