A "four-week experiment with Thursday-night football has been a resounding success," and is set to help the Australian Football League secure a "record broadcast rights agreement and even alleviate concerns" raised by North Melbourne Chair James Brayshaw, according to Jon Pierik of THE AGE. Ratings and attendances for the matches "have been impressive, with the AFL scheduling the games around the mid-year school holidays, outside of Melbourne and having several power clubs take part." Channel Seven Melbourne Managing Dir Lewis Martin was "delighted with the response." He said, "Consecutive weeks of Thursday-night football has been a great success for AFL fans and viewers. No doubt it will be a discussion point for the AFL as they prepare for season 2016." The stand-alone fixtures were "also a boost for club sponsors, for they were given clear air in prime time on a night traditionally popular for television viewing." This was reinforced when last Thursday's clash between Port Adelaide and Collingwood delivered for Seven the "highest combined peak audience of the round" with 1.289 million viewers, including a five-city metro audience of 615,000. With broadcast rights discussions ongoing, a Thursday-night schedule
"could allow channels Nine and Ten to secure a defined slice of the
action, without necessarily having to stump up the cash" for a weekly offering through the season (THE AGE, 7/13).
