LATE last year, after the AFL successfully completed a new-look and substantially more lucrative radio rights agreement, 3AW's management received what it assumed to be a formalised copy of its new contract in the mail.

The station's boss, Graeme Mott, realised almost immediately on opening the letter that the AFL had sent him the wrong contract. Inside was a copy of the ABC's new deal.

Naturally, he kept reading, later commenting to a colleague: "If you received a letter to your husband from his ex-girlfriend and accidentally opened it, you'd read it too." At any rate, the dollar amount of what the ABC was paying for the right to broadcast football in 2007 was on the first page.

Mott would not say how much that figure was, but The Sunday Age understood it to be substantially below $100,000. Triple M and 3AW, with their commercial A-class deals — comprising the Friday night game, the first-choice Saturday afternoon, Saturday night and 2pm Sunday games — were each paying close to $1 million.

The ABC's deal had been placed in the B-class category along with newcomer SEN, but concerted lobbying from the ABC, and newspapers such as this one, saw the national public broadcaster gain certain concessions. For example, if the 1pm Sunday game outside Victoria was contested by interstate teams, then 774 could remain in Melbourne to call the 2pm game against Triple M and 3AW.

Clearly, there are other reasons the ABC pays such a paltry amount to call football. It has no commercials or sponsors and its reach around the country is extensive. But even 774 could not have realised how good its deal would prove. Early pessimism regarding the twilight games — exclusive to the ABC, SEN and Fox Sports — proved ill-founded and shortlived.

And in terms of radio coverage, the ABC's point of difference appears to have split its competition. This columnist takes part in the 3AW pre-game coverage each Sunday and therefore will not attempt to analyse the quality of each broadcast.

Suffice to say the ABC has had a very good year and this should only get better when you consider that it and SEN have the radio rights to the round 21 and 22 Essendon games, which will be coach Kevin Sheedy's and champion James Hird's last two home-and-away games, and the Bombers could still be a chance for the finals.

Not only has Fox Sports — with half the home-and-away fixtures overall, better quality games and the exclusive twilight timeslot — significantly grown its AFL and overall audience, but the B-class deal for the ABC and SEN is suddenly not so second rate, particularly for the ABC with its extra conditions.

Mott's Sydney background has long seen him perplexed at the immovable state of the AFL fixture given his rugby league roots. He has a meeting scheduled with the AFL this week in an attempt to clarify the ABC's deal and, no doubt, the competition's refusal to move games during the season will be raised. Perhaps the fact that 3AW commentators have been verbally sanctioned by the AFL this season for criticising head office while other broadcasters have not will also get a run. Already this season, Channel Seven has raised the same subject but neither Southern Cross, which owns 3AW, nor the Seven Network, which recently lost its costly legal case after claiming collusion over the closure of its pay-TV outlet C7, seem likely to force any fixturing flexibility.

The AFL remains committed to the unique nature of its schedule and so it should, although AFL boss Andrew Demetriou does appear determined to improve the quality of Friday night football games in 2008 while the free-to-air networks, just like 3AW and Triple M, continue to wonder at the quality football they have lost despite handing over record sums of money. Though if Channel Seven wins the national ratings survey this year, it will probably settle for that.

It will be a big week for the AFL's radio partners and the league will be watching closely when the latest survey figures are released on Tuesday. The last survey was a shocker for 3AW and some high-profile bloodletting followed. It will be hoping for at least a minor correction this time.

But in terms of the bigger picture, the football public continues to experience a revolution in the manner in which the game is televised and broadcast. Next year, the AFL will move forward with at least four clubs boasting new coaches, an Essendon without Kevin Sheedy and, most likely, a Gold Coast-bound Kangaroos.

The media, too, continues to transform. This year, the television picture has been shifted to force more fans to pay to watch the game and the AFL has taken record sums from its networks. One-time close relationships have become business partnerships.

Earlier this year, the commission's new chairman, Mike Fitzpatrick, was subtly critical of Channel Seven's coverage — despite the network's major role in a $780 million five-year deal — and his words were not well received.

The AFL takes money from the gambling and alcohol industries while shaking its head at the negative impact on the competition from both. At the same time, the AFL and its clubs continue to shake their collective heads at the media's performance and the enormous pressure such blanket coverage places on the game.

Again the AFL is happy to take their money. The clubs will all receive an additional $6 million thanks to the new media deal, most players' six-figure sums and you would love to see how the game would cope with no media pressure and no coverage.

Which is why both sides co-exist in relative harmony most of the time, although some more expensively than others.