- Tim Lane
Timothy "Tim" Lane (born 1951 in
Launceston, Tasmania ) is an Australianjournalist and sports commentator.Early career
Born in Launceston, Lane moved with his family to Devonport in 1963 and was matriculated at
Devonport High School in 1969. After failing first year at theUniversity of Tasmania , Lane found work at anEdgell factory before trying sports commentary.Lane began his sports broadcasting career in 1972 and was employed by the ABC in 1973, commentating NTFA
Australian rules football matches.Established media career
After some time working for the ABC in
Hobart , Lane moved toMelbourne in 1979, where he has been based since. Lane began calling a wide variety of sports, includingtennis ,cricket , athletics and Australian rules football matches in the Victorian Football League andAustralian Football League . He was primarily a radio commentator but also became a regular face onABC TV , and was a key member of the coverage team for the 1987 VFL season when the television broadcast rights fell to the ABC. In addition, he spent time as the sports presenter for ABC Television's primetime news bulletin in Melbourne.As a commentator for such a variety of nationally (and sometimes internationally) broadcast sports, particularly for the highly popular AFL and cricket, Lane became one of Australia's best-known commentators and one of the ABC's most familiar personalities. With his broad knowledge of sports, precise descriptions and endearing personality, he became regarded as one of Australia's most accomplished sports commenatators.
Lane was involved in a well-publicised dispute with the
Nine Network on the eve of the 2002 AFL season. Having been recruited to Nine's AFL commentary team, Lane quit just days prior to the season's commencement, clamining Nine had refused to honour a stipulation in his contract thatEddie McGuire would not commentate alongside him in matches involving theCollingwood Football Club . Lane held the view that McGuire's role as Collingwood president put him in a conflict of interest, as his freedom to report matters regarding the club would be compromised by his requirement to keep certain inside knowledge confidential. Lane parted ways from Nine and took up a role onNetwork Ten 's AFL coverage in 2003, where he remains. [http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2002/03/28/1017206135119.html Tim Lane has made the right call] ,The Age , March 29, 2002.]Lane resigned from his full-time role with the ABC in 2003 but continues as a part-time AFL commentator on ABC radio, usually only on Friday night games. In addition to his ongoing role as an AFL commentator for Network Ten, he is also a regular sports columnist for
The Age , and usually appears fortnightly onJon Faine 's Conversation Hour on ABC Radio across Victoria.Throughout the 2006/07 Ashes series in Australia, Lane could be heard as one of the main commentators on the BBC's
Test Match Special .Personal life
Tim is the father of
Before the Game media personalitySamantha Lane and is an avid supporter of theCarlton Football Club ,External links
* [http://www.realfooty.com.au/experts/tim-lane/ The Age RealFooty - Tim Lane]
* [http://www.abc.net.au/melbourne/mornings/conversation.htm ABC Radio - Jon Faine Conversation Hour]References
*" [http://www.abc.net.au/northtas/stories/s1418388.htm Tim Lane, Sports Commentator] ", ABC Northern Tasmania, accessed November 3, 2006.
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