This is a nonsense. C4 should be broadcasting what is best for C4. Whether thats the Irish Rugby Union side or a bunch of guys running around in outer Mongolia.

The idea that they are duty bound to broadcast something 'British' is absurd.

Indeed......their biggest program of the week August 21-28th was the Belgium GP.......sooner we leave the EU the better



EDIT: Is this a cunning plan by World Rugby to strangle the Dublin Blues at birth

What kind of viewing figures do you think a Championship RL game would get on sky compared to a Championship RU game?

Why do sky show Championship RU but not Championship RL, even though they have the tv rights.

I'd suggest that it's largely down to them knowing how many subscriptions may depend on RU content.

Sky are probably only interested in the England internationals, but they'll invariably question whether that delivers enough value to RU supporters on its own for them to justify their subscriptions. They have no Premiership, no Pro 14 - things like Super Rugby, Top 14 and Championship RU gives them relatively cheap content to keep the RU fans happy until the Autumn Internationals come around.

And let's not forget the audience that RU will tend to pull in. 150,000 people (I don't know what the real figure is) watching Ealing vs Yorkshire is probably worth a lot more to them than 150,000 watching Batley v Dewsbury.

I'd go further saying that SKY tv know exactly what it pays them to show and no amount of teeth gnashing from north of watford will impact on their share prices.
If RL was such a valuable asset, we'd having TV execs kicking down doors....instead we had a take it or leave deal offered.......there was no option to negotiate, because are 100% reliant on SKY........the only way to change that is to demand FTA games in the next deal.....or take a huge cut and sell the entire comp to someone like C4 and hope to god the clubs can fill the stadiums.

I would guess because sky do not have any rights for the rugby union premiership. Rights for the rugby union Championship are cheap and it's gives them content to fill time slots.

Yes I also agree they should be showing the rugby league championship. Pointless holding the rights and only showing the Blackpool Weekender.

1, Holding the rights prevents anyone else from showing it. Next time out we need to separate the rights and offer them as 2 entities with conditions attached to both.....

I had cause to look recently at the viewing figures for Championship RL (because my team, Widnes Vikings, seem intent on rejoining that division) from the last time it was shown on Sky in 2011.

I can tell you that, for the six weeks or so I looked at Super League averaged 147,667 and the Championship 68,166, so, roughly speaking, half of the SL figure. So Championship provided approx. on third of viewers and gets, what, an eighth of what Super League gets? Also SL was always on SS1 while Championship was always on a minor channel.

In my view the Championship needs its own mouthpiece organisation (like SLE) and should have its TV rights negotiated separately.

We will never know how many followers of each league watch the other? You might expect the that the 68,000 Championship viewers aren't wholly Championship team supporters and if they are supplemented by say 20-30,000 SL viewers that will impact on any split deal

You’d have thought 60,000 to 70,000 viewers would justify sky showing a game a week, surprised they don’t see it as worthwhile.

Who would buy the rights to the championship? Any broadcaster would rather sell adverts to an audience of 100, ergo rugby unions fans than to an audience of 1000 fans, ergo rugby league fans who have no money (except toyboy29 who owns a jag of course)

Regards

King James

Nope you're wrong, not for the first time and most definitely not the last.

Whatever flicks your switch old bean, but your faux "it's union so I now nothing" shows are just an idiot trying to look cool in front of the other kids and failing because Union has another FTA deal which makes you uneasy....poor soul....
...could I suggest that next time you pretend not to know something you use Google...it'll stop you looking daft!

You might want to read my post my auld chump to "stop you looking daft" where I quite clearly state the use of google, think there's only one daft looking chump here my poor poor little friend, and it's not me

And again you have managed to prove me right

Alas, I was not wrong. You asked the question claiming you knew little, but then declared that they played in and were HQ'd at Dublin......before LATER claining that you had the googled it.......your time line betrays you as a sports bigot trying to look cool and failing.....
Post 1

Post 2

Post 3

Post 4


....so no, I wasn't wrong

Nope you're wrong and wrong again, unfortunately you can't educate pork and you can protest your accuracy (or inaccuracy) as much as you want young sonny jim fella me lad you keep clutching at straws China you seem pretty good at that rather than being right

In fairness he is right. It's definitely an all Ireland team. In fact, the team is actually older than the country of Northern Ireland is.

That sounds not what he's arguing though, I've already admitted my early error about it being an Eire team (as I know f-all about RU) he's disputing that I actually do know and he also know at what point in the space time continuum I Looked at google

for the record second post I made was after I looked at the IRFU contacts page seeing where they were based, then I looked at google to see what others claimed, not sure why I'm explaining myself as I'm not the one looking like a fool, CMG has clearly claimed the ultimate prize to go with his ultimate being status

Buddy. You keep digging all you like....eventually you'll be that far down we won't be able to hear your inane and bias ramblings.

Back on topic.

C4 picking up these games must mean that the BBC were dealing with the home nations individually. Wales and Scotland, haven't announced they have jumped, so this means that BBC1, BBC2 & C4 will be covering the autumn test series of FTA TV stations. Combine this with the C5 Aviva games and the ITV highlights package for the premiership, the C4 deal for their European Cup and in the space of less than a decade, Union is now shown on all the major FTA stations in the UK. Furthermore, with SKY showing the England games this autumn and BT sport showing the premiership Rugby, as well as Premier Sports ow showing the Pro 14 comp, Union is now available on pretty much every platform.......

....meanwhile, we are shackled to SKY, who treat us like dirt and on a cheap deal too boot, so it's no wonder that the SL chairmen have tried to wrestle power from the RFL.......because 23 years ago there was the 6 nations on TV as far as Union was concerned.......now they are bloody everywhere whilst we are doing the same thing just on different days...

Irony personified

Again again and again I have to keep saying this! RL has a serious image problem! No corporation wants to associate with a sport that has it's 'image' like that based on the TV dramas like the Royle Family, Shameless and Benidorm! Sorry, but that is how they see the game. Tacky, cheap and common. Open your fr*cking eyes.
Union has the image. Before any uneducated troll accuses me of being a union troll, he needs to think again. I can't stand rah rah but they are bl*dy good at marketing their sport and have done pretty well for the past 30 years!
RL in the UK has FAILED to expand it's demographic!
The attitide of the flat capper is:

No middle class
No foreigners
No women
No southerners
No educated

NI isn't a country. It's a province of the nation of the UK!!

Actually it's 6 occupied counties of the Republic of Ireland, populated by a majority of Protestants moved there under the rule of James I in the early 1600's, whereby land once owned by Gaelic Chiefs was seized by the crown.......the reason it's not all 9 counties is because once again, the British didn't want to lose face after they lost the Irish War of Independence in 1922....if they'd included all 9 counties, then the Catholics would be in the majority.......but I digress

FTA coverage of rugby league:
BBC England internationals
BBC Super League highlights show
BBC Rugby League World Cup
BBC Challenge Cup

Sky coverage of rugby league
Super League
NRL
Challenge Cup

As you can see, excluding super League and NRL we have FTA coverage. Most people wouldn't know it exists though.

Next onto this ridiculous notion that the game is shackled to sky and then sky treat the game like dirt.

Where do people get this rubbish from. Sky didn't roll into RFL HQ with sub machine guns demanding super league rights. How many times does this need to be said. Nobody else is willing to pay what sky do!

Stop this fantasy of there being a queue of networks all ready to blow sky out of the water. You will see the reality of the situation soon enough when the current deal expires.