Channel 4’s head of sport says that the broadcaster is aiming to subtly put their own style on Super League coverage.
The free-to-air channel have a two-year deal to show ten matches per season, starting with the clash between Leeds Rhinos and Warrington Wolves on Saturday.
Pete Andrews says that Channel 4 will be careful to put their own spin on things without alienating existing Rugby League supporters.
“It’s the tightrope of attracting new people to watch it and not annoying the people who love it and watch it already,” he said.
“It’s a hard things to do. We don’t expect everything to work straight away. As with every programme, the first one you have to tweak it, it’ll be us getting used to these sorts of things. It takes time to get things right.
“We’re not trying to go straight in at a million miles an hour. We’re going to ease our way in, establish ourselves and get the basics right.
“We’ve got an experienced team at (production company) IMG but we don’t want to come in and suddenly reinvent the wheel.
“The biggest change will probably be a little change of tone, hopefully a Channel 4 style.
“Hopefully it will be slightly different. It will feel Channel 4 in the way we do things.”
Andrews wants Channel 4’s coverage to emphasise the inclusive nature of the game, with PDRL star Hills a useful asset in that regard.
“Having Adam who plays for Warrington, it becomes a very easy editorial point to make,” said Andrews. “It’s good chat we can have.
“Over the ten live games we’ve got and the highlights programme for the final, we’ll be talking about all sorts of things.”
Rugby League fans are excited to see another new televised look to the game, following Premier Sports starting their Championship coverage as well, but Andrews was keen to stress that Channel 4 are not competing with other broadcasters, but working together.
“We want to help Sky sell it, we want to help Super League sell itself, the BBC highlights, it’s all good for us,” he said. “The bigger Super League gets, the better it is for everyone.”
