WHEN Channel 4 first took to our screens in 2022, there was a question mark hovering over the coverage.
Here was Super League being broadcast on something other than Sky Sports for the first time in the summer era.
But, it’s fair to say that rugby league fans were intrigued and the numbers certainly reflected that with three-quarters of a million people tuning in for the first broadcasted game on terrestrial TV between Leeds Rhinos and Warrington Wolves.
That being said, the two-year deal signed with the sport comes to an end at the end of the 2023 Super League season.
And League Express spoke to Channel 4’s Head of Sport about the likelihood of that deal being extended.
“We are already talking to Rugby League Commercial, it would be remiss of me to say too much before it happens,” Andrews told League Express.
“We have loved the coverage and we’ve loved being involved in rugby league as we’ve felt really welcomed, the guys at Rugby League Commercial have been brilliant and all the clubs have been fantastic.
“We are really keen but these things take a long time and there are other deals to be done. What I can say is we have really enjoyed being part of rugby league.”
In terms of viewers, every broadcasted Channel 4 game hit over six figures, with 2.9 million unique viewers across the entire year.
Andrews is keen to get more people watching rugby league in 2023 – whether that’s on Channel 4 or Sky.
“We probably wouldn’t set ourselves a target except that we hope it grows. We don’t mind if actually the overall Super League audience grows,” Andrews continued.
“We don’t mind if more people watch on Sky, we want more people to watch it all round. The unique reach is there to measure the potential of the audience all round.
“We want it to grow overall, we want the Channel 4 reach to grow as well but it’s a great measure of new fans.
“If people are watching Super League on Channel 4, they are probably not Sky subscribers so that means there is a brand new audience.”
Andrews was also coy when asked about the potential for more games to be broadcast on Channel 4 in the future, rather than just ten a season.
“It’s a difficult thing to comment on at the moment, there’s a balance between whatever Rugby League Commercial settles on their packages to sell to the world.
“It’s something we will discuss with them and see how things lie and see where they end up.
