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Channel 4 to broadcast the Championship?


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This news has come as a real surprise. Without wanting to me negative, you would think the offer would be small, maybe C4 will cover all the broadcast costs and set up etc, but not actually pay for the rights.

Even if it is, the increase in sponsorship and exposure may be worthwhile. And post 2021, it is widely expected that there will be a big drop off for the Championship clubs in Sky money.

Rugby Union have got a great arrangement with C4 & C5 in that BT have the main broadcast rights, with some big selected matches on free to air. I'd like to see something similar with Super League.

I would be surprised to see a weekly Championship game on C4 main, it will probably be on a channel such as More 4, but it's free to air nonetheless. Certainly good content for a Sunday afternoon in the summer, where there is less sport.

I wonder if C4's proposed move to Leeds has influenced the interest? Whatever the reason, it's positive news.

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23 hours ago, Whippet13 said:

If it does go to C4 there will be wider commercial sponsorship benefits.

I wonder how much of this interest is down to the publicity the likes of Toronto and Tolouse have brought to the competition?

I reckon it will be a lot to do with the showing of the product below super league to be a very exciting competition.

Carlsberg don't do Soldiers, but if they did, they would probably be Brits.

http://www.pitchero....hornemarauders/

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it's good to see that more than 1 channel interested - it shows that there clearly is value in the Championship whatever the outcome.

It's been a good weekend for Rugby League, some great games and over 81,000 watching across the 3 divisions which is pretty impressive when there was so much top class sport plastered across the media.

 

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9 hours ago, TheConductor said:

Despite the big Tv ratings and the dazzle and dazzle of the NRL mostly with SOO/Finals) I find Super League and below more interesting and forward thinking then the clutter of what is going on down under ?

The NRL games are great to watch.... I pile them up on record and watch them Monday to Wednesday 

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I think you have to have the 'Rugby League Raw' element to it if you are going to have Championship RL on terrestrial telly. There are too many 'roped fields' or near-empty grounds for it to look like a premium product, and some of the teams are too local to have national appeal as a straight highlights package (this is also true of some Super League clubs).

But what RLR showed was that if you get under the skin of the people involved, be they players, coaches, administrators or fans, there is a rich seam of culture and personality that can have far broader appeal. With a French or Canadian club in the mix there is even more to go at. You would need to think carefully about how a revamped RLR would look in 2019, but I think it could work.

I can confirm 30+ less sales for Scotland vs Italy at Workington, after this afternoons test purchase for the Tonga match, £7.50 is extremely reasonable, however a £2.50 'delivery' fee for a walk in purchase is beyond taking the mickey, good luck with that, it's cheaper on the telly.

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17 minutes ago, Just Browny said:

I think you have to have the 'Rugby League Raw' element to it if you are going to have Championship RL on terrestrial telly. There are too many 'roped fields' or near-empty grounds for it to look like a premium product, and some of the teams are too local to have national appeal as a straight highlights package (this is also true of some Super League clubs).

But what RLR showed was that if you get under the skin of the people involved, be they players, coaches, administrators or fans, there is a rich seam of culture and personality that can have far broader appeal. With a French or Canadian club in the mix there is even more to go at. You would need to think carefully about how a revamped RLR would look in 2019, but I think it could work.

My view exactly. Polished highlights would make it look a little underwhelming, the raw style gives it a different angle.

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This may seem a stretch but we had a thread on here about The Last Leg and how Rugby League was mentioned often because Adam Hills is a big fan (and player). 

The Last Leg is a big hit and critical success and I wonder if Hills' influence, even if it is subtle, has had an impact here.

Hills for presenter of the show anyone?

"The history of the world is the history of the triumph of the heartless over the mindless." — Sir Humphrey Appleby.

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14 hours ago, Gooleboy said:

I believe the grand old trophy was given to Wigan to keep, should never have been given to them. It would be great to see the Championship Clubs playing for it, SL are welcome to that drab lump of metal that they play for.

didnt realise that.... we should ask for it back thats not good its a great trophy and if super league dont want to use it then the champ should!

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There is also an argument that with the game behind a pay wall for too long the "rugby league driving subscriptions" argument becomes difficult because too many are now unaware of the game. To allow some parts of it onto free to air, a good highlights package not stuck away in the middle of the night etc could be good for sky as people start to want more and hence then it can drive subscriptions again or just simply drive the audience figures up for people who deliberately tune in and therefore drive up the potential advertising costs around the production. 

Same with the cricket.. lets not be under any illusion that SKY did it out of the goodness of their heart. The "good publicity" will go under the radar "sky allow the CWC Final to be Free to Air with Channel 4".. it is to get people excited to tune in for the ashes and one day series later in the summer then whatever the tour is.. if its not subscriptions its viewing figures to push up ad costs.. 

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54 minutes ago, SL17 said:

First bit is negative, middle is RU and last is positive to try and cover your blah blah up.

Typical yawnion mon. 

You got me. Registered on a rugby league site for six years, faking following the sport and making up an allegiance to a team in order to promote rugby union in one in every 500 posts.

How embarrassing for me...

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6 minutes ago, Chris22 said:

You got me. Registered on a rugby league site for six years, faking following the sport and making up an allegiance to a team in order to promote rugby union in one in every 500 posts.

How embarrassing for me...

to be fair it was obvious... i mean the negativity was dripping from the post and it has been extremely depressing reading... i think your last sentence summed up your unbelievable negativity perfectly when you said 

12 hours ago, Chris22 said:

Whatever the reason, it's positive news.

:kolobok_ph34r:

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7 minutes ago, RP London said:

There is also an argument that with the game behind a pay wall for too long the "rugby league driving subscriptions" argument becomes difficult because too many are now unaware of the game. To allow some parts of it onto free to air, a good highlights package not stuck away in the middle of the night etc could be good for sky as people start to want more and hence then it can drive subscriptions again or just simply drive the audience figures up for people who deliberately tune in and therefore drive up the potential advertising costs around the production. 

Same with the cricket.. lets not be under any illusion that SKY did it out of the goodness of their heart. The "good publicity" will go under the radar "sky allow the CWC Final to be Free to Air with Channel 4".. it is to get people excited to tune in for the ashes and one day series later in the summer then whatever the tour is.. if its not subscriptions its viewing figures to push up ad costs.. 

I agree with this analysis I'm just not sure that the Championship is the best FTA content to drive wider interest in the sport. 

I think people are getting carried away with the idea that the Championship could develop into some sort of equivalent rival to superleague - it's miles off that and there's no scenario where even a majority of the clubs could go full time. And most wouldn't want to anyway. 

We need to find a way to showcase our best. Cricket has found a way to do that with 'The Hundred' having some FTA broadcasts from next year while the England team will remain behind the paywall. 

For us, the England team will always be FTA, but we need more content than that. 

If we can't come to a deal with Sky to have some SL games on FTA without a massive hit to the money, then I've been starting to think about whether we can do something with the Challenge Cup. 

Obviously this is already FTA but the old competition has seen better days and the sporadic, short notice and random nature of the fixtures doesn't help drive it's profile with the wider public. 

How about if the last 16 - with the top 8 in SL guarenteed a place - was a group stage with a set fixture list followed straight away by the semis and final. A six week block in high summer on FTA TV, just like the IPL or Hundred. We can promote it, build it up with much more certainty, put all our efforts into showcaseing our best in a narrow window, rather than over months and months, and then when it's done, switch back to Sky for the climax of the SL season. 

Basically we don't have to sell ourselves all year round - only football can sustain that - just really go for it in focussed periods like with the Six Nations or Hundred. 

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9 minutes ago, Toby Chopra said:

I agree with this analysis I'm just not sure that the Championship is the best FTA content to drive wider interest in the sport. 

I think people are getting carried away with the idea that the Championship could develop into some sort of equivalent rival to superleague - it's miles off that and there's no scenario where even a majority of the clubs could go full time. And most wouldn't want to anyway. 

We need to find a way to showcase our best. Cricket has found a way to do that with 'The Hundred' having some FTA broadcasts from next year while the England team will remain behind the paywall. 

For us, the England team will always be FTA, but we need more content than that. 

If we can't come to a deal with Sky to have some SL games on FTA without a massive hit to the money, then I've been starting to think about whether we can do something with the Challenge Cup. 

Obviously this is already FTA but the old competition has seen better days and the sporadic, short notice and random nature of the fixtures doesn't help drive it's profile with the wider public. 

How about if the last 16 - with the top 8 in SL guarenteed a place - was a group stage with a set fixture list followed straight away by the semis and final. A six week block in high summer on FTA TV, just like the IPL or Hundred. We can promote it, build it up with much more certainty, put all our efforts into showcaseing our best in a narrow window, rather than over months and months, and then when it's done, switch back to Sky for the climax of the SL season. 

Basically we don't have to sell ourselves all year round - only football can sustain that - just really go for it in focussed periods like with the Six Nations or Hundred. 

i agree I';m not sure if the champ is the best way to go but i would disagree that they are that far off.. player pool is one thing but the money I am not so sure. 

Eagles were very close and only because the cheque never appeared did they then have problems but there was someone who could have funded it, and he is not an uber wealthy man (long story not worth going into here).. the point is that it doesn't take a massive leap for many to go from semi pro to pro, how sustainable that is is a different matter and would be, again, reliant on tv.. if someone wanted to make the Champ on a par with super league it wouldn't take massive investment in terms of going full time... stadiums etc on the other hand.. 

with the extra exposure of free to air more people may want their brand associated with clubs etc too.. 

Personally with the rise of things like the netball i really would like a tv station to bite the bullet and put on some form of grandstand show that was 2-3 hours of highlights of different sports plus one featured game from a sport being played that day, not the same one every week but a good game being played that day and do it year round, you can put Ice Hockey, RL, Netball, Cricket T20, Sevens, British Basketball, Olympic sports that dont ever get shown between olympics (Judo, amateur boxing, volleyball (especially beach :kolobok_ph34r: ) taekwondo, climbing etc) before you even get to the bigger beasts of Prem RU, Pro 14 RU, Football or even the slightly more quirky all in wrestling style sports. I cant imagine it would be difficult to fill may not be cheap though.

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4 hours ago, Dunbar said:

This may seem a stretch but we had a thread on here about The Last Leg and how Rugby League was mentioned often because Adam Hills is a big fan (and player). 

The Last Leg is a big hit and critical success and I wonder if Hills' influence, even if it is subtle, has had an impact here.

Hills for presenter of the show anyone?

That would be a very good idea indeed!

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I don't know why but it seems that some fans of SL clubs want some comedy element added to potential Championship coverage to make it viable. Rugby League Raw was of it's time. It was broadcast after the watershed for a very good reason.

What are you scared of?

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10 minutes ago, Ackroman said:

I don't know why but it seems that some fans of SL clubs want some comedy element added to potential Championship coverage to make it viable. Rugby League Raw was of it's time. It was broadcast after the watershed for a very good reason.

What are you scared of?

Rugby League Raw wasn't of it's time. It was unique and would still be unique. 

But my suggestion wasn't necessarily about re-hashing RLW, it was about showing the comp in a different, more unique way. If it is portrayed in the same way as SL or the NRL is, it jars when you go to the action and there are 4,000 rattling round Odsal, or a thousand at a field in Sheffield. We know from experience that the games Sky show at Salford and Huddersfield and similar lack atmosphere and can be a turn-off for the broadcaster - a terrestrial broadcaster showing this every week won't necessarily make for great viewing for non-RL fans. 

Broadcasting with a different angle, getting behind the scenes and giving the coverage a unique selling point could work very nicely. Discussing the game with fans, club officials, hearing the half time team talks - having coaches mic'd up etc. could help with a community feel and get to know the personalities. 

I also support this approach for SL by the way, but this isn't the thread to discuss that. 

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24 minutes ago, Dave T said:

Rugby League Raw wasn't of it's time. It was unique and would still be unique. 

But my suggestion wasn't necessarily about re-hashing RLW, it was about showing the comp in a different, more unique way. If it is portrayed in the same way as SL or the NRL is, it jars when you go to the action and there are 4,000 rattling round Odsal, or a thousand at a field in Sheffield. We know from experience that the games Sky show at Salford and Huddersfield and similar lack atmosphere and can be a turn-off for the broadcaster - a terrestrial broadcaster showing this every week won't necessarily make for great viewing for non-RL fans. 

Broadcasting with a different angle, getting behind the scenes and giving the coverage a unique selling point could work very nicely. Discussing the game with fans, club officials, hearing the half time team talks - having coaches mic'd up etc. could help with a community feel and get to know the personalities. 

I also support this approach for SL by the way, but this isn't the thread to discuss that. 

Ignore.

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If I remember correctly, Rugby League Raw exposed a lot of tinpotness about the Championship. It reinforced the stereotypes of Rugby League being played in small northern towns between northern lads who worked all week and had a bit of biff at the weekend. To be honest I'm not sure it did the sport many favours.

The Championship now contains some full time teams and even the part timers have a much more professional approach to the game than 15 years ago. Toulouse, Toronto and in the future maybe more foreign teams will join which is a great way of opening up the game to people who aren't from small northern towns. 

I hope that if we have got FTA coverage it is focused on the skill of the players, big collisions and the tactical side of the game rather than just rough blokes swearing a lot.

The NFL coverage on BBC is superb at balancing explaining what is a new sport to much of the audience with going in to detail on the finer points of plays. Would love to see RL treated in the same way.

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9 minutes ago, Colin James said:

If I remember correctly, Rugby League Raw exposed a lot of tinpotness about the Championship. It reinforced the stereotypes of Rugby League being played in small northern towns between northern lads who worked all week and had a bit of biff at the weekend. To be honest I'm not sure it did the sport many favours.

The Championship now contains some full time teams and even the part timers have a much more professional approach to the game than 15 years ago. Toulouse, Toronto and in the future maybe more foreign teams will join which is a great way of opening up the game to people who aren't from small northern towns. 

I hope that if we have got FTA coverage it is focused on the skill of the players, big collisions and the tactical side of the game rather than just rough blokes swearing a lot.

The NFL coverage on BBC is superb at balancing explaining what is a new sport to much of the audience with going in to detail on the finer points of plays. Would love to see RL treated in the same way.

I suppose there are different ways to look at it. RLR may have been pretty raw, but it doesn't need to go down the route of being so explicit and using foul language. But there is no getting away that covering the Championship you will be going to some small town clubs like Batley, Dewsbury etc. and I think a different style of coverage to celebrate this community game isn't a bad thing - but I agree it needs to be done right, and that approach would probably need to be used to complement professional coverage too. 

Of course it could just be covered straight, rather like the TWP games are this year, but I'm not sure how compelling that is for floating viewers. IMHO a bit of creativity could lead to a cult following, something C4 have been decent at over the years.

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RL Raw was good viewing . It did what it said on the tin . The dressing room was full on , but I’m sure it is full on . I still remember our coach letting rip with endless effing and blinding but seemingly not much tactical genius !

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7 minutes ago, DavidM said:

RL Raw was good viewing . It did what it said on the tin . The dressing room was full on , but I’m sure it is full on . I still remember our coach letting rip with endless effing and blinding but seemingly not much tactical genius !

Loved RLR.

rldfsignature.jpg

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12 minutes ago, DavidM said:

RL Raw was good viewing . It did what it said on the tin . The dressing room was full on , but I’m sure it is full on . I still remember our coach letting rip with endless effing and blinding but seemingly not much tactical genius !

I am sure that during one episode when they were covering Fev v Widnes they had the Widnes coach (Hulme I think) going on about Jamie Rooney and using some choice words, his rant was so good I am sure some Fev fan made a single out of it and released it! 

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