Channel 4 to broadcast live Super League

[Tommygilf]

I can see Clare Balding or some of the other Channel 4 regulars fronting this. Will Perry would be a good shout too imo.

[cookey]

Some of the suggested names would be great, just keep the clowns from SS out of it. Balding, Rea and Tullet would do it for me but some of the other suggestions I'd be quite happy with. The comments reflect how useless the current lot from SS are.

[David Dockhouse Host]

10 hours ago, Leyther_Matt said:

Pains me to say it as a supporter of a Championship club, but RL’s rare forays in to live terrestrial games should be used to showcase the absolute elite of our game, on and off the field. Without wishing to detract too much from the topic, I’d even go so far as avoiding showing certain teams at home, either because of the banks of empty seats (Wigan, Huddersfield) or because it would fit in with a 1960’s Coronation Street rerun (Cas, Wakey). 

I think the championship is just as entertaining to watch as SL.

Would a casual viewer realise the difference in standard? 

[Dave T]

11 minutes ago, David Dockhouse Host said:

I think the championship is just as entertaining to watch as SL.

Would a casual viewer realise the difference in standard? 

They would see the difference between a 10 to 15k crowd and a 1 to 2k crowd. 

It can all be enjoyable, but the event status would look different. And that also goes for top of SL vs bottom of SL, which is part of Matts point. 

[Guest]

26 minutes ago, David Dockhouse Host said:

I think the championship is just as entertaining to watch as SL.

Would a casual viewer realise the difference in standard? 

The Championship is great and yes, very entertaining. But this is about showcasing the top level of the game. And that involves using the best players available, who usually are playing for SL clubs. 

[dkw]

11 hours ago, voteronniegibbs said:

Might I suggest that we have, President of the RFL and knowledgeable commentator, Clare Balding involved in the match day braodcasts.

I think shes more suited to a weekly highlights programme, or a boots n all type thing, same with Adam Hill. I dont think either would be that good at the short segments during a match build up programme.

[Damien]

15 minutes ago, dkw said:

I think shes more suited to a weekly highlights programme, or a boots n all type thing, same with Adam Hill. I dont think either would be that good at the short segments during a match build up programme.

Balding was good when she did it before.

[Just Browny]

21 minutes ago, dkw said:

I think shes more suited to a weekly highlights programme, or a boots n all type thing, same with Adam Hill. I dont think either would be that good at the short segments during a match build up programme.

Isn't it what she has done for almost all of her broadcasting career, including when she led the BBC RL coverage? Agree re Hills.

[RigbyLuger]

54 minutes ago, David Dockhouse Host said:

I think the championship is just as entertaining to watch as SL.

Would a casual viewer realise the difference in standard? 

They'd know it's not the top level. 

We're obsessed with getting the Championship on TV, but outside football, which other sport has it's second tier on telly, let alone FTA?

[JonM]

3 hours ago, Eddie said:

I was thinking that too, but how many clubs do you have left who’s home games might look exciting on tv to someone who hasn’t watched RL much before. Wire, Saints, Hull KR, Catalans and Leeds? Even they would need to put 25% on their normal crowds. 

Plenty of empty seats didn't stop the hundred being claimed as a success.

A stand with 50 people waving the 80s Italian football style flags, or a few people playing instruments can look better on TV than a packed stand watching in angry silence.

[Guest]

Dave T was also beaten to the punch by Tommygilf the other day, in the thread about the Halifax video. 
Maybe he’s losing his touch? #justsaying 

[Damien]

49 minutes ago, RigbyLuger said:

They'd know it's not the top level. 

We're obsessed with getting the Championship on TV, but outside football, which other sport has it's second tier on telly, let alone FTA?

I'm not sure the fascination either. The Championship was up for tender and the only broadcaster interested was Premier Sports and they are paying nothing. If FTA wanted it they could have bought it, or to be more precise been given it. There's no shame in that, 2nd tier sport outside of football just isn't that attractive to broadcasters or viewers.

[mrfranco]

11 hours ago, Man of Kent said:

From The Times:

There will be no regular highlights programme on Channel 4, though it will show highlights of the end-of-season Grand Final.

Channel 4 says it will appoint a production company to spearhead their coverage within the next after fielding a flurry of interest from interested parties.

 

 

First of all, it's great news that SL is to get live FTA games roughly once a month. And that it includes play-offs. And that that hopefully means the end of Thurs night play-off games.

The fact that C4 is to be the channel to show these games is also great news - they've a great history of doing innovative and attractive job of producing sports programmes. They also have a youngish audience and have a great track record of bringing in new audiences, whether that's with Football Italia, the NFL or their cricket coverage. I'm hoping and expecting they will bring a very welcome freshness to it, and the tendering process described is encouraging on that front.

The only real downside is this apparent lack of a highlights show - apparently the BBC contract is up, so hopefully someone at SL/RFL is currently working on getting a good highlights show on from next season in a decent time slot with a good chance of decent exposure - all the things that the Super League Show has not been in recent years. So I'm disappointed that that didn't come attached with the announcement of the C4 games, as they would be a natural fit. But fingers crossed this is still being worked on, with more positive news to come...    

[Man of Kent]

18 minutes ago, mrfranco said:

The only real downside is this apparent lack of a highlights show - apparently the BBC contract is up, so hopefully someone at SL/RFL is currently working on getting a good highlights show on from next season in a decent time slot with a good chance of decent exposure - all the things that the Super League Show has not been in recent years. So I'm disappointed that that didn't come attached with the announcement of the C4 games, as they would be a natural fit. But fingers crossed this is still being worked on, with more positive news to come...    

Now that all games will be filmed properly & have video refs etc., there is scope for a proper highlights package with decent footage - not SLS's knackered old dog 'tries with fake commentary & banal chit-chat' format.

Maybe Super League will make its own and put it out on YouTube like the NRL does?

[mrfranco]

1 minute ago, Man of Kent said:

Now that all games will be filmed properly & have video refs etc., there is scope for a proper highlights package with decent footage - not SLS's knackered old dog 'tries with fake commentary & banal chit-chat' format.

Maybe Super League will make its own and put it out on YouTube like the NRL does?

Yeah, I'm in favour of that. And easier (more obvious) access to just your own team's highlights on YouTube too.
 

But there is still scope for a good highlights show on TV - as the Beeb's own NFL show has shown. And MotD is still doing a good job too. 

I think we all agree it needs to be high quality and in a decent timeslot for the whole country. The SLS was never great, but when they stopped showing little match-report style packages of games and decided to just waffle on with the tries in the background, that was the final nail as far as I was concerned. 

 

[Man of Kent]

4 minutes ago, mrfranco said:

Yeah, I'm in favour of that. And easier (more obvious) access to just your own team's highlights on YouTube too.
 

But there is still scope for a good highlights show on TV - as the Beeb's own NFL show has shown. And MotD is still doing a good job too. 

I think we all agree it needs to be high quality and in a decent timeslot for the whole country. The SLS was never great, but when they stopped showing little match-report style packages of games and decided to just waffle on with the tries in the background, that was the final nail as far as I was concerned. 

 

The Beeb would be my first choice if it goes national and ups its game, but now that we have live matches on terrestrial perhaps a highlights show becomes less important.

Accessible, on-demand highlights are essential these days - particularly for a younger audience - and frankly we are miles behind the NRL, let alone other sports.  

[mrfranco]

3 minutes ago, Man of Kent said:

The Beeb would be my first choice if it goes national and ups its game, but now that we have live matches on terrestrial perhaps a highlights show becomes less important.

Accessible, on-demand highlights are essential these - particularly for a younger - and we are miles behind the NRL, let alone other sports.  

This is the opportunity to work on that - let's hope they are!!

[dkw]

3 hours ago, Damien said:

Balding was good when she did it before.

I didnt say she wasnt, just more suited to that kind of programme in my opinion. 

[Damien]

8 minutes ago, dkw said:

I didnt say she wasnt, just more suited to that kind of programme in my opinion. 

You said you didn't think she would be that good at the short segments during a match build up programme. That kind of gives the impression that you didn't think she was that good previously. I was just pointing out that she was good when she did that exact thing before.

[RigbyLuger]

She's good at both, she's tried and tested. If not her, we need a steady hand on board, not throwing someone in because they're a "Rugby League Person" without experience of hosting live sport.

[David Dockhouse Host]

4 hours ago, RigbyLuger said:

They'd know it's not the top level. 

We're obsessed with getting the Championship on TV, but outside football, which other sport has it's second tier on telly, let alone FTA?

Im not obsessed with getting championship on TV as such.

My point was about entertainment. To watch a game of RL, it can be as enjoyable, sometimes more so, to watch the championship. I know the crowds, level of the sport etc. Are what we want to showcase and agree, just worth noting that the entertainment factor can be equal and not necessarily obvious to a casual viewer.

[Guest]

Any news on whether they are paying or is it being offered for exposure?

[Damien]

24 minutes ago, Leonard said:

Any news on whether they are paying or is it being offered for exposure?

I should hope they are and reports seem to indicate they are. The game certainly shouldn't be giving away content like this for free to broadcasters.

[hunsletgreenandgold]

28 minutes ago, Damien said:

I should hope they are and reports seem to indicate they are. The game certainly shouldn't be giving away content like this for free to broadcasters.

That's true and I agree - but as Sky had exclusive rights and it's they who have let this deal happen, I guess I assumed it wasn't paid for? 

[Spidey]

8 minutes ago, hunsletgreenandgold said:

That's true and I agree - but as Sky had exclusive rights and it's they who have let this deal happen, I guess I assumed it wasn't paid for? 

Sky don't have exclusive rights anymore