RL on Channel 4

[Eddie]

2 hours ago, ShropshireBull said:

Yep that youth figure is huge for the game. Also gets rid of so many cliches about young people not watching tv.  Well if you put the shows young people  (esp Men ) used to watch all behind paywalls when they have less money than parents they wont watch it. 

C4 arent competing with Sky but complimenting.  One game a week next deal would be perfect. 

Tbf it might be 13.7% of a tiny number of 16-30 year olds, without the actual numbers to add context that stat doesn’t say a great deal. Though of course it’s better than 2% of 16-30 year olds watching. 

[Damien]

6 minutes ago, Eddie said:

Tbf it might be 13.7% of a tiny number of 16-30 year olds, without the actual numbers to add context that stat doesn’t say a great deal. Though of course it’s better than 2% of 16-30 year olds watching. 

But surely the most popular programme with that group and up 117% on that usual slot does. That is a direct comparison. 

Edited February 21, 2022 by Damien

[Dunbar]

52 minutes ago, ShropshireBull said:

We´re in Top 50 for men 16-34 for the week ending 13th Feb. 

https://www.thinkbox.tv/research/barb-data/top-programmes-report/?tag=Men1634

It's a little frustrating on that site that you can't do a multi-level filter.

Super League is 50th for men 16-34 and 35th in the Channel 4 numbers but you can't select Channel 4 numbers only and then use the Commercial TV By Audience filters.  It would be interesting to see where Super League came in the various demographics for Channel 4... i.e. how far up the 16-34 age group or the ABC1 Adults it was for Channel 4 as a whole.

[Desert Skipper]

On 20/02/2022 at 21:49, Man of Kent said:

I believe Jon Wells’ touchscreen is the best bit of any current RL coverage worldwide but I’m not sure Channel 4 is ready yet to bring in a player post-match to talk about how they isolated the four man defender etc. Maybe tactical analysis will come later.

Everyone seems to bag Wells and the touchscreen. Maybe it’s just me, but I could happily spend an hour watching a magazine show dedicated purely to analysing attack and defence with Wells, with a few of the more eloquent and loquacious RL players and coaches having their two cents as well.

I enjoy learning the tactics of different coaches. It would be nice to see a bit more of what goes on behind the scenes in training at different clubs too. Warrington released a 15 minute excerpt of Powell’s first meeting with the Warrington players and briefly covered what and how he’s going to change. I wish we could get the opportunity to see more of this sort of thing.

[Man of Kent]

1 hour ago, ShropshireBull said:

We´re in Top 50 for men 16-34 for the week ending 13th Feb. 

https://www.thinkbox.tv/research/barb-data/top-programmes-report/?tag=Men1634

Thanks for posting that. Very interesting website.

In addition to ranking 50th for men aged 16-34, it ranked as the 44th most watched programme by all adults aged 16-24 and 42nd for under 16s. Seems to me that the good numbers for a younger audience is very important in the longer term.

[Man of Kent]

5 minutes ago, Desert Skipper said:

Everyone seems to bag Wells and the touchscreen. Maybe it’s just me, but I could happily spend an hour watching a magazine show dedicated purely to analysing attack and defence with Wells, with a few of the more eloquent and loquacious RL players and coaches having their two cents as well.

Me too.

Wells greatly enhances the coverage because he breaks down the mechanics of how tries were scored, which is difficult if not impossible to see in real-time with a relatively narrow field of vision via the TV cameras.

Anthony Seibold does/did a series for the NRL YouTube channel called The Game Plan. 

[Eddie]

18 minutes ago, Desert Skipper said:

Everyone seems to bag Wells and the touchscreen. Maybe it’s just me, but I could happily spend an hour watching a magazine show dedicated purely to analysing attack and defence with Wells, with a few of the more eloquent and loquacious RL players and coaches having their two cents as well.

I enjoy learning the tactics of different coaches. It would be nice to see a bit more of what goes on behind the scenes in training at different clubs too. Warrington released a 15 minute excerpt of Powell’s first meeting with the Warrington players and briefly covered what and how he’s going to change. I wish we could get the opportunity to see more of this sort of thing.

I like listening to him too, though I can see why C4 wouldn’t want an approach like that. 
 

According to Wikipedia he did a Law Degree and a master's degree in Criminal Justice Studies while he played for Cas, obviously a very bright bloke. 

[Dunbar]

I agree about Jon Wells.  If I am watching a game I have recorded I pretty much forward through all the pre and half time chat but I will always listen the the Wells stuff as he actually has insights into the how the game is playing out tactically and it is very good.

[Barry Badrinath]

On 21/02/2022 at 07:15, Just Browny said:

I think the decision to go for two games in February without a covered studio was wild. Hills probably has a strong H&S claim against Channel 4.

Indeed, after the Hull game he probably couldn't feel all of his toes 

[dkw]

54 minutes ago, Desert Skipper said:

Everyone seems to bag Wells and the touchscreen. Maybe it’s just me, but I could happily spend an hour watching a magazine show dedicated purely to analysing attack and defence with Wells, with a few of the more eloquent and loquacious RL players and coaches having their two cents as well.

I enjoy learning the tactics of different coaches. It would be nice to see a bit more of what goes on behind the scenes in training at different clubs too. Warrington released a 15 minute excerpt of Powell’s first meeting with the Warrington players and briefly covered what and how he’s going to change. I wish we could get the opportunity to see more of this sort of thing.

I dont think many people do bag Wells really, at least not on here, he's almost universally well respected and highly thought of. It's pretty much the only reason I watch half time analysis on Sky now, the rest is just white noise.

[Dave T]

3 minutes ago, dkw said:

I dont think many people do bag Wells really, at least not on here, he's almost universally well respected and highly thought of. It's pretty much the only reason I watch half time analysis on Sky now, the rest is just white noise.

I agree, Wells seems to be viewed very positively. 

[Barry Badrinath]

44 minutes ago, dkw said:

I dont think many people do bag Wells really, at least not on here, he's almost universally well respected and highly thought of. It's pretty much the only reason I watch half time analysis on Sky now, the rest is just white noise.

Hmm, I dunno Wells has a copped a lot of flak around social media over the last few years, he's joined phil Clarke's category of "talks a lot,  says nothing"

 

I dont agree, I think its yet again slightly thick rl fans not liking someone that isn't like baz n tez.

[johnh1]

Hills was on Steph's packed lunch today and gave our game another big mention. He plays for Warrington's disabled  (sorry if I can't use that word) team. What a great bloke he is for our game.

[dkw]

36 minutes ago, johnh1 said:

Hills was on Steph's packed lunch today and gave our game another big mention. He plays for Warrington's disabled  (sorry if I can't use that word) team. What a great bloke he is for our game.

Hills is rapidly becoming one of my answers to the old "which famous people would you love to go for a beer with" question.

[Desert Skipper]

47 minutes ago, johnh1 said:

sorry if I can't use that word

Pretty sure it’s fine. The sport is known as Physical Disability RL. But I know it’s a bit difficult keeping up with the latest PC terms unless you have to time to scour the news pages every day.

[Sir Kevin Sinfield]

I can’t remember the figures but the viewers were well down for Wakefield v Warrington compared to Hull v Saints, which was also down compared to Leeds v Warrington. Now I don’t want this to sound negative as we had a great start but a downward trajectory for viewing figures isn’t good. What’s the next few games on Channel 4? Personally I think it’s clear we need to broadcast our big clubs to the Nation on free to air tv.

[bobbruce]

9 minutes ago, Sir Kevin Sinfield said:

I can’t remember the figures but the viewers were well down for Wakefield v Warrington compared to Hull v Saints, which was also down compared to Leeds v Warrington. Now I don’t want this to sound negative as we had a great start but a downward trajectory for viewing figures isn’t good. What’s the next few games on Channel 4? Personally I think it’s clear we need to broadcast our big clubs to the Nation on free to air tv.

Don’t they get the pick of whatever games are left after sky have chosen theirs. 

[Tommygilf]

39 minutes ago, bobbruce said:

Don’t they get the pick of whatever games are left after sky have chosen theirs. 

They do, but I suspect they are going to try cover every English team once

[fighting irish]

48 minutes ago, Sir Kevin Sinfield said:

I can’t remember the figures but the viewers were well down for Wakefield v Warrington compared to Hull v Saints, which was also down compared to Leeds v Warrington. Now I don’t want this to sound negative as we had a great start but a downward trajectory for viewing figures isn’t good. What’s the next few games on Channel 4? Personally I think it’s clear we need to broadcast our big clubs to the Nation on free to air tv.

I think one contributory factor is the irregular frequency of the coverage.

It's easier to keep track, if it were once a month, or once a fortnight, for example.

I got caught out for the Warrington - Wakefield game because I didn't know when it was being screened.

Hands up! I'm guilty of not planning my viewing weeks or months in advance, rather responding spontaneously (at short notice) when I hear a game is on.

So I imagine a significant number of viewers will (like me) have lost track of the televised fixture schedule and may have missed the game as a result.  

[gingerjon]

1 hour ago, Sir Kevin Sinfield said:

I can’t remember the figures but the viewers were well down for Wakefield v Warrington compared to Hull v Saints, which was also down compared to Leeds v Warrington. 

Does anyone have the actual figures for this?

[RP London]

18 minutes ago, fighting irish said:

I think one contributory factor is the irregular frequency of the coverage.

It's easier to keep track, if it were once a month, or once a fortnight, for example.

I got caught out for the Warrington - Wakefield game because I didn't know when it was being screened.

Hands up! I'm guilty of not planning my viewing weeks or months in advance, rather responding spontaneously (at short notice) when I hear a game is on.

So I imagine a significant number of viewers will (like me) have lost track of the televised fixture schedule and may have missed the game as a result.  

I'm the same, even as a wire fan i had forgotten it was on channel 4. 

Add into the fact it was not necessarily a "glamour tie" that it was the last weekend of the 6 nations with a game kicking off in the middle of it.. There will be plenty of "casual viewers" who would be either, getting to the pub early for a day drinking watching 6 nations or sitting at home waiting for the 6 nations to start or (as in my case) doing some jobs around the house trying to earn some brownie points before writing the afternoon off.

[Tommygilf]

1 minute ago, fighting irish said:

I think one contributory factor is the irregular frequency of the coverage.

It's easier to keep track, if it were once a month, or once a fortnight, for example.

I got caught out for the Warrington - Wakefield game because I didn't know when it was being screened.

Hands up! I'm guilty of not planning my viewing weeks or months in advance, rather responding spontaneously (at short notice) when I hear a game is on.

So I imagine a significant number of viewers will (like me) have lost track of the televised fixture schedule and may have missed the game as a result.  

As you describe, the reality is that the sport isn't generally popular enough to command a massive interest regardless of who is on and with minimal promotion to boot. Lets be honest, Warrington vs Wakefield isn't an attractive fixture to their fans particularly, let alone the wider world of rugby league; and those aren't massive fanbases on their own as a base figure. Neutrals/ aren't going to look at the upcoming fixtures, if at all, and say "why isn't that game on Sky?". 

Perhaps that means Super League and Ch4 need to be more selective over which games are on their broadcasts?

After 2 big openers with 4 of the 5 big English clubs, it appears that the MO for the remaining regular season games will be to pair a big 5 team with a less attractive team. I can understand the logic of leveraging a Warrington or a Wigan so that Salford or Wakefield can get their day too, but at some point there must also be a thought to commercial concerns. From a factfinding position, there is also the way that this may shed light on differences in commercial interest between teams, even amongst those the top (ie, which teams can carry more "weight" so to speak).

[Dave T]

The numbers look disappointing, and whilst the game turned out great (for non-Wire fans) it probably wasn't a big draw, with a low key build up and plenty of rivalry and nice weather. 

But this is the business C4 are in, they will understand fluctuations in viewing figures and seasonal trends, so we don't need to panic, I think looking over the full year will tell them a lot. 

But it's disappointing for the game that we can get higher on Sky. 

[MrPosh]

To be fair, I doubt I'd bother with Wire v Wakey on a cold Thursday night when there's nothing else to do.

I'm certainly not going to make a point of staying in on a Saturday lunchtime for the same.

[fighting irish]

6 minutes ago, Dave T said:

The numbers look disappointing, and whilst the game turned out great (for non-Wire fans) it probably wasn't a big draw, with a low key build up and plenty of rivalry and nice weather. 

But this is the business C4 are in, they will understand fluctuations in viewing figures and seasonal trends, so we don't need to panic, I think looking over the full year will tell them a lot. 

But it's disappointing for the game that we can get higher on Sky. 

As always with statistics, its difficult to define the relative ''weighting'' of each of the contributory factors.

I'm inclined not to blame the clubs for being unattractive 'draws'.

I think the other things we've mentioned, like the irregular frequency of televised matches, low-key build up, good weather and a lot of rival sports coverage, may have all played their part, in giving the impression that Wire - Wakey is unglamorous.

Hopefully, there will be a bounce in the numbers, when there are less distractions.