Are Saints in the News?

[Sports Prophet]

Keen to hear what press coverage there is in the UK following Saints victory in WCC.

[Sports Prophet]

What was funny about that @GUBRATS? 

[bamfordsbeans]

Turned Sky Sports News on after the game expecting a mention at the top.

Instead it was all soccer with the major breaking news-a news conference with the womens England football manager.

[Whippet13]

8 hours ago, Sports Prophet said:

What was funny about that @GUBRATS? 

It's a well known and constant struggle for RL to get any mainstream media coverage in the UK, which focuses overwhelmingly on soccer and "establishment" sports enjoyed by the elite.

Probably more important is any media traction in Australia. Australian RL not being world (club) champions will hopefully chafe and help get the NRL out of their ongoing indifference to playing British teams, either at club or international level.

 

[Mr Frisky]

8 hours ago, Sports Prophet said:

What was funny about that @GUBRATS? 

Its the old argument that all UK news is controlled by public schoolboys in London - they don't even know what RL is.

Probably Twitter etc is the best way to see a true reflection and it was all over it yesterday 

[Szymala]

1 hour ago, bamfordsbeans said:

Turned Sky Sports News on after the game expecting a mention at the top.

Instead it was all soccer with the major breaking news-a news conference with the womens England football manager.

No way ! Surely not.

[GUBRATS]

8 hours ago, Sports Prophet said:

What was funny about that @GUBRATS? 

Jack Grealish changing the colour of his ' Alice band ' would draw more media attention than Saints winning the WCC in this country 

[JM2010]

The WCC is something that Rugby League has that lots of other sports, including Union, doesn’t .

Now it’s back in the calendar everyone in the game should be doing as much as they can to promote it and make it feel like a massive event.

I think it could get the game a lot of media attention if it is promoted and built up as a big event(which it is)

[Oxford]

18 minutes ago, JM2010 said:

The WCC is something that Rugby League has that lots of other sports, including Union, doesn’t .

Now it’s back in the calendar everyone in the game should be doing as much as they can to promote it and make it feel like a massive event.

I think it could get the game a lot of media attention if it is promoted and built up as a big event(which it is)

It will, of course go back to IMG's role and the media unrpresentation of RL. JM you're spot on in that is could be and should be made huge by the sport itself.

Then we come to how it was presented in Oz as a warm-up friendly for the real thing with added looking down on one of the sides.

35 minutes ago, Mr Frisky said:

Probably Twitter etc is the best way to see a true reflection and it was all over it yesterday 

Totally agree Frisky

Apart from the fact the London legacy media is a dead man walking the measure of impact should be the reaction on social media and how to grow that aspect.

 

 

[Harry Stottle]

Broadcast on two platforms live one subscription and one free to air, it will be interesting to see the viewing figures when they are released, I must say though until I was reading the pre-match thread on here a couple of days before the game I was unaware it was on Channel 4, considering as we are informed on these pages that IMG are behind the production of Channel 4's RL coverage why wasn't it shouted from the rooftops, I thought that promotion and advertising was IMG's forte?

[gingerjon]

When I checked yesterday morning it was the second story on both the BBC Sport and Guardian Sport websites. The BBC gave it minute by minute coverage and full radio commentary.

[Tommygilf]

5 minutes ago, Harry Stottle said:

Broadcast on two platforms live one subscription and one free to air, it will be interesting to see the viewing figures when they are released, I must say though until I was reading the pre-match thread on here a couple of days before the game I was unaware it was on Channel 4, considering as we are informed on these pages that IMG are behind the production of Channel 4's RL coverage why wasn't it shouted from the rooftops, I thought that promotion and advertising was IMG's forte?

Perhaps Sky were happy to simulcast the game, but not too happy for the advertisement to be to their detriment. Seems to be the case with a lot of their FTA Simulcasts.

[Harry Stottle]

1 minute ago, Tommygilf said:

Perhaps Sky were happy to simulcast the game, but not too happy for the advertisement to be to their detriment. Seems to be the case with a lot of their FTA Simulcasts.

And ............ the question in point Tommy re IMG's involvement with Channel 4, why was it a seemingly closely guarded secret that the game was being broadcast live!

[GUBRATS]

The problem we've had with the WCC is normally the NRL team wins fairly easily , so when we get the result , it's already too late 

Do we build it up , only to see it be a wipeout , with all the negativity that brings ? 

Maybe if we can get another couple of WCC titles in the next few years , say Salford and Leigh , the the greater UK press will get interested ?

[Sports Prophet]

11 minutes ago, Oxford said:

It will, of course go back to IMG's role and the media unrpresentation of RL. JM you're spot on in that is could be and should be made huge by the sport itself.

Then we come to how it was presented in Oz as a warm-up friendly for the real thing with added looking down on one of the sides.

Totally agree Frisky

Apart from the fact the London legacy media is a dead man walking the measure of impact should be the reaction on social media and how to grow that aspect.

 

 

I don't recall the media looking down on the fixture or having it presented as a warm up fixture. Are you sure this actually happened?

I know there are bozos on Facebook discrediting the win because Saints are in the middle of the season and Penrith are still in pre-season. But I wouldn't let a few bozos lead you to believe what the general rugby league fan thinks.

[Sports Prophet]

12 minutes ago, Harry Stottle said:

Broadcast on two platforms live one subscription and one free to air, it will be interesting to see the viewing figures when they are released, I must say though until I was reading the pre-match thread on here a couple of days before the game I was unaware it was on Channel 4, considering as we are informed on these pages that IMG are behind the production of Channel 4's RL coverage why wasn't it shouted from the rooftops, I thought that promotion and advertising was IMG's forte?

I assume the time the match was broadcast meant little advertising took place

[Sports Prophet]

12 minutes ago, gingerjon said:

When I checked yesterday morning it was the second story on both the BBC Sport and Guardian Sport websites. The BBC gave it minute by minute coverage and full radio commentary.

That's great.

[gingerjon]

1 minute ago, Sports Prophet said:

That's great.

It is always going to vanish reasonably quickly - that's just the nature of sports coverage in this country. A day when Arsenal win 4-2 and City draw, both in dramatic fashion, will see those dwarf anything else.

[Jack Russell]

15 minutes ago, Harry Stottle said:

Broadcast on two platforms live one subscription and one free to air, it will be interesting to see the viewing figures when they are released, I must say though until I was reading the pre-match thread on here a couple of days before the game I was unaware it was on Channel 4, considering as we are informed on these pages that IMG are behind the production of Channel 4's RL coverage why wasn't it shouted from the rooftops, I thought that promotion and advertising was IMG's forte?

Yup, I watched it on sky. I Would have watched on c4 if I knew it was on there.

[gingerjon]

3 minutes ago, Sports Prophet said:

I assume the time the match was broadcast meant little advertising took place

Go back over the C4 Sport feed. There's plenty of pre game build up, including commissioned films, and then lots during the game.

It was also well covered by the RL press that Channel 4 had bought the terrestrial rights.

[Sports Prophet]

1 minute ago, gingerjon said:

Go back over the C4 Sport feed. There's plenty of pre game build up, including commissioned films, and then lots during the game.

It was also well covered by the RL press that Channel 4 had bought the terrestrial rights.

Is C4 showing one game a week this year or still just a random select number of fixtures?

[Barley Mow]

1 minute ago, Sports Prophet said:

Is C4 showing one game a week this year or still just a random select number of fixtures?

Same as last year, it was a two year deal.

We'll have to wait and see if that changes next year.

Edited February 19, 2023 by Barley Mow

[Tippytoe]

3 minutes ago, Jack Russell said:

Yup, I watched it on sky. I Would have watched on c4 if I knew it was on there.

Ditto 

[gingerjon]

4 minutes ago, Sports Prophet said:

Is C4 showing one game a week this year or still just a random select number of fixtures?

10 across the season.

It's similar to their deals for all the sports they show. I don't think they have a weekly commitment to anything.

[Oxford]

10 minutes ago, Sports Prophet said:

I don't recall the media looking down on the fixture or having it presented as a warm up fixture. Are you sure this actually happened?

When you have an event, I thought the idea is that it's a one off, special in the calendar and needs to be held separately from all other compeitions. It should probably be at a neutral venue as well.

As for Saints there was a huge amount of talking them down and questioning them being there at all. So much so that some commentators had to big them up to balance it.

3 minutes ago, gingerjon said:

It's similar to their deals for all the sports they show. I don't think they have a weekly commitment to anything.

Then it should be on IMG's shopping list for a sit down and talk about a magazine prog just before The Last Leg so Hillsy can mention it  afterwards.