Re: BBC Again : Wed Aug 26, 2015 6:58 pm  

I don't think it's a case of being 'paranoid as hell' at all.

Not too many people are complaining about the Beeb's coverage of, say, the CCF itself, which is fine, in my view (and certainly a big improvement on those clowns at Sky). It's the general importance with which the sport is treated, as evidenced by the BBC sport website concentrating on Mathers. Compare and contrast the attitude to, say, the last RLWC with the ridiculously over-hyped Six Nations, where taking an interest is virtually treated as a patriotic necessity for even the casual viewer.

All that said, I agree with you that the RFL would be crazy to allow the CC to go to Sky.

Re: BBC Again : Wed Aug 26, 2015 7:29 pm  

The Avenger wrote:

So the Mathers non story is a bigger news than the Challenge a Cup final is it?

If not then why run the Mathers story for 4 full days just ahead of the Wenbley final.

That's not paranoid fella that's a fact and it's not isolated is it?

A player getting suspended over an alleged betting scandal isn't a 'non story'.

As to why it has been the lead story for four days, what has the sport done to generate newsworthy headlines? We've had a few press releases about ticket sales (and one could argue that a showpiece event should be sold out well before three days before a final) and we've had a press event for the final at Doncaster Racecourse (Doncaster, of course, being a renowned as a major national media hub) where players trot out the same platitudes and cliches year after year.

Believe it or not, the BBC is not Rugby League's PR agency. The fact that the Mathers story is still the lead article is a failure of all clubs (but particularly this week Hull KR and Leeds) and the RFL to actually provide the media with anything worth talking about.

Re: BBC Again : Wed Aug 26, 2015 7:52 pm  

moto748 wrote:

All that said, I agree with you that the RFL would be crazy to allow the CC to go to Sky.

They HAVE let the CC go to Sky. But that's the RFL for you. Sky probably just plucked a figure out of the air and the RFL have gone "yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah".

Re: BBC Again : Wed Aug 26, 2015 7:56 pm  

Being back in the country since 5 years ago I was amazed the total lack of RL covg in the Nationals. It's literally one small paragraph most days. Not sure what the RL can do about it but geez it is pretty sad to see.

Re: BBC Again : Wed Aug 26, 2015 8:05 pm  

moto748 wrote:

I don't think it's a case of being 'paranoid as hell' at all.

Not too many people are complaining about the Beeb's coverage of, say, the CCF itself, which is fine, in my view (and certainly a big improvement on those clowns at Sky). It's the general importance with which the sport is treated, as evidenced by the BBC sport website concentrating on Mathers. Compare and contrast the attitude to, say, the last RLWC with the ridiculously over-hyped Six Nations, where taking an interest is virtually treated as a patriotic necessity for even the casual viewer.

All that said, I agree with you that the RFL would be crazy to allow the CC to go to Sky.

So a tournament played in 6 European countries in front of over a million spectators and being watched by upto 10 million viewers per game (check the BARB figures for Wales v England this year) is 'ridiculously over-hyped'? You are right, it's because the 6N is such a small tournament compared with the Challenge Cup A section of RL fans bleat continuously because RU gets more coverage, here's some news for you: it is a bigger sport geographically and financially so will get more coverage (including from the BBC), just as soccer gets more coverage than RU. The only difference is RU fans don't bellyache about it continuously.

Re: BBC Again : Thu Aug 27, 2015 12:15 am  

galliant wrote:

So a tournament played in 6 European countries in front of over a million spectators and being watched by upto 10 million viewers per game (check the BARB figures for Wales v England this year) is 'ridiculously over-hyped'? You are right, it's because the 6N is such a small tournament compared with the Challenge Cup A section of RL fans bleat continuously because RU gets more coverage, here's some news for you: it is a bigger sport geographically and financially so will get more coverage (including from the BBC), just as soccer gets more coverage than RU. The only difference is RU fans don't bellyache about it continuously.

Given a similar amount of national coverage in the media over decades as well as the massive build up to tournaments/matches and the actual live coverage which bombards the screens RL would fare far far better, it's hardly surprising the viewing figures/interest.
As for RU fans bellyaching, they get an inordinate amount of media coverage even at club level comparative to their sports actual popularity, more so even than soccer, there are more international union matches live on FTA than there are soccer, no wonder they don't have a reason to moan.

Re: BBC Again : Thu Aug 27, 2015 7:20 am  

galliant wrote:

So a tournament played in 6 European countries in front of over a million spectators and being watched by upto 10 million viewers per game (check the BARB figures for Wales v England this year) is 'ridiculously over-hyped'? You are right, it's because the 6N is such a small tournament compared with the Challenge Cup A section of RL fans bleat continuously because RU gets more coverage, here's some news for you: it is a bigger sport geographically and financially so will get more coverage (including from the BBC), just as soccer gets more coverage than RU. The only difference is RU fans don't bellyache about it continuously.

I don't give two fuicks about Rugby Union, why are you on here talking about that crap again!

Re: BBC Again : Thu Aug 27, 2015 8:28 am  

knockersbumpMKII wrote:

Given a similar amount of national coverage in the media over decades as well as the massive build up to tournaments/matches and the actual live coverage which bombards the screens RL would fare far far better, it's hardly surprising the viewing figures/interest.
As for RU fans bellyaching, they get an inordinate amount of media coverage even at club level comparative to their sports actual popularity, more so even than soccer, there are more international union matches live on FTA than there are soccer, no wonder they don't have a reason to moan.

You've just basically recycled what this and countless other threads have blindly said and its factually not true. If by 'bombard the screens' you mean RU is on TV a lot, that's because there are quite a few competitions worldwide both domestically and internationally, far more than RL, so it will get more coverage. As I said before, the bigger the sport the more coverage it gets. If RL doesn't get a lot of coverage it's not because of some worldwide conspiracy (RL isn't important enough for that), its because (brace yourself) not enough people like RL to go watch the game live or on TV. RU at club level gets roughly the same coverage as RL, as for its popularity its attendance figures have risen most years and its viewing figures have risen the last 2 years to overtake RLs (which have fallen). That's down to RL fans who have stopped attending and watching on TV, is that RUs/the medias fault too? And If there are more international RU matches on FTA TV then that means there's a demand for their sport (which is backed up by the viewing figures), and maybe the people who run soccer and RL should pull their fingers out eh?

Re: BBC Again : Thu Aug 27, 2015 12:14 pm  

CommanderShepard wrote:

They HAVE let the CC go to Sky. But that's the RFL for you. Sky probably just plucked a figure out of the air and the RFL have gone "yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah".

What, the whole kit and caboodle, or just the early rounds (as this season)? Not so bothered about the early rounds being on Sky as long as the semis and Final are on BBC.

But if that's the thin end of the wedge...

Re: BBC Again : Fri Aug 28, 2015 1:43 pm  

JB Down Under wrote:

Being back in the country since 5 years ago I was amazed the total lack of RL covg in the Nationals. It's literally one small paragraph most days. Not sure what the RL can do about it but geez it is pretty sad to see.

I have just been to visit relatives in France. If you think the UK suffers from apathy you should have a look over the water. This is the time of year when we start to wonder which Elite teams will fail to make the first game of the season or which will fold part way through. I can never understand how, outside Catalan Dragons on Bein Sport, RL gets less national TV time than Pelota or even grass slope ski jumping. On some of the local channels there is reasonable coverage of local events like box car racing and I once spent a wet couple of hours watching Solex racing. What are we doing wrong?