Tuesday 3 March 2020

Having to watch Midsommer Murder instead of Wales V England in the future.

Even if Rugby is not as dominant  over football in Cymru , then the whole idea that !Six Nations organisers said they "would not rule anything out" after reports the tournament would no longer be on free-to-air television from 2022.

The BBC who understandably  may be biased say .
The television rights are shared between the BBC and ITV, but it appears a joint bid may not be allowed when the deal ends in 2021.The Rugby Paper reported on Saturday that the championship would go behind a paywall on Sky.But a Six Nations statement said any speculation was "highly premature"."Six Nations are in the process of seeking bids for various sets of media rights but these are not due for some time," the statement read."All of this is highly premature and speculative as no proposals have yet been received by any interested party."We would not rule anything out at this stage and the unions will collectively review and make a decision based on the nature of the offers received."England's home games were on Sky from 1997 to 2000, but Six Nations games have been free-to-air since then.A BBC spokesperson said: "While we wouldn't comment on the specifics of an ongoing rights negotiation, terrestrial channels have brought unprecedented viewing figures to the Six Nations, ensuring that rugby remains a sport that is very much relevant and enjoyed by as wide an audience as possible and we very much hope that will continue."A motion to keep the Six Nations on free-to-air TV has been tabled in parliament by Kevin Brennan, Labour MP for Cardiff West.In February, the Guardian reported that the deal to sell a stake of the tournament to private equity firm CVC is being held up by the home unions' desire to keep the Six Nations on terrestrial television.Leader of Plaid Cymru Adam Price has written to the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) Oliver Dowden asking for the tournament to be protected on terrestrial television on the grounds that it is an "integral part of Welsh culture and identity".Under the Broadcasting Act 1996, a series of "Group A" sporting events were listed which must stay on free-to-air television. These include the FA Cup final, the Grand National and the Olympic Games.A DCMS spokesperson said: "Our listed events regime strikes a balance between retaining free-to-air sports events for the public while allowing rights holders to negotiate agreements in the best interests of their sport. Negotiations on television rights are a matter for the sports authorities and broadcasters."
Imagine those on low wages , or the infirm for who even going to the pub to watch Waled V England for a Grand Slam decided  , is not on . as it is either too expensive or too far away (or both)

You can't even guarantee that every club or pub will themselves afford to pay for view (probably having to pay more. so even the current pint and half time meal may not be an option for some.

Whatever you think of Brian Moore as a Rugby pundit and I like him , he is often on the side of the Angels when it comes to political comments  and he hits the nail on the head when it comes to "pay for view.

As he says.

Rugby has no obligation to CVC and talk of a TV paywall – it cannot afford to get this decision wrong
There is a plan afoot to take the Six Nations behind Sky’s satellite TV paywall and to prevent terrestrial broadcasters ITV and the BBC from combining their bids, a mechanism which has kept the tournament free to air.
Let me declare an interest: I have, for 20 years, worked on the BBC’s Six Nations coverage as a pundit and a co-commentator. That said, this is a small minority of my total income, the vast majority of which comes from private media outlets. I have no reason to advocate for public over private media, unless I believe it to be in rugby’s best interests, which in this case I firmly do.
From where has this initiative come? This is rumoured to be at the prompting of CVC Capital Partners, a private equity firm which has its headquarters in Luxembourg. Amongst a myriad of investments, it is widely reported that CVC has bought a £120 million stake in the Pro14, a 27 per cent holding in Premiership Rugby and is seeking to finalise a £300 million deal to obtain a 14 per cent stake in the Six Nations. It also, notably, has an 80 per cent stake in Sky’s betting and gaming company.
The first point to make is that CVC has no track record in rugby and has previously expressed no interest in it as a sport. If its recent ownership of Formula One is anything to go by, it appears to be interested only on its return on investment. In 2016, the then deputy team principal of Force India summed up everything about the firm’s relationship with F1 in a single sentence: “All their actions have been taken to extract as much money from the sport as possible and put as little in as possible.”
In 2014, it is reported they took in £347 million from a turnover of £1.25 billion, at that point representing a return on investment of more than 350 per cent. Between 2010 and 2019, F1’s viewing numbers are said to have fallen 137 million globally.
Rugby is not like football. It is a minority sport which needs money and exposure even to stand still in the battle to survive. If you doubt this, look at what happened to cricket in the decade after 2005 when it left free-to-air television. The England and Wales Cricket Board announced record turnover, profit and investment in the game and a near 30 per cent drop in participation numbers. There is no reason to think the same would not happen in rugby.
Whilst CVC have invested a lot of money, they do not own a majority stake in any rugby competition. Why are they being treated as majority owners and seemingly being unchallenged over where these contracts are awarded?
The Six Nations is an extraordinary entity. Audiences of up to nine million, year on year, for a minority sport are unprecedented. Many of these viewers are not regular rugby fans, because if they were, rugby would be the national sport. They will not pay to watch in any guise and live viewing numbers will plummet. Take just one example – Sky’s peak audience for the England v New Zealand game in the autumn of 2018, arguably the biggest draw in the sport, peaked at 1.5 million.
The Six Nations committee retains majority ownership of the Six Nations; CVC has a one-seventh share. It must consider why the tournament commands such high viewings and what would happen to rugby in the northern hemisphere without that audience. It should ask itself – what obligation does it have to CVC, legal or moral, and why should it dance to the tune of equity capitalists who have no interest beyond maximising return?
At present, the competition is a category B event under the Ofcom Code on Sports and Other Listed and Designated Events and is protected provided sufficient free-to-air highlights are made available. Such broadcasts might satisfy the terms of the listing but, for rugby itself, the exposure would be nowhere near as effective as the current model, which sees the autumn internationals on satellite TV and the Six Nations free-to-air, a combination that gives cash and the mass audience needed to publicise the game.
There have already been rumours of certain games being made pay as you go and what is to stop this becoming ubiquitous if the cash stacks up for CVC? How do you think CVC will seek to use the Six Nations to leverage its ownership of Sky’s betting arm? What makes you believe that CVC has rugby’s long-term interest at heart?
Rugby cannot afford to get this decision wrong and it should remember, it will have to live with the consequences of a bad choice. CVC will be long gone and on to whatever project it thinks will add to its $75 billion (£59 billion) asse
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Welsh language broadcasts on S4C may also be ended and many may find themselves reverting to the Radio , taking us back over 60 years or watchimg repeats of Midsommer Murder..


1 comment:

Leigh Richards said...

The 6N going to pay per view is a appalling prospect, and something which i think will impact on peoples sense of welsh identity. Rugby is uniquely important to people in wales, indeed for over 120 years its how weve presented ourselves to the world as a nation. And certainly the many successes of the wales rugby team down the years has helped forge a sense of welsh nationhood among people. 82 percent of people in Wales watch 6 nations games – that figure will collapse if it moves to pay per view. Many people in wales simply cant afford to pay for sky or bt sport.

And you have to worry that the subsequent drop in interest in the welsh team that will inevitably result from this will impact on our perception of ourselves as a nation? I understand that many of us feel that too many people in wales only seem to see ourselves as a nation when wales are playing rugby – but i think this issue is too important for those of us who value wales’ nationhood for us not to be very concerned by this.

Plaid have created this petition to keep the 6 Nations free to view

https://www.partyof.wales/keep_the_six_nations_free_to_view