ITV will be the main TV home of the Men’s Six Nations Championships, with coverage of 10 games and every England fixture.
- BBC coverage cut to five games per year, plus highlights and online clips.
Fears of a pay TV switch for the Men’s Six Nations Rugby competition have been allayed after ITV and the BBC agreed a new TV deal starting from next year.
The four year partnership will run until the end of decade, with ITV taking on the bulk of free-to-air TV coverage.
ITV will show ten games, including all England games. These will be available on ITV1 and ITVX. Viewers in central and northern Scotland will be able to watch on STV and STV Player.
Additionally, ITV will offer highlights and exclusive content on its social media accounts and on YouTube.
The BBC meanwhile will screen five games involving Scotland and Wales on BBC One and BBC iPlayer. The broadcaster will also show TV highlights of other games. It also has the rights to embed clips of the action across its website and apps. The BBC will also continue to cover the U20 Six Nations and Women’s Six Nations event. Additionally, the BBC has secured full audio rights, with live coverage of all Six Nation games on BBC Radio, BBC Sounds and the BBC Sport website.
Why the change?
The new balance of power between the BBC and ITV is a result of ITV stumping up the majority of the cash for the TV rights. The amounts paid were not disclosed. The BBC once held all the TV rights to Six Nations Rugby, before ITV stepped a decade ago to keep coverage free-to-air.
Speculation over the BBC’s willingness to pay heightened rumours that Six Nations Rugby might switch to pay TV. That would have left Freeview and Freesat users without access for the first time in the history of the competition.
By: Marc Thornham