I doubt it.



I've always been a fan of the Sky team, and feel in general they do a good job, but more and more Stevo is becoming a pain and Eddie is acting more like an old woman. I think he has been hanging around with RL Fans for too long!

Always amuses me how people think TV deals are done. If ITV or anyone else was interested in showing RL and made a decent offer to the RFL, then perhaps a change from the BBC would occur. But they haven't, so it hasn't. It's really that simple.

Didn't ITV have a stab at covering the NFP (or whatever it was at the time) Grand Final a few years back?



From memory it looked like the coverage was put together as a degree project by a bunch of Media Studies students who had never seen the game before in their life.

I’m not sure I can agree with that logic. The impact of removing a live game being shown by our National broadcaster will not be negated by more coverage on Sky News and Sky Sports news



As a previous poster has said, the BBC coverage is by far the best vehicle for our sport to reach a wider audience. I love having 2 live Super League games a week to watch and, despite the frustration over the commentary team sometimes, the actual technical coverage is first class. But the audience we will attract through Sky Sports is naturally limited. International and Challenge Cup games on the BBC will raise our game far higher in the national consciousness and this is a worrying step for me

It was around 2000-2001. Presented by Rob McCaffrey and the commentator was Clive Tyldesley if I recall correctly.



As for the Challenge Cup, I'm glad that another network has picked it up, even though it is Sky. None of the other terrestrial television stations were ever going to make a bid, they have to make sure the schedules are free for repeats of Murder She Wrote or the Neighbours Omnibus.

Not so much the national ITV but the local Granada Television which no longer exists.









That was the early 90s league match coverage that he presented with Clive commentated. Stick "granada rugby league" in a search on a certain video website!

You're thinking of Granada's Saturday afternoon games around 1990.



The NFP coverage had John Helm commentating I think.

Is this another saving from the BBC? I'm intrigued as to why the BBC are suddenly having to try and save so much money, is this due to them having 'other' sources of funding other than the license fee dry up? Or is it that they've been bucking the national trend and still affording their employees regular cost of living pay rises whilst the license fee costs has stayed static?

Not quite sure but we aren't the only sport losing coverage. Looks like the Grand National and the other minimal horse racing the BBC show (Royal Ascot, Epsom Derby) are going to shift to Channel 4, ending horse racing on the BBC entirely.



The only reason really the six nations remains on the BBC is because the RFUs choose to have the tournament on free to air rather than pay tv.



Championship level football (10 live games + highlights) is also set to go as well.



Personally if reducing challenge cup coverage by half, but still retaining the big games on the BBC, is a price to pay for keeping local radio commentaries then its a small price to pay.

I'm just hoping the world cup will get Terrestrial broadcast, hiding it away on Sky won't do Rugby League any good

I'm told that Sky, as well as the above, will be showing the two quarter finals that the Beeb don't pick. But everything after that will be on Auntie.

Aye, don't get me wrong it's definitely not a "woe is us" question from me, there are cuts happening all over the place at the beeb and I'm genuinely curious as to how they suddenly seem to have so much less funding and yet we're all still paying the same amount for our TV license.