This is more serious than I thought. To hear that editorial decisions on the sports channel are determined by commercial considerations is worrying enough but here you're saying it percolates into the main news channel. Isn't it a condition of their licence that they report fairly? Doesn't it reflect badly on the professionalism of the main channel as a whole? Do they have a regulator? Has it any teeth?



How do we find out?

Quote Brid B&W="Brid B&W"Not sure but just googled the list and found this en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ofcom_Co ... ted_Events I know its wikipedia but linked to ofcom site. Says only RUWC final is protected so be a long shot to get the whole tournament protected'" I believe, but don't quote me as being sure, that the IRB dictate a certain amount of where/when/by whom when it comes to their RWC. No doubt that Uncle Rupert could outbid ITV for the rights, but it's whether the IRB want the audience potential limited. Didn't they get 6,000,000 or something on ITV for Wales's Sunday morning Semi-final in 2011? I know they got 17,000,000 in France for the Final and that was on FTA. IMG were sold the rights and none of us know if there were any demands/requests around FTA coverage in certain countries....the important thing for RLWC organisers was the money and that's why Premiere got the job. Best we can hope for is if the BBC see the benefits this time around, get decent figures for their "am" games in 2017 and bid again for the rights moving ahead. We got 120k here in NZ at 8am for the Kiwis game this weekend just gone.......given Kiwis like to lie-in on Saturday/Sunday mornings, that's not too shabby

Quote Brid B&W="Brid B&W"Not sure but just googled the list and found this en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ofcom_Co ... ted_Events I know its wikipedia but linked to ofcom site. Says only RUWC final is protected so be a long shot to get the whole tournament protected'" I believe, but don't quote me as being sure, that the IRB dictate a certain amount of where/when/by whom when it comes to their RWC. No doubt that Uncle Rupert could outbid ITV for the rights, but it's whether the IRB want the audience potential limited. Didn't they get 6,000,000 or something on ITV for Wales's Sunday morning Semi-final in 2011? I know they got 17,000,000 in France for the Final and that was on FTA. IMG were sold the rights and none of us know if there were any demands/requests around FTA coverage in certain countries....the important thing for RLWC organisers was the money and that's why Premiere got the job. Best we can hope for is if the BBC see the benefits this time around, get decent figures for their "am" games in 2017 and bid again for the rights moving ahead. We got 120k here in NZ at 8am for the Kiwis game this weekend just gone.......given Kiwis like to lie-in on Saturday/Sunday mornings, that's not too shabby

Isn't it understandable that a commercial organisation may decide not to promote something that would help its competitors? Ch 9 here also downplays the World Cup, as do all the News Ltd papers as far as I can tell.

I am with you and that NZ figure isn't bad but my point was all the football world cup is protected but only the final in the RUWC. We have a long way to go to get protected status.

Only place sky feel it is in the pockets I have also cancelled sky sports and when asked said lack of rugby, qualifying it after listening to th RU list as RL

It is. But if they want to run a news channel it has to be impartial or it's not allowed to broadcast. It's why Fox News weren't allowed to setup a UK news channel.

You can tell the way Sky News is heading as they have just handed Kay Burley a new 5 year contract.

*shudder*

Bmx, angling, boxing, Spanish football and pool on today. No rugby league world cup

In reply to the op, Sky may well be making a statement but, it seems that they have also made an error in judgement over the 2013RLWC.
Between them, The RFL, Premier and the Beeb have done an excellent job and the World Cup looks like exceeding even the most optimistic forecasts.
All we need now is for England to win the main prize...........ok, that's too optimistic.
Also, Vossy has been a revelation, lively, enthusiastic and knowledgeable, certainly the pick of all the commentators in RL over the last 10 years.

doubtful.
The RLWC will deliver record crowds, but other than those of us "in the know", the competition has done little in the way of media domination. BARB figures for the BBC are great with 2.2 million peaks figures, but regardless of how many viewers Premier being Free on Virgin opened up, it is actual viewing figures that are the Key. 150K averages for SL on Sky across 54 regular season games and play-offs/GF costs SKY 19,000,000 a year + outside broadcast costs etc....I suspect Sky know what they would pay and what they would fill with if they didn't get the rights. 316k a game would have cost SKY 7 million for 22 non England games whilst driving eyeballs to the BBC for the 6 exclusive England games.

SKY have RL by the throat for 3 more years....by the time negotiations start in 2 years, the landscape will be clearer with BT, Premier and the internet all possibly interested in the rights.....what is needed is strong leadership with a clear vision as to what is expected. I would say 1 FTA game a week should be key...even if its on the digital wilderness of FTA TV or exclusively on-line.

Please feel free to keep quiet on your 'in the know' info.

PLEASE!