Considering channel 4 is a commercially-funded network they can show what they want. The idea that they should be supporting UK sport over Irish is ridiculous. Anyone who thinks they should be supporting the Championship over Irish international games over some loyalty to the UK is crazy. The network is a business that needs to make money and is not a charity.

This is a nonsense. C4 should be broadcasting what is best for C4. Whether thats the Irish Rugby Union side or a bunch of guys running around in outer Mongolia.

The idea that they are duty bound to broadcast something 'British' is absurd.

Indeed......their biggest program of the week August 21-28th was the Belgium GP.......sooner we leave the EU the better

EDIT: Is this a cunning plan by World Rugby to strangle the Dublin Blues at birth

What kind of viewing figures do you think a Championship RL game would get on sky compared to a Championship RU game?

Why do sky show Championship RU but not Championship RL, even though they have the tv rights.

I'd suggest that it's largely down to them knowing how many subscriptions may depend on RU content.

Sky are probably only interested in the England internationals, but they'll invariably question whether that delivers enough value to RU supporters on its own for them to justify their subscriptions. They have no Premiership, no Pro 14 - things like Super Rugby, Top 14 and Championship RU gives them relatively cheap content to keep the RU fans happy until the Autumn Internationals come around.

And let's not forget the audience that RU will tend to pull in. 150,000 people (I don't know what the real figure is) watching Ealing vs Yorkshire is probably worth a lot more to them than 150,000 watching Batley v Dewsbury.

I'd go further saying that SKY tv know exactly what it pays them to show and no amount of teeth gnashing from north of watford will impact on their share prices.
If RL was such a valuable asset, we'd having TV execs kicking down doors....instead we had a take it or leave deal offered.......there was no option to negotiate, because are 100% reliant on SKY........the only way to change that is to demand FTA games in the next deal.....or take a huge cut and sell the entire comp to someone like C4 and hope to god the clubs can fill the stadiums.

I would guess because sky do not have any rights for the rugby union premiership. Rights for the rugby union Championship are cheap and it's gives them content to fill time slots.

Yes I also agree they should be showing the rugby league championship. Pointless holding the rights and only showing the Blackpool Weekender.

1, Holding the rights prevents anyone else from showing it. Next time out we need to separate the rights and offer them as 2 entities with conditions attached to both.....

I had cause to look recently at the viewing figures for Championship RL (because my team, Widnes Vikings, seem intent on rejoining that division) from the last time it was shown on Sky in 2011.

I can tell you that, for the six weeks or so I looked at Super League averaged 147,667 and the Championship 68,166, so, roughly speaking, half of the SL figure. So Championship provided approx. on third of viewers and gets, what, an eighth of what Super League gets? Also SL was always on SS1 while Championship was always on a minor channel.

In my view the Championship needs its own mouthpiece organisation (like SLE) and should have its TV rights negotiated separately.

We will never know how many followers of each league watch the other? You might expect the that the 68,000 Championship viewers aren't wholly Championship team supporters and if they are supplemented by say 20-30,000 SL viewers that will impact on any split deal

You’d have thought 60,000 to 70,000 viewers would justify sky showing a game a week, surprised they don’t see it as worthwhile.

Who would buy the rights to the championship? Any broadcaster would rather sell adverts to an audience of 100, ergo rugby unions fans than to an audience of 1000 fans, ergo rugby league fans who have no money (except toyboy29 who owns a jag of course)

Regards

King James

Nope you're wrong, not for the first time and most definitely not the last.