Underwhelming viewing figures have emerged from the BBC’s latest Super League coverage.
This is the national broadcaster’s first year of their new deal that saw them take over from Channel 4 to show free-to-air Super League games. It’s the first time the BBC has shown games since the rebranding to Super League.
Rugby League on TV on X (formerly Twitter) revealed the viewing figures for Leigh Leopards vs Salford Red Devils:
Leigh v Salford on BBC 3 on Friday had a 55,000 average and 63,000 peak. 0.5% audience share. Half the audience of Catalans v St Helens on the same channel last month.
Catalan v St Helens averaged 110,000 on BBC 3 on Saturday Night. Peaked at 133,000 with a 0.9% Audience Share.
112,000 average on Sky Sports Main Event with a 126,000 peak and 0.9% Audience Share.
Overnights not available for Sky Sports Action.
— RugbyLeagueonTV.com (@rugbyleagueontv) April 8, 2024
This is half of what the BBC saw for Catalans Dragons vs St Helens:
“Catalan v St Helens averaged 110,000 on BBC 3 on Saturday Night. Peaked at 133,000 with a 0.9% Audience Share.
“112,000 average on Sky Sports Main Event with a 126,000 peak and 0.9% Audience Share.”
A higher average on a pay-to-view service than on free-to-air television is very poor, and shows how little the BBC have put into advertising the game.
This isn’t the first disappointment we’ve had from the BBC’s coverage of rugby league this season, however.
Surprisingly, the BBC didn’t broadcast any of the Challenge Cup fixtures on live terrestrial TV in Round 6, including a huge Leeds Rhinos vs St Helens clash.
For many the Challenge Cup is a BBC staple, and the national broadcaster has been showing it since 1948.
Leeds v St Helens was shown on BBC iPlayer and the BBC Red Button, but wasn’t available on any of the BBC’s regular channels.
Instead, The One Show, Celebrity Mastermind and Would I Lie To You was shown on BBC One and on BBC Two, the Great British Menu: Banquet Special and Gardener’s World were seen as more important.
BBC’s underwhelming coverage of Super League
It’s really disappointing that the BBC keep making decisions that will limit coverage of the sport we love; after looking really positive at the start of the year, with a BBC Super League deal for the first time, this feels like a real missed opportunity to make the most of it.
When we agreed to the deal of having Super League games on BBC, that should be BBC One and BBC Two, not BBC Three, which is a channel lost down the pecking order.
The BBC have provided the game with some great coverage of the Challenge Cup and World Cup over the years, but that’s because it has been predominantly broadcast on the two main channels.
BBC One and BBC Two are the first two channels people go past when they switch on their tv and go down the channel list, meaning the game is stumbled upon by new fans and watched by hundreds of thousands, possibly millions.
On BBC Three the coverage goes under the radar, there has been little to no advertisement of the coverage and at the moment the Super League deal with the BBC has been underwhelming.
This weekend, the BBC will show all four semi-finals of the men’s and women’s Challenge Cups across the network, the competition that has been their bread and butter over the years.
St Helens vs York Valkyrie in the Women’s Challenge Cup is on the BBC Red Button and BBC iPlayer at 11:15am on Saturday.
Later, at 1:45pm, Hull KR vs Wigan Warriors in the Men’s Challenge Cup will be free-to-air on a mainstream channel, as it’s on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
On Sunday, the women’s fixture of Wigan Warriors vs Leeds Rhinos kicks things off, and will be on the BBC Red Button and BBC iPlayer at 12:30pm.
Finally, at 3:15pm, the final game sees Huddersfield Giants vs Warrington Wolves in the men’s competition, which will be on BBC Two and BBC iPlayer.
Hopefully this weekend we will see big numbers, with the two men’s games likely to attract big viewing numbers on the two main channels.
Now, we just need to get Super League games on the two main channels to ensure the game gets the coverage it deserves and this broadcast deal can be utilised to its full potential.