The contract between Premier Rugby and the BBC is up for review at the end of the year, and options will be considered as to what the next course of action will be in improving the league’s profile.

In contrast to the Premiership, the Magners Celtic League does not lack exposure on the network with rights agreements allowing BBC Wales and Scotland to feature regular live match coverage.

The scarcity of regular Premiership rugby on terrestrial television has led to one fan taking a pro-active stance on the issue.

Ben Cook began his, “I want a Match of the Day for Rugby” campaign last year with the hope of getting the BBC to utilise their Premiership rights in the form of a highlights show like that which has catered for football fans since the 1960s.

Cook says, “With the BBC it’s about what they have the rights to and what they do with them. They should be making sure that they are capturing the wider rugby audience.

“Not enough importance is given to the programme format, and there are rugby fans waiting in the wings. It needs to be on at a regular basis and a regular timeslot.”

The support for the group has led to 22,723 members of the group’s Facebook page and support from the Professional Rugby Players’ Association.

Since the demise of the mismanaged Rugby Special there has been no real presence for league rugby on terrestrial TV, despite the mass availability of rights to the BBC, including the Premiership, Six Nations, Magners League and EDF Energy Cup.

The Guinness Premiership is currently shown regularly on Sky, with 33 live games being shown every season.

The commercial rights to the Premiership have recently been passed to Premier Rugby from the RFU, and Varney has immediately stated their intent to improve their terrestrial coverage.

He says, “We are very keen to improve our terrestrial television coverage. We believe that a competition with the stature of the Guinness Premiership should have a greater terrestrial footprint.”

“We don’t believe 12 highlight programmes does the Premiership justice. We are still trying to grow our sport and a terrestrial platform is very, very important for us going forward.”

Contracts for such a prestigious competition will undoubtedly be contested by other organisations should the rights become available. Internet highlights are also something that Premier Rugby will be looking into for the future. They are not currently available on the Guinness Premiership site, but Premeir Rugby plan to include a video highlights package in the future.

Currently Varney is happy with the coverage on the BBC in some respects, but admits that they would judge options from elsewhere if necessary.

He says, “The quality of the coverage we are getting is good; I don’t think we’re happy with the quantity.”

“We have a season that takes place over 22 weekends plus the playoffs and currently only 12 rounds are being covered and we don’t think that is enough.”

“We have an annual rolling contract with the BBC and we will be looking at all the opportunities, at what’s best for the Guinness Premiership.”

“We are contracted with Sky until then end of 2009/10 and we’ve always said, and Sky support us, that it’s important we have a strong terrestrial highlights programme.”
Terrestrial coverage has been a contentious issue since the rise of Sky, but Premier Rugby seems motivated to secure a highlights package that will please fans as well as improve the reputation of the league.

Greater terrestrial coverage could also hold value in terms of sponsorship.

The 2008/9 season is currently the last in the contract between the Premiership and Guinness and Varney says, “We are just starting or initial discussions about renewal and obviously that is going to be dependent on where we go with our broadcast platform.”

Premier Rugby is keen to continue the successful relationship with Guinness, and is also committed to improving the current service offered by the BBC.

Rugby fans therefore may well be getting their wish to see more Guinness Premiership rugby on terrestrial television.

Scrum.com contacted the BBC for comment, but they were unavailable at the time of writing.