Skip to main content

Six Nations, But Over Six Ways To Watch

It's week three of the Six Nations Championships and we are well underway with the competition.

 Since early February, the Guinness Six Nations Rugby has been extremely well covered by TV broadcast. So much so to my surprise, that according to the official website, it is being broadcast across 28 separate channels around the world!

The Six Nations is well underway as we come to the end of week three of the competition (Source: BBC Sport)

 All matches are being shown live either on BBC and ITV, with the two Public Service Broadcasters sharing the rights and coverage of the competition over the 5 weeks. Each of the competing nations additionally have their own exclusive coverage on more local channels: all Wales games will be broadcast on S4C; all French on FR2; Irish on TV3; and Italian on DMAX. NBC will also be broadcasting every game of the championships for the American audience too.

 UK fans also have the opportunity to live stream all matches live via BBC iPlayer or the ITV Hub, meaning that much to the joy of those following the competition, they never need to be concerned about missing a game! (Although it's tough luck for the not so enthusiastic spouses or friends of those engrossed in the competition... it's only two more weeks, I'm sure you can cope with a touch more rugby in your life, no?)

 Yes, I will admit I shouldn't be so surprised how well covered such a huge event is. However, it is still fantastic to see such intensive coverage of such an impressive sport. My home rugby team, Jersey Reds, are currently sitting in 4th in the Greene King Championship, drawing with the Cornish Pirates.

 As discussed in a previous post, last December I spent some time filming pre-match interviews with Jersey Reds head coach, Harvey Biljon. Since they are not competing at the same level as the six nations, obviously his team's games are not live broadcast on the BBC. However, ITV Channel TV will still go to matches and film highlights for use in the show's sports package.   

 You never know, maybe one day the small island of Jersey will make a guest appearance as a seventh nation...

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Hierarchy of Snowsports: In conversation with Jack Tompkins

Today I had the pleasure of catching up with sports cinematographer, Jack Tompkins, following his return from filming for his company, Ski The Kingdom , just outside of Geneva in Switzerland.  Jack out filming in Switzerland (Source: Instagram @jackwrtompkins)   Check out what he had to say about the latest film kit making a name for itself in the snowsports industry; the impact the popularity of snowsports filming has had on the sport itself; plus, we chat about the professional skier whose turning to vlogging for publicity and entertainment... If you've got a spare few minutes, also have a quick look at Jack's blog - full of brilliant ideas and advice about making it in the film industry!
Post a Comment
Read more

What The People Want: How We Watch Sport

It's funny how sport can become such a part of one's life. And in recent years, this has been partly down to the media.  Before the likes of TV sports broadcast, if you wanted to watch a sporting event, you had to physically go to experience it. And although - thanks to developments in technology and social media - we have a huge breadth of sports content available to us, most of us prefer watching sport in real life.   In a recent survey I conducted (of which I had nearly 50 responses)*,  75%  said they preferred watching sport in real life over on TV. This was mainly so they could experience a more immersive atmosphere, and to have control over what they were watching. One participant, for example said "watching [athletics] in real life makes you realize how fast people actually run, how far they jump and throw: you get to see your idols in person". Nevertheless, those who preferred watching in the comfort of their own home praised the accessibility and ease...
Post a Comment
Read more

British Indoor Athletics Championships: Filming Athletics

Last weekend saw the  Spar British Indoor Athletics Championships  take place in Birmingham. The two day event was broadcast live on the  BBC  both on connected TV and online. It saw the likes of Chris O'Hare and Laura Muir win their respective 3000m titles, and Muir's training partner, Jemma Reekie secure her place in the upcoming European Indoors.  Athletics is a fascinating sport - mainly on a very personal level for me - to study how it is filmed. I have watched TV broadcast athletics meets for most my life, and have had many a conversation with my Dad to how cameras could follow the likes of Usain Bolt at such a speed. Usain Bolt winning in Beijing 2008 Olympics (Source: The Independent)  The sport has seen some major technological innovations support the execution of the sporting events. For instance, Hawk-Eye developed SMART Replay technology which "helps  at IAAF [International Association of Athletics Federations] relay tourna...
Post a Comment
Read more