RTÉ has said the loss of the Six Nations Championship rights to TV3 from 2018 is "extremely disappointing news".
TV3 confirmed today that it had won the rights to screen the Rugby tournament for a period of four years from 2018 until 2021.
The broadcaster recently enjoyed its highest ever ratings after it had the exclusive rights to show the Rugby World Cup, with a peak of 1.42 million viewers tuning in to watch the crucial Ireland V France game.
TV3's Group Director of Broadcasting Niall Cogley said: “In the last two months, TV3 has been able to demonstrate its credentials as Ireland’s National Commercial Broadcaster with a refreshing and comprehensive presentation of all 48 games of Rugby World Cup 2015. We are grateful that the Six Nations Unions, the Federations and their Executive team were sufficiently impressed by our recent work. We very much look forward to presenting Rugby’s Greatest Championship into the foreseeable future and making TV3 the home of rugby in Ireland.”
Six Nations coverage will move to TV3 from 2018
RTÉ today admitted that the news was a blow. In a statement RTÉ's Group Head of Sport, Ryle Nugent, said, "This is extremely disappointing news for RTÉ. We have a long and proud tradition of showcasing the 6 Nations and putting our heart and soul into our coverage."
"We want to assure the Irish public that every possible effort was made by RTÉ to retain these rights. As a public service broadcaster, RTÉ’s ambition has always been, and continues to be, to deliver the best possible viewer experience and to share moments of major national importance. We put forward the best possible bid within our means, while always mindful of the significant responsibilities attached to spending public funds", he added.
However RTÉ isn't unique as other public sector broadcasters such as the BBC (it will now share broadcasting rights to the Six Nations with rival ITV and also had The Voice poached by them) are feeling the pressure from well resourced commercial competitors.
The BBC recently lost The Voice to rival ITV
According to Dr. Jane Suiter, Director of the Institute for Future Media and Journalism and lecturer at the DCU School of Communications "public sector broadcasters across Europe are facing into a very changed environment with competition from massive internet behemoths as well as cable companies"
She added: "A few years ago the BBC saw BT, a multi-national telecoms giant snapping up a package of rights to broadcast English Premier League football. Now UPC, which owns TV3 and is a subsidiary of [John Malone's] Liberty Global, the world’s largest international cable company with a market cap of over $42bn and operations in 14 countries has won the rights to Six Nations Rugby"
She said that public service broadcasters such as RTÉ are facing serious challenges due to the financial clout of commercial rivals. She said that in addition to the reduced budgets facing publicly funded broadcasters, "these newcomers are big, cash rich, innovative and face lower barriers of entry than previously."
