Scottish rugby in battle for TV air-time

VIEWING figures that outline why Scottish rugby has a fight on its hands to win greater coverage from BBC Scotland for its sport have revealed that eight times as many viewers in Scotland watched England face the USA in the World Cup last month than watched Andy Robinson's rugby team win in Argentina.

The Scotsman took a more detailed look at the recent viewing figures to ascertain why the BBC remain so reluctant to increase the amount of rugby shown on television, which is far short of what many in the sport expect for a game in which Scotland retains a global standing, ranked seventh in the world currently. The figures show the main

internationals are attractive, but that is where it ends for rugby in the cold business of statistics.

Talks between the SRU and the BBC in London over a rights fee to screen Scotland's games with New Zealand, South Africa and Samoa and cover the Melrose Sevens next April are ongoing, with both sides keen to thrash out a deal this month and avoid a switch to satellite, cable or internet broadcasters. However, while BBC Scotland is exploring a Magners League highlights package on its website, rugby supporters in Scotland will need BBC Wales, S4C, the Welsh language channel, and BBC Alba to see Glasgow and Edinburgh live, despite increased pressure from the Scottish Parliament this week, and can forget about club rugby returning any time soon.

The audience figures show starkly the value of the RBS Six Nations Championship, and Calcutta Cup match in particular, to Scotland's oxygen of TV publicity. A total of 650,000 people tuned in for the Scotland-England clash this year, which equated to 37 per cent of the total BBC Scotland audience at that time. The game also captured 5.4m of the UK audience (29 percent).

Scotland's opening match with France and the triumphant finale with Ireland drew an audience figure of 460,000, 31 per cent of the BBC Scotland viewers, dropping by 15,000 for the match with Wales and to 390,000 for Italy v Scotland. These games also attract a significant share of the UK audience, underlining why the BBC in London pays to have the entire tournament on its channel. But, outside of those seven weeks, Scotland's attraction dips locally and across the UK and, now that the SRU are no longer part of a combined rights deal with Wales and Ireland, Gordon McKie's board face a mammoth effort to compete for air-time.

The autumn Tests remain reasonably attractive with between 200,000 and 322,000 watching Scotland's matches with Fiji, Australia and Argentina last November, but when Scotland's rugby team went up against the England football side last month the overwhelming preference was for Fabio Capello's outfit. An average of nearly 820,000 people in Scotland – over 1.1m at its peak – tuned in to see England and the USA draw in their opening World Cup match while just 112,000 (rising to 182,000 in the last quarter) watched Scotland win the first Test against the Pumas.

The following week there was no clash with England, but still nearly 500,000 BBC Scotland viewers preferred Cameroon v Denmark to Scotland's historic second Test win in Mar Del Plata, which averaged 130,000 viewers and peaked at 169,000. The Valencia Grand Prix attracted double that average in Scotland.

BBC Scotland argue, using figures from other channels and their own, that the interest drops substantially for Glasgow and Edinburgh games and again for the club game, with Melrose Sevens the only pro or club event holding an audience of over 50,000. Ewan Angus, the head of sport at BBC Scotland, told The Scotsman: "That is where you see that rugby in Scotland is what we call a 'big event' attraction. There is not the same interest in television coverage of rugby away from the Six Nations and autumn internationals. Viewing figures reflect the dominance football enjoys in Scotland, with even the English Premier League highlights – BBC1's Saturday evening Match of the Day – attracting an average audience in Scotland of 300,000. That is why we direct the bulk of our sports broadcast investment in that direction. But our new monthly magazine programme Sport Monthly regularly features rugby and BBC ALBA have agreed a deal to broadcast 32 live Magners League games involving Glasgow Warriors and Edinburgh over the next four years and we have extensive rugby coverage within 1,300 hours of sport on radio, and are increasing coverage online."

He added: "It is incumbent on us to deliver the range and quality that is expected of us but that is difficult to achieve when budgets are stretched further than ever before."

The argument from rugby supporters, like those in other even more neglected sports across Scotland, is that sports would grow and Scottish interest increase if more of their sports were televised. For the reasons Angus has explained, however, BBC Scotland are not yet willing or able to put that to a greater test. An average of nearly 820,000 people in Scotland - over 1.1m at its peak - tuned in to see England and the USA draw in their opening World Cup match while just 112,000 (rising to 182,000 in the last quarter) watched Scotland win the first Test against the Pumas.

The following week there was no clash with England, but still nearly 500,000 BBC Scotland viewers preferred Cameroon v Denmark to Scotland's historic second Test win in Mar Del Plata, which averaged 130,000 viewers and peaked at 169,000. The Valencia Grand Prix attracted double that average in Scotland.

BBC Scotland argue, using figures from other channels and their own, that the interest drops substantially for Glasgow and Edinburgh games and again for the club game, with Melrose Sevens the only pro or club event holding an audience of over 50,000. Ewan Angus, the head of sport at BBC Scotland, told The Scotsman: "That is where you see that rugby in Scotland is what we call a ‘big event' attraction. There is not the same interest in television coverage of rugby away from the Six Nations and autumn internationals. Viewing figures reflect the dominance football enjoys in Scotland, with even the English Premier League highlights - BBC1's Saturday evening Match of the Day - attracting an average audience in Scotland of 300,000. That is why we direct the bulk of our sports broadcast investment in that direction. But our new monthly magazine programme Sport Monthly regularly features rugby and BBC ALBA have agreed a deal to broadcast 32 live Magners League games involving Glasgow Warriors and Edinburgh over the next four years and we have extensive rugby coverage within 1,300 hours of sport on radio, and are increasing coverage online."

He added: "It is incumbent on us to deliver the range and quality that is expected of us but that is difficult to achieve when budgets are stretched further than ever before."

The argument from rugby supporters, like those in other even more neglected sports across Scotland, is that sports would grow and Scottish interest increase if more of their sports were televised. For the reasons Angus has explained, however, BBC Scotland are not yet willing or able to put that to a greater test.