ITV will continue to screen highlights of the Aviva Premiership for the next four years after striking a new deal on the eve of the 2013-14 season.
The renewal, struck by Premiership Rugby, guarantees free-to-air highlights of English club rugby union’s top flight, as well as the LV= Cup and JP Morgan Premiership 7s, on both ITV and ITV4 until the end of the 2016-17 season.
The broadcaster has been the terrestrial home of the Aviva Premiership since taking over the rights from the BBC in 2008.
ITV’s highlights show will air three times over every Aviva Premiership and LV= Cup weekend, continuing in its established 8.00pm Sunday evening slot on ITV4 for its first showing.
This will be followed by a replay on ITV at around 11.00pm that evening, plus another repeat on ITV4 on Monday nights.
Each highlights show will focus on two or three of the weekend’s key matches, plus the best of the action from the other fixtures, as well as behind-the-scenes features, interviews and analysis from the home venue of the featured matches.
Mark Durden-Smith and Jill Douglas will take over presenting duties for the ITV highlights programmes – dubbed ‘rugby Match of the Day’.
They replace Craig Doyle and Martin Bayfield, who are now part of BT Sport’s live rugby coverage.
The ITV contract complements the Premiership’s new TV deal with BT, which will show exclusive live action of at least 69 games for the next four years.
It also gives the channel regular rugby programming in the build-up to its exclusive live coverage of the 2015 Rugby World Cup in England.
Speaking on the new four-year deal, Premiership Rugby’s commercial director Dominic Hayes said: “Premiership Rugby has a commitment to grow the game in the UK so to secure Aviva Premiership Rugby, the JP Morgan Premiership Rugby 7s and the LV= Cup highlights on free TV is tremendous news and really underpins our commitment.”
“ITV have made a real and long-term investment in club rugby in England over the past five years and we are looking forward to our relationship flourishing over the next four years.
“Rugby union is going to be huge in England over the coming years. Aviva Premiership Rugby goes from strength to strength, the Rugby World Cup will be held in 2015 and less than 12 months after rugby union will return to the Olympics.
“We are about to enter a golden era and having Aviva Premiership Rugby on free TV is a key part of that.”
Niall Sloane, ITV’s Director of Sport, said: “This renewed deal underlines our long-term commitment to rugby union with the World Cup also coming up on ITV in 2015.
“Our new high-calibre presenting and reporting line-up this season will really bring the drama and passion of top-class club rugby to life on ITV.”
Premiership rugby’s new TV partner BT Sport launched on August 1 with live coverage of the J.P. Morgan Premiership Rugby 7s – free-to-air highlights of which will be broadcast in two seperate shows on ITV4 .
The first programme will be broadcast on Sunday, August 4, on ITV4 at 8pm, featuring highlights of the three Group rounds of the J.P. Morgan Premiership Rugby 7s.
The best of the action from the finals will be shown a week later, also on ITV4.
There were strong rumours soon after the £152m BT Sport deal was announced that the new broadcaster could link up with a terrestrial TV partner to screen selected Aviva Premiership games live on free-to-air television.
However, this plan seems to have since fallen through after BT reportedly were unable to strike a deal with ITV or the BBC, both of which discussed the idea but terms could not be agreed.
Well at least ITV is committed to Free to air Sport unlike Channel 5. Good Aviva Rugby highlights on ITV.
What’s the obsession with channel 5?! They don’t make any of there own and don’t need to spend money on costly sports rights, plus there more bothered about screening garbage like Big Brother and Eddie Stobart – ie appealing to the lowest common denominator.
Don’t mind the boxing or cricket on C5. But for anything else it’s a waste of space – BBC, ITV and C4 all vastly more superior.