TNT has signed a contract to continue transmitting one PWR match per round for the next four years.
Genevieve Shore, CE of the PWR is delighted, describing the new agreement as “a huge step forward”. It certainly is, in the sense that coverage will continue. The company has not got cold feet about its venture into women’s rugby.
That’s as far as my enthusiasm runs for the moment.
Why only one match per round? When at the same time TNT proclaims it will show every match of the men’s Gallagher Premiership, it makes a striking contrast.
A further divergence: PWR matches will be available via its streaming platform, that is, a different medium from the men’s matches. Why? The”top pick” of each round will be broadcast. We are left to guess by what means the choice will be made. I raised that worry when the initial contract was announced. Would it be only the top few clubs who would be honoured? Fortunateley the answer was no; each of the nine clubs had its share.
But that brings its own technical problems. I recall seeing my nearest club, Trailfinders, via TNT’s highlights programme. The camera angles were far lower than is normal these days. Presumably the company didn’t have the ability or the wish to provide the type of coverage televiewers take for granted. Stick a couple of cameras high up in the stands of Sandy Park or the Stoop for example, and you can enjoy every detail within the screen’s view.
If this broadcaster really shares the PWR’s view of women’s rugby, as Shore insists, then it would have upped its previous offer. But no. I may not be the only person to reckon the way to bring the product to the masses is to present it on a free-to-air channel. That has been the finding of the BBC, when it took the plunge and showed the W6N. Not only committed enthusiasts but chance viewers, happening to press the right button at the right moment will be attracted to the offer and come back for more.
We have the traditional responses from other officials concerned. Mr Andrew Georgiou, President and Managing Director of Warner Bros. Discovery Sports Europe, claims the agreement provides “certainty on where and when they can view” […] matches. But in the case of the women’s games, the certainty comes only when the choice of the one transmission per weekend is announced. Fans of six clubs will growl. Fans of the club enjoying a “bye-week” or a “rest-week” know they will have to wait a fortnight for the next fixture.
Mr Simon Massie-Taylor, CEO of the Gallagher Premiership, offers another optimistic view. But for the women’s game he limits himself to percentages, and they are presented in BOLD. Figures of 156% and especially a year-on-year increase of 86% are offered. But neither points directly at the women’s game. I have yet to spot a single indication of viewing figures for PWR matches.
In this light it’s tricky to see how devouring this leap forward really is.
Mind your Language
Of course the statement has to be expressed in the typical verbiage of 2020s hype. We are offered “best-in-class production”, “unrivalled on-air expertise”, “leveraging cross-promotional opportunities” – where’s my Esperanto dictionary?
It’s almost as if the author of these splendid phrases felt an urgent need to hide the fact that TNT is treating the women’s game far less favourably than the men’s.
