‘Protect the autumn rugby tests as free-to-air sport events’
CALLS have been made for autumn rugby internationals and Six Nations matches to be protected as “free-to-air” sports events on terrestrial TV.
It comes after S4C’s chief executive described Amazon Prime Video’s new deal to exclusively broadcast live coverage of Wales’ autumn rugby internationals as a “retrograde step”.
The streaming giant has won the rights to show all of Wales’ matches in either English or Welsh, having decided to offer its own Welsh-language programme in a break away from last autumn’s precedent when S4C showed Wales’ matches live.
It means Welsh rugby fans hoping to watch Wayne Pivac’s men live in action over the coming weeks will not be able to do so via any terrestrial channel, with S4C instead only showing same-day highlights of matches against New Zealand, South Africa, Fiji and Australia, beginning an hour after the final whistle.
S4C chief executive Owen Evans has claimed public service broadcasters face being frozen out.
It comes after the channel initially released a statement saying it was “delighted” to partner with Amazon.
“Does S4C welcome this? No we b****y don’t, to be honest,” he told the Senedd’s culture committee. “And for several reasons. “Sport is important for S4C because sport brings a great deal of viewers into the channel. It’s an opportunity for us to cross-advertise the content of S4C for an audience that doesn’t often come into contact with that content.
“What Amazon has done is they’ve come in – and who blames them, they’re a private company – they’ve decided they are going to take on this. I think it’s a retrograde step for us in Wales.”
The Rugby World Cup is the only rugby event which – along with its football counterpart, Olympics, FA Cup, Wimbledon and the Grand National – has protected “crown jewel” Category A broadcast status in the UK, which ensures live free-toair TV coverage, unlike the Six Nations or autumn internationals. The list is determined by the UK Government.
“Wales could argue that this is one of the crown jewels,” Evans added of Wales’ autumn Tests.
“Now people will have to pay to watch Wales playing international games over the autumn.
“In future, Amazon might decide ‘well, we’re going to provide a programme in Welsh’. What they’re trying to do, then, is to freeze us out of the traditional system that we have.
“That’s just a small example of what is likely to happen in the coming years, and where S4C would decide ‘well, we’ll have the rugby programme but we’ll have programmes around that and draw the audience in’, I don’t know whether Amazon is going to do that same thing.
“What I’m concerned about is there’s the Welsh offer, even though it’ll be a high-quality offer for the programme, it’ll just sit there and it will ensure they don’t share the audience. That’s what Amazon is really good at doing.
“In future, I think there is a risk to the language and a risk to channels such as S4C, but also for BBC and ITV, that are competing for these rights, that people come to where public service broadcasters traditionally are very strong and then will freeze us out of that space.
“Certainly, S4C isn’t welcoming what is happening. We’ve welcomed the fact that we’ve had some highlights of programmes. Certainly, we would much prefer to have had that live broadcast.”
Plaid Cymru’s spokesman for sport, Heledd Fychan, has written to UK Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries asking for autumn internationals and Six Nations rugby to be granted
Category A broadcast protection status under the 1996 Broadcasting Act.
Ms Fychan yesterday said the new arrangements were “deeply disappointing”, describing rugby as “not only a widely loved sport in Wales” but also “one which forms part of our wider culture and identity”.
The Senedd member said: “Not only has S4C lost the right to broadcast Welsh rugby matches, but it puts in place a model that could be adopted by other broadcasters.
“Welsh rugby belongs to everyone in Wales – we must not be priced out of our own culture.”
A spokesman for the department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport said: “We believe that the listed events regime works well and strikes an appropriate balance between retaining free-to-air sports events for the public while allowing rights holders to negotiate agreements in the best interests of their sport.
“We’re supportive of the positive contribution S4C makes to the Welsh economy and the vital role it plays in promoting the Welsh language.”