About time too! Depending on what they are thinking of charging for Access to it of course. It also needs to be Recordable to work for a lot of people. Watching it on a laptop linked to your tv is not much cop either...

Also, I disabled my AdBlocker to read that Mail article...OMG! So many pop ups and ads.....

So people don't have to deal with that ad-ridden nightmare:

Premiership chiefs eye dedicated TV channel when 2021 broadcast deal is up for renewal
Talks are ongoing about introducing a dedicated TV rugby channel next year
Premiership chiefs are eyeing it up for when 2021 broadcast deal runs out
The league also in talks for BT Sport to televise all remaining games this season
By NIK SIMON FOR THE MAIL ON SUNDAY

Premiership chiefs are in talks about creating a dedicated rugby channel when next year's multi-million pound broadcast deal comes up for renewal.

The sport is desperate for a cash boost and clubs could move away from traditional kick-off times if it helps strengthen negotiations.

Sky Sports already have dedicated Formula One, Golf and Cricket channels and rugby could be next to follow suit.

Broadcast rights are currently worth around £40million per season and Sale owner Simon Orange told the Mail on Sunday that the sport is ready to think outside the box.

'During the lockdown, I think people have come to appreciate the value of watching sport,' Orange told the Mail on Sunday. 'A dedicated rugby channel has been considered and, if that went through, there would be more rugby content, which would be great for the sport and the fans.

'Hopefully between Sky, BT, Amazon and OTT platforms we should be able to start increasing our income. Changing kick off times is possible. Saturday night kick offs? With a beer? Why not? It's been mentioned and one or two of the TV companies are thinking about it.

'You've got dedicated cricket and F1 channels, so why should we not have one for rugby? It would be good for the sport and hopefully good for the TV company. We've got to be ready for change at times like this, because there's no magic wand.'


Exeter Chiefs owner Tony Rowe has also supported the idea - claiming increasing broadcast powers will be central to the vision of investors CVC.

'Within a couple of years, I think there will be a dedicated rugby TV channel,' Rowe told the Mail on Sunday.

'Most of us thought that's what the eventual aim of the CVC plan would be. Like most sports, most of our revenue is derived from TV revenues. If it brings more money into the sport, then it's a good idea. The sport doesn't have enough money coming into it.'

Meanwhile, the Mail on Sunday understands that Premiership clubs have come to arrangement with BT Sport to make every single match available when the league restarts.

While only the showpiece games will be aired on TV, season ticket holders are expected to be given access to the remainder of their club's matches through a unique login.

The problem with a Rugby specific channel is whether there's enough content even during the season to pay for an individual EPG slot. Even if you somehow manage* to buy up all the existing rights to historical games/interviews etc there's not really enough content to draw enough subscribers to make a profit for an individual EPG slot.



*I doubt you'd be able to buy up a lot of the rights as they're spread over multiple rights holders

Sky Sports already have dedicated Formula One, Golf and Cricket channels and rugby could be next to follow suit.

Have the "Premiership chiefs" got any idea how much more popular Formula One, Golf and Cricket are compared to rugby?

And they probably ought to stop calling themselves "chiefs".

I suppose it might work financially, assuming it goes to Sky, as they have the Southern Hemisphere rights. Roll that, plus European rights, all into one rugby channel and you have a business case I guess. I personally object to Sky's extortionate pricing - I'd only be paying for the rugby - and I much prefer the BT Sport comms and pundits, but maybe that's just me.

is this something CVC - the 'owners' of rugby - could build? They will be owning or own the Premiership, Pro14, 6 Nations and a growing list. They can then move all internationals onto the same channel.

RugbyPass have an online rugby channel.  I know they repeat a lot - but, it can be done.

If a company such as RugbyPass were to take this on, then I think they would have enough content.
E.g.
show every Premiership game - 6 x 2.5 hours = 15
show every Top 14 game  - 7 x 2.5 hours = 17.5
show every Pro 14 game  - 7 x 2.5 hours = 17.5
 + Super rugby
 + top league
+ Curry Cup
 + etc, etc
 + all of their original series

They could then also look at expanding and do Championship + Pro D2, games from USA, etc
And sevens

My take from the article was that this was about a broadcast TV channel (I may be completely wrong). Assuming we are talking about linear broadcast scheduling, I suppose the big question is: how much of that will a UK audience tune in for? Prem and Pro 14 I'm sure will get some decent numbers each week, but I just don't know if there's a huge UK audience yearning for domestic French, Japanese or Currie Cup rugby for example. Even Super Rugby. I've only been watching Super Rugby Aoeteroa because it's the only decent rugby on TV atm. As soon as the Prem kicks off again I definitely won't have the same level of interest any more - I'll go back to watching the 6 min Super Rugby highlights on YouTube. I realise I'm not representative of the entire UK rugby audience but ultimately the business case will come down to how many people they can get tuning in for those juicy adverts. 05:30 in the morning on a Saturday/Sunday isn't exactly a prime advertising slot.

If they're thinking more along the lines of a RugbyPass subscription-based online "channel" then maybe. I'm yet to be convinced these subscription services work the same way for primarily live content as Netflix does for drama/films/docs. And if even 50% of the rugby-watching public feel anything like I do about the ephemeral nature of sport then I just can't see it having a broad enough appeal.