The Rugby Broadcast Report Issue 28: Rugby Media Rights Update & TV Guide
Never miss a game
This week’s newsletter is a shortened version due to some personal reasons but the full Rugby Broadcast Report will be back next Thursday morning.
As the Six Nations continues without the traditional two-week break, there have been a number of developments in the rugby media rights space: more negative feedback to ITV’s in-game ads, strong Six Nations viewership and why a Sky Sports Rugby channel never got off the ground.
As always, you can find the full Irish and UK TV guide listed below, along with links to various streaming platforms.*
Story of the week
Quote of the week
The reason they weren't on Sky was not lack of appetite for Sky. It was decision making their end for whatever reason. And those reasons weren't always commercial. – Barney Francis (IMG & formerly Head of Sky Sports)
Another week and yet another quote from the excellent Unofficial Partner podcast. Former managing director of Sky Sports Barney Francis revealed for the first time that Sky did not walk away from the PREM and Champions Cup. Sky was prepared to launch a dedicated rugby channel, but for reasons that were not always commercial, both competitions chose different pathways.
Viewership performance
Scotland’s impressive win over England last Saturday was ITV’s biggest peak audience of 2026, with 5.3 million viewers across ITV1 and ITVX. This figure is up on the peak of 5 million for the opening round fixture involving England and Wales. The Scottish game attracted an average of 4.8 million viewers on ITV1 and ITX.
In France TF1 attracted 7.2 million viewers for France v Wales in the second round of the Six Nations, with a peak of 8.5 million viewers.
Ads watch
According to the Irish Times, in-play ads could yet be added to this year’s coverage of the Six Nations in Ireland. Mary Hannigan has confirmed that both Virgin Media and RTE have the option to show in-game ads during live play. However, at the time the article was published on 5 February 2026, no such ads have been sold.
According to Quantcast, Samsung’s in-game adverts attracted 63% negative sentiment online, while Virgin Atlantic attracted 80% negative sentiment.
Rights watch
There has been a negative reaction in Australia to the lack of free-to-air coverage of Super Rugby Pacific on Channel 9 during the opening round. However, it is worth highlighting that while there is no contractual obligation on Channel 9 to show games on a FTA basis, Rugby Australia CEO Phil Waugh has stated that the broadcaster does have the option to broadcast fixtures on a FTA basis if it choose to do so.
Canal+ has quietly acquired the broadcast rights to Super Rugby Pacific, with the broadcaster now listed on Super Rugby’s website.
Here is a full list of the broadcasters in place for various territories for the 2026 Super Rugby Pacific season. Unlike last season, NZR+ is not listed for dark territories.
Australia – Stan Sport
Fiji – Sky Pacific, Vodafone Fiji, FBC Sports
South Africa – SuperSport
LATAM – ESPN
Ireland / UK – Sky Sports
Japan – WOWOW
Canada – Premier Sports
USA – RugbyPass
South East Asia – Premier Sports
Spain – Telefónica
France – Canal+
Here’s your full TV guide for this weekend’s action:
Saturday 21 February
5:30am – Kobelco Kobe Steelers v Saitama Wild Knights (League One) – Premier Sports Rugby & Online / Unavailable live in Ireland
6:05am – Highlanders v Chiefs (Super Rugby Pacific) – Sky Sports+ / NOW
8:35am – Western Force v Blues (Super Rugby Pacific) – Sky Sports+ / NOW
11:00am – Georgia v Spain (Rugby Europe Championship) – RugbyPass TV / Rugby Europe TV
12:00pm – Lions v Sharks (URC) – TG4 & Player / Premier Sports 1 & Online / NOW / URC TV
12:00pm – Cornish Pirates v Nottingham (Champ) – Clubber TV
12:00pm – Worcester Warriors v Caldy (Champ) – Clubber TV
12:30pm – Brython Thunder v Wolfhounds (Celtic Challenge) – BBC iPlayer / TG4 Player
12:30pm – Clovers v Edinburgh (Celtic Challenge) – TG4 Player / YouTube
1:00pm – Gwalia Lightning v Glasgow (Celtic Challenge) – BBC iPlayer / YouTube
1:15pm – Leicester Tigers Women v Trailfinders Women (PWR) – YouTube
2:10pm – England v Ireland (Six Nations) – ITV1 & ITVX / RTE 2 & Player
3:00pm – Sale Sharks Women v Harlequins Women (PWR) – YouTube
3:00pm – Ealing Trailfinders v Ampthill (Champ) – Clubber TV
4:30pm – Coventry v Hartpury RFC (Champ) – Clubber TV
4:40pm – Wales v Scotland (Six Nations) – S4C & Clic / BBC One & iPlayer / Virgin Media 1 & Player / Premier Sports 1 & Online (UK)
7:00pm – Belgium v Germany (Rugby Europe Championship) – RugbyPass TV / Rugby Europe TV
7:30pm – Saracens Women v Exeter Chiefs Women (PWR) – BBC iPlayer / Unavailable live in Ireland
8:00pm – France U20s v Italy U20s (U20s Six Nations) – BBC iPlayer / RTE Player
Sunday 22 February
2:35am – Crusaders v Brumbies (Super Rugby Pacific) – Sky Sports+ / NOW
12:00pm – Switzerland v Netherlands (Rugby Europe Champ) – RugbyPass TV / Rugby Europe TV
12:00pm – Croatia v Georgia (Women’s Rugby Europe Conference) – Rugby Europe TV
3:00pm – Loughborough Lightning v Bristol Bears Women (PWR) – TNT Sports 4 / discovery+ / NOW
3:10pm – France v Italy (Six Nations) – ITV1 & ITVX / RTE 2 & Player
5:30pm – Portugal v Romania (Rugby Europe Champ) – RugbyPass TV / Rugby Europe TV
*TV guide subject to change. The website version of this newsletter will be updated if required.
Useful links
Final thoughts
Thanks for reading. If you’ve enjoyed this week’s newsletter please consider sharing it.
Under the new contact Channel 9 appear to be showing a Sydney club rugby union game every week instead of super rugby.