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Scottish clubs agree to BBC Alba showing ten games live



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Published Date: 03 October 2008
By DAVID FERGUSON
SCOTLAND'S leading rugby clubs have agreed to a new deal with BBC Alba that will see a total of ten games screened this season and all 12 clubs benefit financially.
The SRU have been in talks with the new Gaelic channel over screening club matches this season and they received the backing of the Premier One Forum at a meeting on Wednesday night.

The SRU remained tight-lipped yesterday, stating that the talks
were still at a delicate stage and subject to confidentiality, and that clubs had been given a stern warning not to discuss the issue until it was signed and sealed.

However, Gavin Hastings, the former Watsonians, Scotland and British and Irish Lions captain, said: "This is very welcome news for Scottish rugby. Any opportunity to showcase rugby on TV is important and if Alba step up to the plate then they need to be applauded by everyone in Scottish sport.

"The importance of television to rugby is all about marketing the game. If sponsors know they have a chance of being seen on TV that transfers into value for the club game. For many years when I played we had a lot of club rugby being covered, and it was no coincidence that there were a lot of advertising hoardings all around grounds and good sponsorship on the jerseys.

"So I welcome this news and, while I might have to brush up on my Gaelic, I believe that Alba will be a great medium to showcase our club game."

The Scotsman understands that Boroughmuir and Glasgow Hawks have already agreed to move fixtures to a Sunday. This was a key requirement of the plan to enable BBC Alba to utilise the full outside broadcast equipment being used on the same weekends at live football games, and ensure a professional and attractive package for rugby audiences.

The initial outline of seven Sunday matches has now been cut to five, with five also being screened live on Saturday afternoons, the split again being to dovetail with the live football being broadcast.

Agreement was also reached on a compensation package from the SRU, desperate to push the domestic game back on to TV, with a split that benefits all of the Division 1 clubs, but moreso those having to switch their matches from the traditional Saturday afternoons to accommodate TV.







The full article contains 400 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
Page 1 of 1

 
1

ridiculous,

??? 03/10/2008 00:36:59
So will every club in P1 get coverage??
2

Mitch,

Edinburgh 03/10/2008 07:32:22
And is there any chance of them getting BBC Wales to pass on recordings of the Pro Teams to add to the programme?
3

Darryl Matheson,

Elgin, Morayshire 03/10/2008 16:46:18
Why can't they just broadcast them in English? A BBC Scotland channel was recently proposed which seems to me like a good idea but I can't see how they can expect money for that when the waste money on this Gaelic dross, surely that are going to at least offer English commentaries.
4

Masterpiece,

03/10/2008 17:56:47
The man from Elgin seems to own a colonial mindset.
5

eamon,

03/10/2008 20:31:53
#3

I am sick of idiots like you condemning my native language. Learn to speak and write your own properly before insulting others. The reason they are not in english is because it is the gaelic channel. The hundreds of english language channels were not interested in scottish rugby, so didnt bother showing it. Simple. If you desire to watch scottish sport in english then I suggest you contact one of the channels who insist on ignoring scottish sport, but flood our screens with english rugby league and cricket. And yes, a BBC Scotland is a fantastic idea, as well as BBC ALBA.
6

Dr Cloth,

Edinburgh 03/10/2008 20:54:39
#4

'The man from Elgin', as you say, does not own (whether one can 'own' a mindset is a seperate issue) a colonial mindset. English has been the national language of Scotland for centuries, Gaelic has never been. Yes, there was a version of English which was known as 'Scots' which the likes of Burns etc coveted but it was far more closely related to English than Gaelic.

I reckon I could hazzard a fairly good guess at which political party you vote for (#4) and feel I should remind you that the English are not at fault for absolutely everything that is wrong with Scotland, no matter what Mr Salmond would have you believe.

On a more positive note, this is a great move forward and I look forward with interest to watching the club matches on tv. I do agree however that English commentary would be preferable to someone who is semi-fluent in Gaelic trying to describe the ins and outs of a match, but if we can endure the Welsh coverage, we can endure this!
7

eamon,

03/10/2008 21:29:55
#6
Are you able to judge if a person is fluent or only semi fluent. English is not the national language, just the most spoken. Gaelic was, and still is, the native language of scots. Gaelic is as scottish as whisky and the kilt. They all have the same origins. Its true the english are not responsible for all Scotlands problems, but they are for some. Just as we are probably responsible for some of theirs. And if you bothered listening to Salmond you would hear that he is rather upbeat about england.
But I am glad to hear you share my joy that at last our own rugby will be shown on our TVs. It would be even better if we had a BBC Scotland channel showing other games in english, even if the commentators are only semi fluent, as well as ALBAs coverage.
8

Dr Cloth,

Edinburgh 03/10/2008 21:46:53
#7

You are right of course. "Gaelic is as scottish as whisky and the kilt" (whisky is quite possibly an Irish invention and the kilt may have been invented in Ireland, England or Egypt...). Indeed, the Scots came from Ireland as did the Gaelic language. Should there not be a movement for Pict-ish nationalism? I hear the Norman nationalist movement is going very well in England and the Vikings are looking to get control of the Shetland Parliament. It is all so terribly confusing....

My point in amongst all the above waffle is that nationalism is a one-eyed, small-minded, time-specific movement which should have no relevance in today's society

Also, a BBC Scotland channel would be wonderful. Just think of all the great programmes they would show. Hopefully we'd get a new series of Caledonia McBrains (that was a real hoot) and Reporting Scotland would have more time to report on Mrs McCafferty's cat who has been stuck up a tree for 3 and a half hours!
9

eamon,

04/10/2008 09:42:03
#8

It s not called norman land. or pictland, its called Scotland. And we claim to be Scots. Who indeed did come from Ireland bringing the kilt, whisky and gaelic with them, making them all as scottish as each other. To deny one is to deny them all. And yes I agree BBC Scotland could have a programme about Caledonian Macbraynes and other local topics, as opposed to these intellectual masterpieces such as eastenders and constipation street. You sad surrenderist. We do have some decent things in Scotland. Not everything england does is great. We dont need to be gratful for every morsel they throw under the table for us. I would rather be one eyed and small minded, than a blind no brainer.
10

THE DREADED SILVER CROC,

Getting it on, around the billabong TV channel 04/10/2008 22:25:01
What an absolute hoot, cobbers! Ruggah for the Gaels. Come on Cathy Macdonald / Crombie, give us your best opinion.

Difficult top imagine anything more inappropriate or downright silly than the proposed sub-titles, too. Can't stop chuckling!!! Hahahahadd.... Ho, ho!

Another own gael (enough of that nonsense - ED!) from the twits at the SRU.
11

eamon,

04/10/2008 23:34:25
#10

I think you will find gaels are european champions at the moment, and these same gaels just beat glasgow tonight. If you dont want sub titles then learn the language. And the twits at the SRU( one decent comment you made) were not offered anything else. If you are a rugby fan you should be gratful to BBC ALBA, as its the only channel showing scottish club rugby. Or will you be too busy sucking your pink un.
12

Shameless,

The Minch 07/10/2008 12:31:29
Fact is #10, if you stopped swinging your hoary Hebridean handbag for a moment, you'd have time to engage your brain in order to understand the lack of commercial merit in beaming rugby with gaelic commentary to those denizens of the highlands and islands whose interest in rugby fails to even register at the foot of the Richter Scale of viewing (where possible) in such outlying if not outlandish territory.

Availability of the self-same programme with sub-titles (!) in the rest of the country simply compounds & confirms the SRU's lunacy.

By the way - I have it on the best authority that the DSC spent much of his formative life in the highlands & islands. The great & "snappy" fellow himself is indeed a gaelic speaker, a bit tentative, but a gaelic speaker all the same. That doesn't make him the same nitwit that you appear to be!

SAORSA
13

Shameless,

The Minch, sinking fast 07/10/2008 12:32:55
Heck - #11 Eamon Nutter, of course.

Sorry!!!!

 

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