DHL Stormers vs Vodacom Bulls

GRAND FINAL
DHL STORMERS VS VODACOM BULLS
URC NEWS
MORE FANS WATCHING THE
URC THAN EVER BEFORE
More fans are watching the United Rugby Championship than ever
before the world’s most diverse and exciting club rugby competition
continues to set new records for broadcast audiences.
B
y the end of the Round
12 fixtures the URC
broke the league’s
previous benchmark of
12.9million viewers with
13.2million tuning in and now by the
end of April that figure has climbed
dramatically to over 20.1million!
The consolidated audience data
(supplied by Nielsen Sports)
suggests that the audiences will
strengthen even further by the
end of the campaign with Rounds
17, 18 and the Play-Offs still to be
accounted for.
The URC averages well over 1
million viewers per round and is
supported by the wide array of
broadcast partnerships across
the league’s core territories. With
a mix of Free-to-Air and Pay TV
broadcasters, the URC is available
on BBC Northern Ireland, BBC
Wales, RTÉ, TG4, Mediaset,
Premier Sports and SuperSport
who have driven up the audience
numbers thanks to the high levels
of coverage and their commitment
to showcasing the crosshemisphere
competition.
Martin Anayi , CEO of the United
Rugby Championship, said:
“These broadcast audiences
provide a terrific pulse check for the
United Rugby Championship. More
eyeballs on our games translates into
increased talkability of the league
which is really evident across social
media where we are exceeding all of
our growth ambitions.
“Ultimately, the excitement on the
pitch coupled to the intrigue of the
big four South African teams joining
the league has provided a great
draw but it’s been a real collaborative
effort from our broadcast partners
and the league to maximise that
interest. Internally, we have invested
in personnel and resources to drive
up the look and feel of our TV
product and we are really excited
about how our broadcast partners
have bought into that vision.
“We know fans in the UK and
Ireland were excited about their
teams being back on RTÉ and BBC
and in tandem with TG4 and S4C
they are offering more Free-to-Air
coverage. Premier Sport, without
whom we would not have been able
to adopt the ‘every game live’ model,
have seen their viewership increase
and in South Africa SuperSport are
setting a high bar in showcasing the
URC to one of the biggest markets
in our league.
“What’s just as encouraging is
that in Italy, thanks to Mediaset’s
coverage, where we have hit 1 million
viewers for the first time ever. When
you combine all of this then you can
see really strong foundations for
the URC to build from and continue
to grow the interest in our sport
ahead of what appears to be an
unpredictable end to the season.”
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