ITV Secures Guinness Premiership Highlights
ITV has struck a deal with Premier Rugby to broadcast weekly highlights of the Guinness Premiership rugby union top-flight.
The rights, which had been held by the BBC, will begin with immediate effect with the first round of games on the weekend of the 6th September.
A new hour-long weekly Guinness Premiership highlights show will air on ITV4 at 18.30 on Sunday evenings, covering all 22 rounds of the new season, the Guinness Premiership semi-final and final.
The show, hosted by Craig Doyle, will also be repeated on ITV1 on Tuesday nights, bringing in an even wider audience.
The addition of the Guinness Premiership highlights package complements ITV’s coverage of the Rugby World Cup for which it attracted record audiences for the 2007 tournament which saw England progress all the way through to the final before losing to South Africa.
This season’s Guinness Premiership starts on 6th September 2008 at Twickenham with Guinness Premiership champions London Wasps taking on London Irish and Saracens playing Harlequins at the London Double Header.
Sky Sports hold the live TV rights package to the Guinness Premiership.
