Media Coverage
The BBC have covered this tournament from the 1950s, from the inception of Grandstand, with commentary by Eddie Waring. When he retired, commentary was covered by Ray French and he continues to work for the BBC albeit in semi-retirement, with his last Challenge Cup Final in 2009. From 2010, the present day main commentator is Dave Woods. He usually commentates with Brian Noble, Jonathan Davies, Iestyn Harris or Ian Millward. Nowadays, BBC continue to broadcast the tournament with Clare Balding hosting from 2006 to 2012 until her move to Channel 4 Racing. Mark Chapman was secondary host in 2012 when Balding was unavailable for the cup and international matches, and previous hosts for the BBC are John Inverdale and Steve Rider.
Sky Sports now have the rights for the early rounds with one match each round and two quarter finals; while BBC also show one match in the early rounds, two quarter finals, both semi finals and the final.
Read more about this topic: Challenge Cup
Famous quotes containing the word media:
“The media transforms the great silence of things into its opposite. Formerly constituting a secret, the real now talks constantly. News reports, information, statistics, and surveys are everywhere.”
—Michel de Certeau (1925–1986)