Former England hooker Brian Moore looks at the pros and cons of pay-per-view TV in The Daily Telegraph.
"Rugby demonstrates this point fully. When Sky won exclusive rights to show England's Five, now Six Nations Championship matches, the viewing figures were a fraction of the BBC numbers. The Home Unions Committee – France and Italy have separate deals – were alarmed by the decrease in exposure.
"They were also aware of numerous complaints about rugby not being free-to-air and the contract returned to the BBC. The viewers on Sky for the last round of games in the Heineken Cup, a top quality European club tournament, varied between 100,000 and 185,000. This year's England v France game had a peak audience of over 9 million on the BBC."
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