ITV and BBC join forces to secure new Six Nations deal

The BBC and ITV have beaten Sky to secure a free-to-air rights deal that will see both broadcasters become home to Six Nations Rugby from 2016 to 2021.

The RBS 6 Nations confirmed the new deal, reported to be worth £50m per year, keeping the championship on free-to-air television for another six years, earlier today.

The new deal extends BBC Sport’s current contract, worth £40m per year, allowing fans to continue to access rugby’s biggest annual event across BBC TV, radio and online.

This year’s tournament on the BBC saw audiences rise to their highest level since 2003 when a peak of 9.6m tuned in to watch England v France, and over 24m watched in total.

Under the terms of the deal, each year the BBC will show live coverage of all Scotland, Wales and France home matches and ITV will show live coverage of all England, Ireland and Italy home matches. BBC Radio 5 live and 5 live sports extra will continue to have live commentary of all matches.