Rugby League World Cup

Whisper will be making use of remote production workflows to bring coverage of the World Cup to air

Whisper to showcase the social impact of Rugby League World Cup as part of host broadcast coverage

BY WILL STRAUSS

FIRST PUBLISHED 14 OCTOBER 2022

“The challenge we set for us is to represent those three competitions as part of one bigger tournament and for it to feel like one family”

PETE THOMAS, WHISPER O n the eve of the delayed Rugby League World Cup 2021, SVG Europe caught up with Whisper, one of two host broadcasters for the tournament alongside BBC Sport, to find out how they will cover the matches for both a global and domestic audience.

Whisper is doing 45 of the games during the four-week tournament, across 21 stadiums, most of which are in the north of England, the part of the UK where the sport of rugby league is most popular.

Telling the story of each match and capturing the excitement of the crowds and the event, are, of course, top of the agenda, but there is more to the host coverage than match-winning tries and hard-hitting tackles, as Whisper head of sport Pete Thomas explains.

“This World Cup is unique, three World Cups in one World Cup [men’s, women’s and wheelchair nations are being played out in parallel], I don’t think that’s ever happened before. The way that the Rugby League World Cup has presented that is something that really appeals to us,” he says.

“The challenge we set for us is to represent those three competitions as part of one bigger tournament and for it to feel like one family and to encourage viewers to be across all three in one and to follow all those games.”

But there is another angle too, he adds: “I think also the efforts that the Rugby League World Cup are going to off the field, the programmes that they are putting in place to support local people, even the teams themselves, there are some fantastic things that are going on alongside the tournament.”

Through investment, the event’s Social Impact Programme has led to improvements in local facilities, economies and the physical and mental health of populations living in deprived areas where the tournament is being staged. That will be showcased on-screen.

“We are asking,” continues Thomas, “how can we show what is going on alongside this tournament, the social impact change that’s coming as part of this tournament, what the game is doing to help people, and how it helps people on a daily basis? That’s a big target for us.”

Optional kick

As with any major sporting tournament, there is also a pseudo-educational aspect to the coverage. This is crucial for attracting and retaining those occasional rugby league viewers — or those who are watching the sport for the first time. But not at the expense of the avid supporter.

“The wheelchair [tournament] offers us a route into that,” says Thomas. “Most people won’t have seen the wheelchair game, so we are working on explainers, little accompanying VT packages that don’t feel like they’re being forced on you, but are there to educate and to give you a little bit of advice.”

Balancing that with ensuring that rugby league purists are not put off is not easy though, as he acknowledges. “It’s up to us to get that balance right and to just allow people to be informed without feeling that we’re forcing it down their throat I guess.”

Whisper will be making use of remote production workflows to bring coverage of the 2021 RLWC to air. It will be supported by Timeline Television.

“Using the same Timeline remote facilities we used on the Women’s Euros and the Tokyo Paralympics, [we] will produce games in a more sustainable way by reducing the numbers of staffing on-site,” says Matt Roberts, match director and programme editor for RLWC 21.

“The main gallery operation, graphics, digital clipping and video referees will all be housed in one building: creating the maximum amount of content from the feeds and allowing the most efficient workflows with multiple games a day through one gallery.”

With the BBC taking on host duties for the other 16 matches, and both Whisper and the BBC using different broadcast services suppliers (Timeline for the former and EMG for the latter) the two hosts are being very careful to ensure that the world feed viewer does not notice any difference between matches.

“We’re working really hard [on that] and I am pleased to say we’ve [dovetailed] really well with the BBC,” adds Thomas.

“Obviously we want to deliver fantastic matches that the viewers at home feel like they were there and were part of it,” concludes Thomas. “That is key. But I think, for us, it’s telling the wider story of this tournament. Telling the story of these three world cups in one. Telling the story of a sport that has always been a game-for-all.”