Committee told Pay-TV reduces accessibility to sport

ENSURING the Six Nations and Heineken Cup will be shown on terrestrial TV will make the games available to a significantly greater number of people than if they are broadcast on subscription channels.

That was the evidence presented by renowned academic Dr Paul Rouse to the Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Energy and Natural Resources yesterday.

The committee is investigating whether some sporting events should be disallowed for Pay-TV following the proposal by Minister for Communications, Eamon Ryan that competitions such as the Six Nations and Heineken Cup should be free-to-air.