The cable company NTL was included in the deal, which will see matches televised live nationally on Grandstand with games in Ireland, Scotland and Wales likely to be screened locally on Friday evenings or Saturday afternoons. NTL's involvement means ties will also be shown on Eurosport in Britain.
The BBC's main competitor for the property, BSkyB , were always likely to struggle to secure the rights, since they had been told from the outset that they would have to share with a terrestrial partner. The BBC were asked by BSkyB to pay millions for rights which did not include the final and Channel 4 are committed to bidding for Italian football, having already doubled their offer from the last deal.
Rights-holders, European Rugby Cup Ltd (ERC), estimate that they will receive another #4m from overseas rights, the Internet and videos. Along with the #26.8m its has received from the French TV contract, it means that ERC will bank #55m for the competitions.
With European club rugby on terrestrial TV, the ERB is looking to find six blue-chip sponsors to add at least #4m per year to the pot.
The BBC has secured the UK television rights for the European Cup and the European Shield in a four-year deal worth #24m ($45m).
