The early renewal came with two more tournaments still to run (2008 and 2009) and is reportedly worth £160 million over the four-year term.
“We're used to television audiences edging down because of the sheer volume of competition from the rest of the media,’” said Roger Mosey, director of BBC Sport. “But the Six Nations has bucked the trend. We've set new records in both of the two most recent years, and there's been a picture of growth since the whole of the tournament came back to the BBC.”
Mosey said that a total of just under 30m saw some of the 2007 tournament, and the peak audience - 8m for Ireland v England - is still higher than any figure achieved up to the quarter-final stage of the 2007 Rugby World Cup.
