Saturday afternoon is a prized TV slot, prime time. It does not compete (at least not legally) with football, and preserved by the 3pm blackout it offers a rare chance in a jam-packed schedule to highlight other sports.
If you had turned on your televisions to BBC Two on Saturday afternoon in the aftermath of England Women’s Six Nations win over Wales, instead of analysis or match highlights you would have been confronted by the latest bid to cultivate a “viral moment” by production company Whisper.
One player from each side, still in match kit, was joined by the BBC pundits to take part in a “Chicken, Banana” dance for social media platform TikTok. It was not a spur-of-the-moment decision to have a bit of fun and as Sarah Bern arrived with phone in hand, it was clear this had been pre-planned.
Many of the best viral moments are those which are not thought up in production rooms, like Bern’s dance with fans the previous week appeared. But an increasing desire to raise profiles of sports or occasions outside of the big beast that is football for ever-shortening attention spans has led to a more cultivated form of social media. No longer is a small child biting the finger of another enough; instead it has to be bigger and better, and of course happen in front of a larger audience.
The audience in question were the remnants of the more than 21,000 who set a record at the Principality Stadium as England beat Wales 67-12, and those watching on the BBC.
The outcome of the game was expected. When England had a four-try bonus point secured after just 27 minutes, and finished with a scoreline eerily similar to the one managed by Steve Borthwick’s side just a fortnight beforehand, few in the stadium would have been surprised at the result, even if disappointed by the margin.
But instead of looking at the gulf between the sides, or what it means for either Welsh or English women’s rugby, social media was given the prime-time slot. There will not be an England men’s Six Nations match on the BBC for five years under the new deal handing over rights for the national side to ITV, yet in its absence is … apparently … dancing?
The clip, viewed almost ...
