ITV and Sky Sports will simulcast Blackburn Rovers’ journey to Burnley in the season’s opening East Lancashire Derby in November.

After Burnley’s one-year return to the Premier League, the East Lancashire Derby will be renewed this season.

Both teams were in danger of relegation in 2025–2026, but they are now back in the Championship thanks to Blackburn’s successful season finale under Michael O’Neill and the Clarets’ eventual demotion.

On November 22 at 12 p.m., the two teams will play their first game at Turf Moor. In an effort to prevent antisocial behaviour and accommodate TV scheduling, the game has already been rescheduled for Sunday with a midday kickoff time. However, the game will not only be televised by Sky.

ITV and Sky Sports will both show Burnley vs. Blackburn Rovers.

This season, the rivalry between Blackburn and Burnley would undoubtedly be shown on television. The encounter at Ewood Park in February will undoubtedly be selected for television when the time comes.

However, as part of the agreement between ITV and the EFL, ITV will simulcast this particular match at Turf Moor on November 22 alongside Sky Sports.

This season’s first five Championship games to shown on ITV

The game

Location

Date

West Brom versus Middlesbrough

The Riverside

Saturday, August 29

West Ham vs. Millwall

The Den

September 19th, Saturday

Portsmouth versus Southampton

Stadium St. Mary’s

October 11th, Sunday

Blackburn Rovers vs. Burnley

The Turf Moor

Sunday, November 22

West Ham United vs. Birmingham City

Stadium St. Andrew’s

Saturday, December 19

In addition to increasing the number of people watching the Championship—viewers are anticipated to watch on both channels—those without a monthly subscription to Sky Sports will be able to watch it live if they have a TV license, which the majority of people in the UK do.

Why some of this season’s Championship games are available on ITV

It’s not new for ITV to broadcast a limited amount of games this season. In fact, the station aired 20 games last season, including 10 EFL Cup games and 10 league games across the EFL. ITV4 also aired the highlights show.

ITV aired games like Southampton vs. Portsmouth, Ipswich Town vs. Norwich City, and the Steel City derby last year; Burnley and Blackburn will likely follow suit.

It is a component of Sky Sports and ITV’s agreement to broadcast EFL games on free-to-air television, which expires at the conclusion of this season.

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There will be five live games in the first half of the season, including Burnley vs. Blackburn, Millwall vs. West Ham in the Den in September, and Southampton vs. Portsmouth at St Mary’s in October.

In front of the ITV cameras, Burnley will try to maintain their supremacy in the East Lancashire Derby.

Over the past 15 years, Burnley has dominated the East Lancashire Derby, winning all 11 of their previous encounters, including a six-game winning streak from 2014 to 2023.

When the two previously met at Turf Moor, Lyle Foster’s opening goal was cancelled out by an incredible shot from Andreas Weimann to share the points, ending that streak.

In January 2025, Zian Flemming would score the lone goal in the rematch at Ewood Park to give Scott Parker’s team all three points as they continued their winning streak and ended the season with 100 points.

Blackburn will try to end that and defeat Burnley in their first match since their Premier League days, when they won 1-0 at Turf Moor in March 2010 thanks to a penalty kick by David Dunn.

In any case, it will undoubtedly be an incredible show and a fantastic promotion for the Championship in front of the ITV cameras.