Rte !

adeldorf

This has probably already been spoken about on boards but im real annoyed with RTE'S coverage of the Eircom League. I m a staunch Bohs fan and im real annoyed that only 2 of their games are due to be televised this year .... surely as our "National Broadcaster" RTE have an obligation to show more Irish sport!?!??! Anyone agree? Im starting a poll and im going to lobby around Eircom League clubs to start a petition going ...any help would be appreciated ... cheers!

smiaras

This post has been deleted.

adeldorf

Tv3 only have the rights to screen highlights, i.e. Eircom league weekly, sky sports tried to get the rights to the games but RTE went crazy so it never went through.

eirebhoy

AFAIK RTE can show as many games as they like. They are due to be showing a couple of hockey matches soon, surely Pat's -v- Boh's would get more viewers.

NightStrike

RTE can show matches they just don't. I think the coverage of the eircom league overall is dreadful. Even Schools GAA matches get more column inches in papers these days.

The standard has got a lot better in the eircom league lately and it'd draw bigger crowds if the national media would support it more.

_blank_

I watched the eircom league weekly on TV3 last night. It's a good enough show, but they could do with varying the pundit(s). It's the same bloke all the time ( Damien Richardson?), and while he does have good opinions, I'd like to hear the views of others.

The coverage of the games is good, and I have to agree, the standard does seem to have improved, even on last season.

I am in no way an avid suporter of the eircom league, but I do love soccer, and like to watch good skills, and competitive games, and I know it was only a highlights show, but the eircom league this season looks like it may provide both.

On the question of RTE, I had to vote no. They should be doing more to promote Irish sport, especially our national league. It seems a farcical situation, when Sky wanted to show games and RTE went mad. "We don't want to show the games, but we don't want you to either.". Surely something can be done about this?

Yerac

I'm not sure but I think the deal at the moment is that anyone can show games, possibly that TV3 have first refusal, but I know the League pretty much tried to remove all exclusive-ness on their TV contracts, because it was seriously hurting the league when RTE had it (no coverage at all).
If Sky showed interest and followed it up, I could see them putting the broadcasters here to shame.

[PS. How could anyone vote YES?]

_blank_

I agree that if Sky did show interest and follow up on it, they would definitely put the Irish Broadcasters to shame. They have pretty good coverage of the Nationwide Conference and Third Division matches ( I think the eircom League comes somewhere in between these in terms of quality ).

Sky show a GAA highlights show in the summer when the Championship is on, it is a good show, very informative, and I think it is a Sky/RTE production. I think something like this would be good for the eircom league. It could introduce the teams and players, let people know who they are etc.

Also, if the eircom league had some proper exposure then maybe interest would increase, and crowds might increase too. A half hour highlights show on a monday night at 11.30 is a bit of a shambles, although the show is good as eircom league coverage goes.

eirebhoy

just to put into perspective the amount of viewers the Eircom league can attract.

The thriller at Richmond Park has come up trumps with TV bosses. The semi-final replay between St Pats and Bohs drew 194,000 viewers to Network 2.
These figures beat the previous weekend's English Premiership by 1,000 and are far above the 166,000 drawn by Manchester United's Champions League game the previous week
filed : Oct 11 2003

The FAI cup final has been shoen live on Sky Sports the last 2/3 years. Most people just want to see a game of football. I could easily watch an English conference game. Can you imagine if they showed the match on Netork 2 while the likes of Eastenders and Fair City were on RTE 1 for the ladies, RTE would bloody clear up. Its just too hard work to bring a few camera's up to Tolka or Dalymount after the huge increase in the TV licence.:rolleyes:

_blank_

I wonder how those figures compare to GAA games, and if RTE just think it's not worth it anyway.

eirebhoy

Originally posted by seansouth
I wonder how those figures compare to GAA games, and if RTE just think it's not worth it anyway.

I don't think the GAA will ever be beaten. Most houses outside Dublin would watch the sport but in Dublin there aren't as many GAA fans. Anyway here is something about the GAA viewing figures.

TV games a roaring success - 05/08/03

WHEN the 'live' broadcasting of games was first mooted, the GAA was reluctant to agree to RTE's request.

It would affect attendances, was the official view, not only at the game being televised, but at other games throughout the country. However, the latest figures released by RTE indicate a keener than ever appetite for both attendance at, and viewing of games.

Last week's figures showed that attendances this year were up by an average of 33 per cent from last year.

The TV ratings are also thriving. Perhaps the most amazing figure is that for the lone Thursday fixture, the Limerick v Offaly hurling qualifier, which was arranged too late to be included in the TV listings and received only minimal promotion. The 302,000 viewers represented a whopping 29 per cent of the total viewing audience that evening.

In comparison with the figures for 2002, this year's ratings are up, with one exception. The whopping 430,000 who tuned in to see last year's Munster hurling final between Tipperary and Waterford has yet to be beaten, with the Leinster final between Laois and Kildare coming closest with 408,000. While last year's figures tended to be around 300,000, this year has seen a surge to 368,000 and 390,000 for comparable games.

Even the Saturday games are recording better figures than last year's 'live' Sunday games. For instance, the Wexford-Waterford hurling qualifier attracted an audience of 317,000.

http://www.downgaa.net/downgaa/general/news/2003/tvgamesararingsuccess.htm

eirebhoy

Lads, you might want to take a look at this thread. Everyone should e-mail, at least, RTE and get your point across. As he says in the thread, "moaning is one thing, taking action is another....."!