Sky eye up the All Ireland championship matches?

Elmo

keane2097 wrote: »

I'm not sure I'm following you, I suppose I'm just trying to ascertain whether people think all these games on TV have no value at all or that it's just that they're not actually willing to pay.

The games have value. Advertisers advertise during matches, at matches and between matches, that is how the GAA and TV channels make their money. The GAA also sell tickets.

Johnboy1951

keane2097 wrote: »

I'm not sure I'm following you, I suppose I'm just trying to ascertain whether people think all these games on TV have no value at all or that it's just that they're not actually willing to pay.

Of course they have a value.

So does the time and effort etc etc given by a large number of people to support the GAA.

You want to start trying to put some monetary value on such contributions?

keane2097

Johnboy1951 wrote: »

Of course they have a value.

So does the time and effort etc etc given by a large number of people to support the GAA.

You want to start trying to put some monetary value on such contributions?

Are you saying the GAA have been indirectly compensating volunteers by televising games these past few decades?

bruschi

brianxc wrote: »

In any case for non-subscribers of Sky, which would be the majority of the population of this island,

This assumes that the broadband speed is acceptable to stream HD content - which wouldn't be the case for a large percentage of this country outside the main population centres...

Feel free to poke holes in my argument above -

sky is accessed by 72% of the country (47% by sky boxes, 25% by cable TV). 22% have FTA or saorview only, and 6% dont have TVs. (figures taken from TAM Ireland January review of who has what)

Fixed line broadband is available to 94% of the population. average speed is 6MBS on this, requirements for streaming is usually 2MBS minimum. (figure taken from Eircoms release of line useage for broadband)


As for your finding out if Sky is available as a pay as you go option on line here, I'm not sure about that. Sometimes their Irish website is really poorly kept. I know when I was getting an 'On demand' add on wireless box for my parents, there was no way it was getting sorted through the online help or emails, but ringing them sorted it straight away.

Johnboy1951

keane2097 wrote: »

Are you saying the GAA have been indirectly compensating volunteers by televising games these past few decades?

No, I did not say that.

....... but now that you mention it ....... I suppose most would have had the expectation that when games were televised they would be able to view them without extra cost ...

keane2097

Johnboy1951 wrote: »

No, I did not say that.

....... but now that you mention it ....... I suppose most would have had the expectation that when games were televised they would be able to view them without extra cost ...

Yet made no fuss when the league games went to pay TV?

Really it's suspiciously like the majority of people complaining didn't even notice when this happened with the league games, as though they weren't interested in the league or something.

Johnboy1951

keane2097 wrote: »

Yet made no fuss when the league games went to pay TV?

Really it's suspiciously like the majority of people complaining didn't even notice when this happened with the league games, as though they weren't interested in the league or something.

Anything is possible I suppose ..... and maybe they woke up when the paywall affected the games they thought they might want to watch ...... not something I have an answer to ...

keane2097

Johnboy1951 wrote: »

Anything is possible I suppose ..... and maybe they woke up when the paywall affected the games they thought they might want to watch ...... not something I have an answer to ...

Would you even care to speculate?

I did a quick search back to see what you said on the matter when league games were first sold to Setanta for reference, I was surprised to find this was the only thread in the GAA forum you've posted on in five years of being a member of boards.

Johnboy1951

keane2097 wrote: »

Would you even care to speculate?

I did a quick search back to see what you said on the matter when league games were first sold to Setanta for reference, I was surprised to find this was the only thread in the GAA forum you've posted on in five years of being a member of boards.

Your point being what?

There are many sections on Boards that I have not posted in ..... you would wish to draw your conclusion that I have no interest in those subjects too?

Do you like to jump to conclusions?

Necro

I know the championship is the be all and end all of the GAA, but RTE's League Sunday programme is an embarrassing mess. An hour long highlights show with only the top league featured? This is why I welcome the introduction of some competition. Hopefully sky will have all weekend games featured in some small way in the proposed highlights show to highlight each and every county playing.

Johnboy1951

Necrominus wrote: »

I know the championship is the be all and end all of the GAA, but RTE's League Sunday programme is an embarrassing mess. An hour long highlights show with only the top league featured? This is why I welcome the introduction of some competition. Hopefully sky will have all weekend games featured in some small way in the proposed highlights show to highlight each and every county playing.

The question from me would be ....... could they not have competition without the exclusivity behind a paywall? ...... either non-exclusive (a non-runner I imagine) or not behind a paywall?

keane2097

Johnboy1951 wrote: »

Your point being what?

There are many sections on Boards that I have not posted in ..... you would wish to draw your conclusion that I have no interest in those subjects too?

Do you like to jump to conclusions?

My point being I doubt you give GAA more than a passing glance for three quarters of the year. I could easily be wrong on you specifically, but out of all the people who have posted in this thread against the Sky deal the vast majority are infrequent posters on the GAA forum at best. If that doesn't say something about the make-up of the opposition I'd be surprised.

keane2097

Johnboy1951 wrote: »

The question from me would be ....... could they not have competition without the exclusivity behind a paywall? ...... either non-exclusive (a non-runner I imagine) or not behind a paywall?

Funnily enough I seem to recall people threatening to boycott the TV3 coverage in a thread here last year.

Necro

Johnboy1951 wrote: »

The question from me would be ....... could they not have competition without the exclusivity behind a paywall? ...... either non-exclusive (a non-runner I imagine) or not behind a paywall?

As far as I'm concerned, rather than blaming the GAA for 'selling out' I would place part of the blame on our national broadcaster for their unwillingness to part with more money for more exclusivity. The ratings that the AI Finals draw to them more than prove the financial worth of the games. RTE should be capitalising on this, paying the right amount of money and showing as many games as they possibly can.
The GAA are trying to promote the games to a wider audience. RTE should be doing the same. The fact that they've been allowed to get away with such mediocre insular programming is all the more reason I think Sky is a great option. TV3 were no better either, and their unwillingness to produce a HD channel is embarrassing.

Onthe3rdDay

Necrominus wrote: »

As far as I'm concerned, rather than blaming the GAA for 'selling out' I would place part of the blame on our national broadcaster for their unwillingness to part with more money for more exclusivity. The ratings that the AI Finals draw to them more than prove the financial worth of the games. RTE should be capitalising on this, paying the right amount of money and showing as many games as they possibly can.
The GAA are trying to promote the games to a wider audience. RTE should be doing the same. The fact that they've been allowed to get away with such mediocre insular programming is all the more reason I think Sky is a great option. TV3 were no better either, and their unwillingness to produce a HD channel is embarrassing.

RTE have all the games that they want. Of the 31 they have, about ten make them a lot of money, 10 make a decent Profit, 5 break even or a bit better and then there are usually 6 that they'd be better off rerunning a movie. Many in the SKY package are like that.

The interest in GAA games drops off sharply once you get past the top 20 games in a year (same for most sports) That why no one complained about the league going behind a paywall as your Occasional followers have no interest in the competition.

Johnboy1951

Necrominus wrote: »

As far as I'm concerned, rather than blaming the GAA for 'selling out' I would place part of the blame on our national broadcaster for their unwillingness to part with more money for more exclusivity. The ratings that the AI Finals draw to them more than prove the financial worth of the games. RTE should be capitalising on this, paying the right amount of money and showing as many games as they possibly can.
The GAA are trying to promote the games to a wider audience. RTE should be doing the same. The fact that they've been allowed to get away with such mediocre insular programming is all the more reason I think Sky is a great option. TV3 were no better either, and their unwillingness to produce a HD channel is embarrassing.

I see nothing wrong with splitting the high profile games between broadcasters, with each also carrying a batch of lower profile games ....... that is competition and is to be welcomed IMO.
But to have some of those broadcasters provide those games behind a paywall, while others provide the games on a FTA basis is where I see the problem.

Xenophile

If you are a member of the GAA and you are not happy with the deal the GAA has done for Ireland in relation to Sky Sports I recommend that you take the following course of action.

Put down a motion at your club AGM that the Sky sponsorship deal relating to Ireland not be renewed after the current deal expires! And that no more paying to view deals are entered into.

If your county has a monthly draw, do not renew it.

Encourage small businesses especially those who are not connected with selling drink to withdraw their sponsorship of local competitions.

P.S. Interesting to note how many local clubs are sponsored by the “Local Bar” even though the GAA want to see them selves as being at the vanguard of “responsible drinking".

Realt Dearg Sec

Xenophile wrote: »

Encourage small businesses especially those who are not connected with selling drink to withdraw their sponsorship of local competitions.

Your first suggestion makes sense (if you oppose the deal) but what on earth has the above got to do with sky or croke park? Just punishing struggling local competitions and clubs for the sake of it? Have you ever worked within as club and tried to fund it and keep it going?

rockonollie

Xenophile wrote: »

If you are a member of the GAA and you are not happy with the deal the GAA has done for Ireland in relation to Sky Sports I recommend that you take the following course of action.

Put down a motion at your club AGM that the Sky sponsorship deal relating to Ireland not be renewed after the current deal expires! And that no more paying to view deals are entered into.

If your county has a monthly draw, do not renew it.

Encourage small businesses especially those who are not connected with selling drink to withdraw their sponsorship of local competitions.

P.S. Interesting to note how many local clubs are sponsored by the “Local Bar” even though the GAA want to see them selves as being at the vanguard of “responsible drinking".

Like I said when you posted the same suggestion in the Kilkenny forum.......I personally don't see all that much wrong with the deal, but completely recognize the right of everyone who is against it to voice their concerns, and also protest if they wish......but there's a high level of hypocrisy in someone protesting against a deal, because they feel it damages the GAA, in a manner which is intentionally damaging to the GAA.

How does attempting to bankrupt local clubs prove any point about the GAA selling out and betraying it's grassroot members?

rebel girl 15

I don't understand the line being thrown out that it will mean better TV coverage of GAA in the UK, given that PremierSport covers a load of games, and they are on both the SKY and Virgin packages, £10 a month. I saw someone say somewhere else that other arrangements could be put in place for the UK, well, they have been there for a while. For the next three years PremierSport has

Exclusive coverage of 26 games each season for the next 3 years from the GAA Championships.
Includes Sunday Provincial games including the finals from all 4 regions, 1st/2nd choice of qualifiers from rounds 1 and 2 and 4 Quarter Finals.
Exclusive coverage of over 30 Allianz League games including TG4 games in English.
Minimum of 6 Club Championship games covering the semi-finals and finals

Any game I've watched in the UK has been on PremierSport, don't think any pubs or people over who already have PremierSport will be looking for the SKY coverage

Godge

Xenophile wrote: »

If you are a member of the GAA and you are not happy with the deal the GAA has done for Ireland in relation to Sky Sports I recommend that you take the following course of action.

Put down a motion at your club AGM that the Sky sponsorship deal relating to Ireland not be renewed after the current deal expires! And that no more paying to view deals are entered into.

If your county has a monthly draw, do not renew it.

Encourage small businesses especially those who are not connected with selling drink to withdraw their sponsorship of local competitions.

P.S. Interesting to note how many local clubs are sponsored by the “Local Bar” even though the GAA want to see them selves as being at the vanguard of “responsible drinking".

Wouldn't it be simpler to put down a motion for the club to get a SKY subscription for the clubhouse?

tommy2bad

Godge wrote: »

Wouldn't it be simpler to put down a motion for the club to get a SKY subscription for the clubhouse?

And that would demonstrate your opposition to this how?

Realt Dearg Sec

tommy2bad wrote: »

And that would demonstrate your opposition to this how?

I suppose it's about as effective and sensible a demonstration as seeking to sabotage local sponsorship of clubs and competitions, with the difference that it might actually enable people to see the games without damaging the club's infrastructure.

Johnboy1951

keane2097 wrote: »

My point being I doubt you give GAA more than a passing glance for three quarters of the year.

You are entitled to jump to whatever conclusions you wish.

I could easily be wrong on you specifically, but out of all the people who have posted in this thread against the Sky deal the vast majority are infrequent posters on the GAA forum at best. If that doesn't say something about the make-up of the opposition I'd be surprised.

I have no idea what you conclude from it as you have not said .... but again it is just jumping to your own conclusions based on an absence of proof of anything.

I had not and have not any interest in regularly posting on the GAA forum.

Again, draw any conclusion you wish from that!

Your 'conclusions', do not negate in any way, my comments on the deals done.

blue note

The GAA should have included free sky sports packages for all the clubs in the deal.

lucozader

It all hinges on Marty Morrissey. If sky can coax him away from rte, then it's game over. Sky will be the only choice for GAA coverage. Alkso 50% of the population of the UK and Ireland are women. The amount of women subscribing to sky sports for Marty time will be massive.

RoyalCelt

blue note wrote: »

The GAA should have included free sky sports packages for all the clubs in the deal.

if a few clubs put forward a motion regarding this it could be brought in next year or in the next contract in 3 years if they renew. They could also look to provide all players with a free sky subscription.

Fr Tod Umptious

blue note wrote: »

The GAA should have included free sky sports packages for all the clubs in the deal.

If that's the case then they should throw in a Setanta sub too, cos its exactly the same thing.

rebel girl 15

RoyalCelt wrote: »

if a few clubs put forward a motion regarding this it could be brought in next year or in the next contract in 3 years if they renew. They could also look to provide all players with a free sky subscription.

They are ahead of you on that one, from this mornings Examiner, a quote from Peter McKenna, the commercial director of the GAA

McKenna’s department in Croke Park are in the process of furnishing the British broadcasters with club contact details for discounted subscriptions

maestroamado

Johnboy1951 wrote: »

You are entitled to jump to whatever conclusions you wish.



I have no idea what you conclude from it as you have not said .... but again it is just jumping to your own conclusions based on an absence of proof of anything.

I had not and have not any interest in regularly posting on the GAA forum.

Again, draw any conclusion you wish from that!

Your 'conclusions', do not negate in any way, my comments on the deals done.

dangerous to conclude what people are thinking... I am in favour of the deal but I will not see the games and whether that makes a difference to how I support the gaa in future only time will tell... I could well get sky but I am not interested enough in the other sports and could not justify just for gaa....
I would be in agreement in about of 80% do.... one of the things the gaa do not do well is critism and "constructive critism" is good for any organization...

ProudDUB

rebel girl 15 wrote: »

They are ahead of you on that one, from this mornings Examiner, a quote from Peter McKenna, the commercial director of the GAA

I wonder if they are only doing this as an attempt to save face, after all the back lash. If they had led with a plan like this, from the get go, it may not have been the PR disaster that it turned into.

mbutler2007

any one know what fixtures will be shown live? on RTE or Sky

The Cush

mbutler2007 wrote: »

any one know what fixtures will be shown live? on RTE or Sky

Sky's - 14 games exclusive

June 7 — Kilkenny v Offaly (Leinster SHC quarter-final)
June 14 — Dublin v Wexford (Leinster SHC semi-final)
June 21 — Sligo v Galway/London (Connacht SFC semi-final)
June 28 — Armagh/Cavan v Down/Tyrone/Monaghan (Ulster SFC semi-final)

8 Saturday-evening All-Ireland qualifiers
2 All-Ireland football quarter-finals
All-Ireland hurling and football semi-finals and finals - live coverage with RTÉ

RTÉ - 31 games incl. live coverage of the All-Ireland Finals, Semi-Finals and Provincial Finals, 2 All-Ireland football quarter-finals, All-Ireland hurling quarter-finals, mixture of provincial championship and qualifier games.

BBC NI - Ulster championship games covered by RTÉ, including the Provincial football final

http://www.gaa.ie/gaa-news-and-videos/daily-news/1/0104141419-media-rights-press-release/

ProudDUB

The Cush wrote: »

Sky's - 14 games exclusive

June 7 — Kilkenny v Offaly (Leinster SHC quarter-final)
June 14 — Dublin v Wexford (Leinster SHC semi-final)
June 21 — Sligo v Galway/London (Connacht SFC semi-final)
June 28 — Armagh/Cavan v Down/Tyrone/Monaghan (Ulster SFC semi-final)

8 Saturday-evening All-Ireland qualifiers
2 All-Ireland football quarter-finals
All-Ireland hurling and football semi-finals and finals - live coverage with RTÉ

RTÉ - 31 games incl. live coverage of the All-Ireland Finals, Semi-Finals and Provincial Finals, 2 All-Ireland football quarter-finals, All-Ireland hurling quarter-finals, mixture of provincial championship and qualifier games.

BBC NI - Ulster championship games covered by RTÉ, including the Provincial football final

http://www.gaa.ie/gaa-news-and-videos/daily-news/1/0104141419-media-rights-press-release/

Think I read somewhere that the Sky football quarter finals will be the ones involving the Ulster and Leinster champs. RTE will get the ones involving the Munster and Connaught champs.

Mr Simpson

ProudDUB wrote: »

Think I read somewhere that the Sky football quarter finals will be the ones involving the Ulster and Leinster champs. RTE will get the ones involving the Munster and Connaught champs.

Correct indeed

bruschi

amazing that there is not the same uproar over the main rugby tournament not only being on 'Pay tv' but now on 2 different subscription broadcasters. And plus the secondary tournament is also going to sky. But yet the country is up in arms over a very small portion of GAA games being shown on sky. it was on every news report for a week, all over the papers, and specials on RTE over it, yet the rugby equivalent is just reported and moved on from. is it because of the sport, the fans or the media?

Realt Dearg Sec

bruschi wrote: »

amazing that there is not the same uproar over the main rugby tournament not only being on 'Pay tv' but now on 2 different subscription broadcasters. And plus the secondary tournament is also going to sky. But yet the country is up in arms over a very small portion of GAA games being shown on sky. it was on every news report for a week, all over the papers, and specials on RTE over it, yet the rugby equivalent is just reported and moved on from. is it because of the sport, the fans or the media?

It might be just that, beyond the hype, people care less about rugby than the GAA. Also, of course, the GAA usually get more of a kicking from fans and media so why would this be different?

Elmo

bruschi wrote: »

amazing that there is not the same uproar over the main rugby tournament not only being on 'Pay tv' but now on 2 different subscription broadcasters. And plus the secondary tournament is also going to sky. But yet the country is up in arms over a very small portion of GAA games being shown on sky. it was on every news report for a week, all over the papers, and specials on RTE over it, yet the rugby equivalent is just reported and moved on from. is it because of the sport, the fans or the media?

There was a lot of talk about H Cup on Pay TV there always is, when the Government tried to put certain games FTA.

The IRFU had to promote the reasons why it was good for rugby to stop the government moving to put some of the finals and Irish involvement in the tournament FTA.

Rugby has no FTA requirements, Six nations only has to be deferred.

kksaints

bruschi wrote: »

amazing that there is not the same uproar over the main rugby tournament not only being on 'Pay tv' but now on 2 different subscription broadcasters. And plus the secondary tournament is also going to sky. But yet the country is up in arms over a very small portion of GAA games being shown on sky. it was on every news report for a week, all over the papers, and specials on RTE over it, yet the rugby equivalent is just reported and moved on from. is it because of the sport, the fans or the media?

There were complaints the first time the rugby went on Pay tv, once people get used to it there wont be as many complaints.

ArmaniJeanss

bruschi wrote: »

amazing that there is not the same uproar over the main rugby tournament not only being on 'Pay tv' but now on 2 different subscription broadcasters. And plus the secondary tournament is also going to sky. But yet the country is up in arms over a very small portion of GAA games being shown on sky. it was on every news report for a week, all over the papers, and specials on RTE over it, yet the rugby equivalent is just reported and moved on from. is it because of the sport, the fans or the media?

Not really a good comparision as the main rugby tournaments aren't just Irish affairs.
People accept that the IRFU have to agree a TV deal with 3 other governing bodies for the Celtic League and X other governing bodies for the H-Cup (and in the latter case the IRFU is very much a minor partner behind the English and French leagues).

prospect

kksaints wrote: »

There were complaints the first time the rugby went on Pay tv, once people get used to it there wont be as many complaints.

Not true, and as it happens (and could easily happen with the GAA), from next seasons H-Cup (equivalent) you will require two seperate premium sports subscriptions to see the matches.

Can you imagine the uproar when the GAA split out the matches further to Setanta and/or BT sport alongside RTE!

Dirty Dingus McGee

ArmaniJeanss wrote: »

Not really a good comparision as the main rugby tournaments aren't just Irish affairs.
People accept that the IRFU have to agree a TV deal with 3 other governing bodies for the Celtic League and X other governing bodies for the H-Cup (and in the latter case the IRFU is very much a minor partner behind the English and French leagues).

But surely the Irish teams should be available on Irish TV free to air.Surely the IRFU should be standing up for Rugby supporters in this country and making sure they don't have to pay a subscription to watch the irish teams in European action.

Realt Dearg Sec

prospect wrote: »

Can you imagine the uproar when the GAA split out the matches further to Setanta and/or BT sport alongside RTE!

That is already the case.

Johnboy1951

The answer to the problem is clear ....... emigrate to Australia and view all GAA televised matches FTA.

Simple really .....

:rolleyes:

munchkin_utd

A different take on the matter from a corner of Ireland where TV3 was never free to air, or available in the first place so the "loss" of the rights to Sky is actually them gaining the games that they wouldnt have had otherwise.

Games have never been as available or free as some think
<snip>
Loughnane said: “Most people in the country don’t have Sky and don’t want it.”

Loughnane is obviously unaware that many people in Northern Ireland don’t have TV3 — and they do want it. Others don’t want Sky, but have it, because they need it to get RTÉ. A friend of mine is a good example. A GAA fanatic, he lives in the metropolis of Belfast. He gets RTÉ via Virgin cable. His father, who lives in North Antrim, gets RTÉ via Sky. Neither man has access to TV3, the channel which broadcast nine championship games last year.

Let’s not forget it was TV3, and not RTÉ, that lost out in the recent contract negotiations. GAA commercial director Peter McKenna has since revealed that one of the reasons TV3 was overlooked was because it’s not available in the 32 counties.

However, that minor detail failed to stop Dunphy from saying: “If everyone in the town, village, county or townland can’t see a match, I think that’s wrong. The basic bottom line for me is that the GAA is one of the sports that brings communities together, that people bond around and share. If that is damaged, then that is a real shame. It is very worrying.”

Because he never lived within a GAA community which had noaccess to RTÉ, Dunphy will not appreciate the irony of his statement.
<snip>
Last week the RTÉ crew kept reminding us that not everyone has Sky. They were also keen to point out that GAA members will have to pay to watch games on the subscription channel.

That’s all true. But for many years, not everyone in the North had RTÉ.

Even now, to access RTÉ many people have to pay a cable company.

This repeated depiction of the golden days when everyone in Ireland could watch all the games for free on RTÉ must stop.

http://www.irishexaminer.com/sport/games-have-never-been-as-available-or-free-as-some-think-264946.html

The Cush

Liam O’Neill, President, and Páraic Duffy, Director General, GAA will appear before the Oireachtas Transport and Communications committee today at 12:00 to discuss the GAA’s broadcasting contract with SKY Sports.

The discussion should be available to watch via the Oireachtas Live webcast (Committee 4) - http://www.oireachtas.ie/ViewDoc.asp?fn=/documents/livewebcast/Web-Live.htm&CatID=83&m=o

http://www.independent.ie/sport/gaelic-football/oneill-duffy-to-be-grilled-on-deal-30185721.html
http://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/sport/gaa-chiefs-to-appear-before-oireachtas-committee-to-explain-sky-deal-627881.html
http://www.thescore.ie/liam-oneill-paraic-duffy-oireachtas-1414707-Apr2014/

iDave

The Cush wrote: »

Liam O’Neill, President, and Páraic Duffy, Director General, GAA will appear before the Oireachtas Transport and Communications committee today at 12:00 to discuss the GAA’s broadcasting contract with SKY Sports.

The discussion should be available to watch via the Oireachtas Live webcast (Committee 4) - http://www.oireachtas.ie/ViewDoc.asp?fn=/documents/livewebcast/Web-Live.htm&CatID=83&m=o

http://www.independent.ie/sport/gaelic-football/oneill-duffy-to-be-grilled-on-deal-30185721.html
http://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/sport/gaa-chiefs-to-appear-before-oireachtas-committee-to-explain-sky-deal-627881.html
http://www.thescore.ie/liam-oneill-paraic-duffy-oireachtas-1414707-Apr2014/

What an unbelievable waste of time

Hulk Hands

munchkin_utd wrote: »

http://www.irishexaminer.com/sport/games-have-never-been-as-available-or-free-as-some-think-264946.html

The best paragraph from that article is below, and its something I didn't realise. Basically we've only had proper coverage of the GAA for about 15-20 years, yet people are acting like centuries of tradition is being thrown away

Again, let’s examine this grand tradition of RTÉ broadcasting. For starters, up until 1995 the only games broadcast by RTÉ were the All-Ireland semi-finals and finals. That’s six games. Yet, for huge swathes of the population in the North, those games were inaccessible.

So, for the purposes of a more enlightened debate, this incessant moaning about the need for a universal broadcaster of Gaelic games needs to stop. It has never existed.

munchkin_utd

Hulk Hands wrote: »

The best paragraph from that article is below, and its something I didn't realise. Basically we've only had proper coverage of the GAA for about 15-20 years, yet people are acting like centuries of tradition is being thrown away

plus, the coverage peaked at 50+games and was reduced by 10 games to "only" 40 three years ago (IIRC)

I just came across this article from 3 years ago, with a statement from the upcoming GAA president, who then was Ulster president which shows that it wasnt the GAA's main priority 3years ago to have every other game live on TV - just as it isnt the case now either!

Ulster chief backs slimmed-down TV schedule

Ulster Council President Aogan Farrell
13 May 2011


Ulster Council president Aoghan Farrell has welcomed the decision to reduce the number of live TV games this year.

The Cavan man believes the level of coverage afforded to championship games had reached saturation point and has backed the decision to cut 10 live games from the TV schedule.

"It is right to have less games," he said.

"Last year was a bit ridiculous. There were a few times we had three games on and you were switching from one channel to another. That was saturation coverage. The balance has now been struck and I would believe what we have at the moment is right."

http://gaaboard.com/board/index.php?PHPSESSID=7bb18beee6c15728577eeb70653c113e&topic=19062.msg959284#msg959284

copacetic

Duffy and O'Neill at Dail committee at the moment, live online and on NewsNow.

Not an impressive start, Duffy saying no commercial reason, only reason to go with Sky was for the people abroad.

To say that is taking liberty with the truth is an understatement since Premier sports in the UK have in the past been providing exactly the same service as Sky will provide (for less money) and wanted to continue to do so.


For anyone who isn't aware

The justifications for the SKY deal, that it increases the audience and encourages global participation, are fallacies. Up until now, UK Gaels could watch all the games via Premier Sports for £9.99 a month. From now on, assuming they want to watch the games owned by SKY, they will have to pay for both Premier and SKY Sports. As Premier Sports Chief Richard Sweeney said on Wednesday “ Our coverage was priced at £9.99 a month. Now UK fans are being asked to fork out huge sums to continue watching on TV.” - See more at: http://gaeliclife.com/2014/04/joe-brolly-the-gaas-forgtten-principles/#sthash.qUuaSiFW.dpuf