The official Sky Sports GAA Thread!

bruschi

No

Prop Joe wrote: »

30 odd i said :rolleyes: - nitpicking at it's finest

TV3 have showed many replay games on a Sat evening,I remember a Kerry v Cork Munster semi final replay a few years ago

yep, they did alright. But they also had the drawn game the week before too. Is there any example of them showing a replay of a game that was originally on RTE?

Prop Joe

Undecided

bruschi wrote: »

y
Is there any example of them showing a replay of a game that was originally on RTE?

Can't see how that would be a problem,New game and all that. Well i'm sure RTE had first refusal and since they couldn't accommodate the GAA,It would go to the next tender

KK v Dublin wasnt Live last year on any channel but RTE covered the replay on RTE.ie

bruschi

No

Prop Joe wrote: »

Can't see how that would be a problem,New game and all that. Well i'm sure RTE had first refusal and since they couldn't accommodate the GAA,It would go to the next tender

KK v Dublin wasnt Live last year on any channel but RTE covered the replay on RTE.ie

maybe so, but again it is only speculation. but I still dont know of any example where RTE showed a drawn game, and TV3 then showed the replay a week later at 5 and their own scheduled game at 7.

Prop Joe

Undecided

bruschi wrote: »

maybe so, but again it is only speculation. but I still dont know of any example where RTE showed a drawn game, and TV3 then showed the replay a week later at 5 and their own scheduled game at 7.

Well again i'm no expert in this field. Couldn't see if the GAA wanted it televised how they could stop another station showing it if the original broadcaster refused

Beffs

No

I'm still of mixed opinions of on the Sky deal, but people are unfairly using this game as stick to beat them with. RTE and SKY can't be expected to redo their entire broadcast schedule, just because one game goes to a replay. Not having a competitor air a game at the same time you are is standard procedure. Both RTE and Sky have other commitments to other games and sports. If peoples noses are out of joint that they can't see the game on TV, they should be looking to the KK and Galway Co Boards, who refused to play the game at the time that RTE offered up to broadcast it at.

Hidalgo

Beffs wrote: »

I'm still of mixed opinions of on the Sky deal, but people are unfairly using this game as stick to beat them with. RTE and SKY can't be expected to redo their entire broadcast schedule, just because one game goes to a replay. Not having a competitor air a game at the same time you are is standard procedure. Both RTE and Sky have other commitments to other games and sports. If peoples noses are out of joint that they can't see the game on TV, they should be looking to the KK and Galway Co Boards, who refused to play the game at the time that RTE offered up to broadcast it at.

From the pov of the two county boards a late throw in would mean fans getting home very late.
Although its a sat night so that wouldn't be a massive factor you'd imagine

Beffs

No

Hidalgo wrote: »

From the pov of the two county boards a late throw in would mean fans getting home very late.
Although its a sat night so that wouldn't be a massive factor you'd imagine

RTE offered to broadcast it at 2.30. The co boards objected to the earlier time, not a later one.

curioser

Beffs wrote: »

RTE offered to broadcast it at 2.30. The co boards objected to the earlier time, not a later one.

Apparently out of fear of discommoding Saturday afternoon shoppers in Tullamore!

JessePinkman

curioser wrote: »

Apparently out of fear of discommoding Saturday afternoon shoppers in Tullamore!

The county boards refused 2.30 because of player/Supporter work commitments.

Fr Tod Umptious

When KK build a 15 pt lead in the first 20mins, and win by 11 , people will be wondering what all the fuss was about.

Lightbulb Sun

No

kksaints wrote: »

Actually think its the Champions league final.

World Cup Final is. 700m viewers in 2010.

Hidalgo

Don't think the Gardai were in favour of a 2-30 throw in. Too much stress for them

Hidalgo

Lightbulb Sun wrote: »

World Cup Final is. 700m viewers in 2010.

that point relates to annual sporting events

statto25

No

Who is the main commentator tonight? Has Mike Finnerty been handed the P45 already?

Kermit.de.frog

Viewership figures are going to be even more awful given the WC went to penalties. Also there has not been a decent game on Sky yet.

DEFTLEFTHAND

The woman Rachael comes across as a bit of a dolly bird in fairness, there's no need for her to be there.

Brian Carney isn't too bad as a presenter, the dialogue with the panel flows well with him I find.

robbiezero

Kermit.de.frog wrote: »

Viewership figures are going to be even more awful given the WC went to penalties. Also there has not been a decent game on Sky yet.

That football game last night was truly awful. I almost feel a bit sorry for Sky with some of the matches they got.

MayoSalmon

Undecided

More people in attendance in Clones than watched on Sky then only a slight increase for the Dublin match.


http://www.irishtimes.com/sport/gaelic-games/gaelic-football/sky-figures-slide-as-less-than-1-watch-ulster-semi-1.1850813

STB

Undecided

MayoSalmon wrote: »

More people in attendance in Clones than watched on Sky then only a slight increase for the Dublin match.


http://www.irishtimes.com/sport/gaelic-games/gaelic-football/sky-figures-slide-as-less-than-1-watch-ulster-semi-1.1850813

Dismal. The GAA spin doctors should now realise that their bigger audiences mantra is utter tripe.

The bottom line is the only people who win here are the pay Tv companies. Unfortunately the GAA are in bed with them and our native amateur sport reaches less and less audiences than it did traditionally. This goes against the very ethos of the GAA organisation itself which is to promote the game, natively.

The effects of pay tv on professional sports is already well documented. For those who have time, these two documents make interesting reading.

http://historyhub.ie/the-impact-of-pay-tv-on-sport
http://eprints.nuim.ie/407/1/EIM_Article_Flynn_R._finalb.pdf

The only solution now is take it out of the GAA's hands altogether as they have shown that they cannot be trusted to protect the bloody sport. TVWF listing required for the championship. The games and sport itself are after all of major importance to Irish society.

bruschi

No

STB wrote: »

Dismal. The GAA spin doctors should now realise that their bigger audiences mantra is utter tripe.

The bottom line is the only people who win here are the pay Tv companies. Unfortunately the GAA are in bed with them and our native amateur sport reaches less and less audiences than it did traditionally. This goes against the very ethos of the GAA organisation itself which is to promote the game, natively.

The effects of pay tv on professional sports is already well documented. For those who have time, these two documents make interesting reading.

http://historyhub.ie/the-impact-of-pay-tv-on-sport
http://eprints.nuim.ie/407/1/EIM_Article_Flynn_R._finalb.pdf

The only solution now is take it out of the GAA's hands altogether as they have shown that they cannot be trusted to protect the bloody sport. TVWF listing required for the championship. The games and sport itself are after all of major importance to Irish society.

in relation to your first article, any chance you have figures for how many watch the Heineken cup on Sky sports this year, rather than the comparison to 7 years ago? It would surely be more relevant.

Also, do you not find it a bit odd that the viewing figures do not include HD nor their online service? And do you really think that this spells the end for the GAA, having just 8 games of 96 or whatever it is on sky?

There is a massive over reaction to the games being on sky. Figures are being plucked out to suit agendas. The games they have had so far have been of the lowest demand, so its no surprise that the figures would be low anyway. They do seem far lower than expected alright, but the figures IMO are not in any way accurate.

STB

Undecided

bruschi wrote: »

in relation to your first article, any chance you have figures for how many watch the Heineken cup on Sky sports this year, rather than the comparison to 7 years ago? It would surely be more relevant.

First off its not my article, it was written By Dr Paul Rouse, a UCD lecturer and author of a few books on GAA history. This particular article was written in 2012 and looked historically at the effects of pay TV on professional sports (amateur sports weren't even in the shop window then, as no one had the balls to try and sell it to a paywall).

What would be more relevant is reading the article to understand how relevant it is to what is happening right now with GAA. The only difference is that the GAA is an even worse example of mass decline in viewership being buried on Sky Sports 3, a channel with a channel share of 0.1% in the UK and even less in Ireland.

bruschi wrote: »

Also, do you not find it a bit odd that the viewing figures do not include HD nor their online service? And do you really think that this spells the end for the GAA, having just 8 games of 96 or whatever it is on sky?

No. I don't. Why do you ? I know by the very nature of how the BARB record their share in the UK that they don't distinguish between HD and SD. Its on channel name. Same with Nielsen in Ireland. Even if it were any other way, would you be expecting it to massively shoot up ?

And Sky have the rights to 20 games not 8. 14 of the 20 are on an exclusive basis. Until 2016.

bruschi wrote: »

There is a massive over reaction to the games being on sky. Figures are being plucked out to suit agendas. The games they have had so far have been of the lowest demand, so its no surprise that the figures would be low anyway. They do seem far lower than expected alright, but the figures IMO are not in any way accurate.

Massive over reaction ? You are joking me. Its only been muted as the media havent covered it. Its only as a result of a few Irish Times articles over the past few weeks that the penny is beginning to drop and people are being made aware of exactly what the GAA signed away and why.

You seem to be some expert on viewing figures, judging by your quotes of your expectations. Do you know what such games commanded when they were on Free to Air last year ? Obviously not.

The only agenda here is those who are trying to justify a GAA deal to go behind a paywall which has resulted in a scenario whereby only 10,000 viewing audience (less than those who attended the game) across the country is an acceptable situation for the promotion of the sport in this country.

The bottom line according to Dr Rouse's article is that "the evidence which emerges is clear: when a sport moves from free-to-air television to pay-tv there is a significant decline in viewership from all sections of the community, but especially from people from rural areas, from pensioners, from working class families, and from farmers. Essentially, pay-tv places live sports beyond the reach of certain (often disadvantaged) sections of society." In other words a large catchment of whom the GAA are meant to serve.

mickmackey1

Wish I could understand how Sky has so much money when nobody watches the bloody thing :mad:

munchkin_utd

No

STB, a sport hasnt moved behind a paywall. Some games have moved behind a paywall. But the most important and most attractive games are still FTA with the exception of 2 football quarter finals.

All games on the Sunday afternoon primetime slot are on FTA.
All 6 provincial finals are still on FTA.
All Ireland semis and finals still FTA.
All Munster Hurling Championship games(which to some is more important than an all Ireland football final)
All but 1 of Dublins football games - which again are prize fixtures for broadcasters and viewing figures.
And on top of 2 games every Sunday all summer long, theres a few Saturday qualifiers on FTA for good measure.

I dont see any deal in the future being much different than the current one. Now, you could argue that sky having a foot in the door opens the possibility of some crazily bad things happening down the line.
But the current existing deal and the 2014 schedule leaves so many important games FTA that many armchair fans wouldnt be aware that theres some "missing" to sky.

And regarding the research. It proves nothing except less people see a game on TV if its behind a paywall.
The examples put forward are where sports have sold full rights to sky and the conflicts like in cricket or rugby are that the public will see little or none of the sport at all any more.

In GAA.... All provincial finals, all ireland semis/ finals, hurling quarters, all but 2 football quarters and 2 games every Sunday all summer long.
So its far from hiding the game from the viewing masses (ala Heineken Cup deal) - even if the odd game like the Monaghan Armagh replay next weekend isnt being televised (and wheres the shaggin outcry that that game isnt being shown BTW?).

bruschi

No

Munchkin Utd has pretty much said all I would say. but just in relation to some direct points:

STB wrote: »

First off its not my article, it was written By Dr Paul Rouse, a UCD lecturer and author of a few books on GAA history. This particular article was written in 2012 and looked historically at the effects of pay TV on professional sports (amateur sports weren't even in the shop window then, as no one had the balls to try and sell it to a paywall).

What would be more relevant is reading the article to understand how relevant it is to what is happening right now with GAA. The only difference is that the GAA is an even worse example of mass decline in viewership being buried on Sky Sports 3, a channel with a channel share of 0.1% in the UK and even less in Ireland.

so you dont know. grand. I dont either, but it would save us both time if you just said that.

STB wrote: »

No. I don't. Why do you ? I know by the very nature of how the BARB record their share in the UK that they don't distinguish between HD and SD. Its on channel name. Same with Nielsen in Ireland. Even if it were any other way, would you be expecting it to massively shoot up ?

And Sky have the rights to 20 games not 8. 14 of the 20 are on an exclusive basis. Until 2016.
[\quote]

sound, I got my games flipped the wrong way. apologies. and no, I dont know what the HD figures are, but I'm not quoting exact figures on viewership that is clearly wrong. I dont know, but neither do you. But that is my point, people are using figures to suit agendas.

STB wrote: »

You seem to be some expert on viewing figures, judging by your quotes of your expectations. Do you know what such games commanded when they were on Free to Air last year ? Obviously not.

I never once claimed to be an expert, nor have I quoted any figures on the viewership, I'll leave you do that seeing as you are the one quoting the figures already.

as I said before, I'd prefer to see what the exact figures are including HD and online, and also I'd like to see the comparison to TV3s figures on similar games to last year, not comparisons to blockbuster Sunday afternoon games on RTE.

munchkin_utd

No

STB wrote: »

Why should Sky dictate any of this. No one should be pandering to a foreign TV pay only subscription company who dont even reside in the state.

We never had the issue before.
<snip>.

indeed. Totally new.
Setanta are irish so their paywall for a season of league games is a native one, or is it?

Accounts show Setanta's Luxembourg unit cut losses
The accounts for Setanta Sports Hibernia show that its net revenue, which includes that from subscriptions, fell 15pc to €8.4m from €9.9m in 2011.

The Luxembourg unit is the company that Irish subscribers to the service have their contracts with.

http://www.independent.ie/business/irish/accounts-show-setantas-luxembourg-unit-cut-losses-30402210.html

obezyana

No

Just watching the Clare Wexford game in RTE 1 my god the picture is dreadful at least when it's on Sky or RTE 2 it's HD.

sammy37

Undecided

RTE 1 is in hd on saorview now well mine is anyway

Diabhal Beag

It's fine. Not as good as HD but I can see everything with no blurs. Just moaning for the sake of it.

obezyana

No

Diabhal Beag wrote: »

It's fine. Not as good as HD but I can see everything with no blurs. Just moaning for the sake of it.

Are you referring to me? It's called having an opinion and I'm pretty sure we are all entitled to our opinion. It's not a moan it's an opinion. Look up opinion in the dictionary then follow it by moan and see what you learn.

Diabhal Beag

I think it's a bit OTT but you're as entitled to your opinion as I am. An overly negative opinion can also be a moan.

obezyana

No

sammy37 wrote: »

RTE 1 is in hd on saorview now well mine is anyway

Yeah it's a shame Sky don't carry RTE 1 HD as anything especially sport is way better in HD. It's watchable in standard definition but there is real noticeable difference when everything else you'd watch would be in HD.

obezyana

No

Diabhal Beag wrote: »

I think it's a bit OTT but you're as entitled to your opinion as I am. An overly negative opinion can also be a moan.

It's not a negative opinion or a moan it's an opinion that I hold that the picture on RTE 1 is terrible compared to HD. That's not a moan it's a fact.

Diabhal Beag

It's watchable as you just said. Dunno why we're debating about this as we're about to head into the most exciting finish in a very long time :pac:

Dan Chipowski

The picture quality is appalling.

sammy37

Undecided

obezyana wrote: »

Yeah it's a shame Sky don't carry RTE 1 HD as anything especially sport is way better in HD. It's watchable in standard definition but there is real noticeable difference when everything else you'd watch would be in HD.

very noticeable with hurling i must say and i was one of those giving out about saorview but i take it all back!

obezyana

No

Diabhal Beag wrote: »

It's watchable as you just said. Dunno why we're debating about this as we're about to head into the most exciting finish in a very long time :pac:

Haha true I can't see the score tho

Diabhal Beag

"Do you think Clare would've expected a shock like that Jamesie?"

Aye Rachel. Aye.

Fr Tod Umptious

I just noticed that there has been no outrage here about the Armagh v Monaghan replay not being on TV.

Odd that.

adrian522

No

Fr Tod Umptious wrote: »

I just noticed that there has been no outrage here about the Armagh v Monaghan replay not being on TV.

Odd that.

Probably because no one wants to watch it.

Boom__Boom

No

adrian522 wrote: »

Probably because no one wants to watch it.

I've a compensation claim in against the Monaghan and Armagh county boards after watching the first game.

Fr Tod Umptious

adrian522 wrote: »

Probably because no one wants to watch it.

Oh I totally agree, but what about the arguments that were posted here about the other replays, that the public was being in some way denied a public service, surely they hold true for this reply also

threeball

Undecided

Diabhal Beag wrote: »

"Do you think Clare would've expected a shock like that Jamesie?"

Aye Rachel. Aye.

Shes totally wooden and out of her depth. Like a reallife Lady Penelope

threeball

threeball wrote: »

Shes totally wooden and out of her depth. Like a reallife Lady Penelope

It seems like she had to tick three main boxes

Prettiness. Check
Irish Check
Actual knowledge of the sport. Well she is Irish so they must all be at the hurling over there so check

They done well getting Jamesie though

manutd

Tipp v Offaly confirmed as the Sat 7pm Sky game. With Wexford v Clare on RTE at 5pm. No football qualifier on TV, including Tyrone v Armagh.

Why sky are showing Offaly again is beyond me.

Football on sky so far (2): Galway v Silgo;Aramgh v Monaghan
Hurling on sky (4): Tipp v Galway; Wexford v Dublin; Kilkenny v Offaly; Wexford v Clare (this Sat)

Also the storm when the Galway v Kilkenny replay was not shown live. But noting about Monaghan v Aramgh / Down v Tryone or Tryone v Aramgh not been live next week is madness. I know the 12th is the major problem and you cannot blame sky/rte.

1 out off 18 football qualifiers (including this weekend) live namely Fermanagh v Laois.
4 out off 6 hurling qualifiers live on sky/rte including this weekend.

Brian017

I think the Armagh-Monaghan scarred them from football for life!

Hurling has got the better reaction over there so maybe they'll chose a hurling match whatever possible

Tinie

No

No surprises to be honest that Football didn't take off with the Brits, while Hurling did.

munchkin_utd

No

Tyrone Armagh has to be on Sunday to avoid the marches on the Saturday which has many roads in the north closed and lots of crazy drunk orangemen looking to express their "culture" later in the day once they have their pope bashing ritual finished.

Down v Kildare is the same problem, you dont want to have a big GAA game up north on Saturday next.

And anyhow, orangemen aside, sky's game for the 12th was always down as a hurling qualifier so no surprise that its a hurling qualifier they are indeed showing.

manutd

munchkin_utd wrote: »

Tyrone Armagh has to be on Sunday to avoid the marches on the Saturday which has many roads in the north closed and lots of crazy drunk orangemen looking to express their "culture" later in the day once they have their pope bashing ritual finished.

Down v Kildare is the same problem, you dont want to have a big GAA game up north on Saturday next.

And anyhow, orangemen aside, sky's game for the 12th was always down as a hurling qualifier so no surprise that its a hurling qualifier they are indeed showing.

I know you couldn't have a match on the 12th in the north, i say rte would off showing a football qualifier if it was not for wexford/clare drawing.

Next weekend all hurling are matches live (Wex/Clare; Tipp/Offaly; Lim/Cork), 1 football live(Mayo/Gal) out of 7.

munchkin_utd

No

manutd wrote: »

I know you couldn't have a match on the 12th in the north, i say rte would off showing a football qualifier if it was not for wexford/clare drawing.

Next weekend all hurling are matches live (Wex/Clare; Tipp/Offaly; Lim/Cork), 1 football live(Mayo/Gal) out of 7.

indeed, on GAAGO the earlier Saturday game is still down as a football qualifier TBC.
The weekend after is down as 2 football games (both on Sky?) but whether that remains with a later than planned wex/ clare v waterford hurling qualifier remains to be seen

Cosmo Kramer

No

It makes sense to show a few hurling qualifiers now anyway as once this set of qualifiers are out of the way there will only be five games left in the hurling season. With only a handful of teams competing in the All Ireland Championship it results in the better ones clashing earlier in the year. The football qualifiers won't really get going until round 3.