RTE Sport

Culture
1

In August alone on television they have failed to or will fail to:

  • Provide live coverage of Tour Of Ireland Cycle race. Race was covered live by US Versus channel but our national broadcaster decided not to cover this event despite it costing them virtually nothing to do so
  • Show Ireland’s historic cricket match against England in Belfast on Thursday. Again this was available to them for virtually nothing but they declined offer from Cricket Ireland to cover it
  • Show any of Irish teams games in Europe or provide even a news report on nine o’clock news on day of St Pat’s famous victory.

While arguments about necessary cutbacks can be made this can be put in context considering they have:

  • Covered the Confiderations Cup with full studio panel and flown their commentators out to South Africa to cover it
  • Provide extensive promotion and weekly highlight coverage of the English Premier League
  • Shown lengthy news report on Dunmanways’ match against Liverpool (this was on same day when they failed to provide report on st pats victory in Europe).
2

When put like that, it really is disappointing that there has not been more criticism of this.

To be honest though, the GAA just steamrollers everything else at this time of year, and I’m well used to it by now.

3

No World Athlethics either.

However, they did cover the National Championships that went on a few weeks before the Worlds. They had a highlights programme of an hour. They had no fewer than 4 different commentators/interviewers present for this hour long highlights show. The major problem with RTE Sport and RTE in general is that the staff out there are all in the Union and they have the bosses by the balls really. They are known as the “Untouchables”.

4

[quote=“Sledgehammer”]When put like that, it really is disappointing that there has not been more criticism of this.

To be honest though, the GAA just steamrollers everything else at this time of year, and I’m well used to it by now.[/quote]

would the GAA not come under the same umbrella as most of Larry’s post above?
i.e. on their doorstep, not costing the earth to cover, and has a degree of relevance to the average irishman on the street.

why the hell RTE feel we need a soccer correspondent who doesn’t go to LoI european games is another matter though.

I see the European Super Cup will be broadcast live on Friday night, just as we approach the business end of the LoI. Another pointless match in direct competition with a local alternative.

5

[quote=“treaty_exile”]would the GAA not come under the same umbrella as most of Larry’s post above?
i.e. on their doorstep, not costing the earth to cover, and has a degree of relevance to the average irishman on the street.

why the hell RTE feel we need a soccer correspondent who doesn’t go to LoI european games is another matter though.

I see the European Super Cup will be broadcast live on Friday night, just as we approach the business end of the LoI. Another pointless match in direct competition with a local alternative.[/quote]

Id imagine the Super Cup would draw many many more viewers than a Bohs v Shamrock match even at this stage of the season, never mind Pats in Europe.

Also, some cricket contest and the Cycling would simply not attract the same viewers as even Dunmanway v Liverpool 4th team if it were televised, that is fact and you have to be fair to RTE in this.
RTE are fucked financially and showing Pats in Europe or some Cricket cannot be justified just to keep every sector of society happy, they are minority interest sports and throwing money away to cover them would help nobody in the long term.

The only major issue i have with them is their failure to cover any of the Athletics, there is an appetite for this level athletics and it only comes round every two years.

6

[quote=“HBV*”]Id imagine the Super Cup would draw many many more viewers than a Bohs v Shamrock match even at this stage of the season, never mind Pats in Europe.

Also, some cricket contest and the Cycling would simply not attract the same viewers as even Dunmanway v Liverpool 4th team if it were televised, that is fact and you have to be fair to RTE in this.
RTE are fucked financially and showing Pats in Europe or some Cricket cannot be justified just to keep every sector of society happy, they are minority interest sports and throwing money away to cover them would help nobody in the long term.

The only major issue i have with them is their failure to cover any of the Athletics, there is an appetite for this level athletics and it only comes round every two years.[/quote]

they are a public service broadcaster HBV.
there is some element of “in the national interest” demanded of their programming.

you’re quite correct on the viewing figures, but that will only apply as the sole justification for scheduling when RTE are solely funded by advertising.

RTE being in the financial mire has little to do with choosing not to show LoI matches, or other minority sports.

7

There is a big misconception out there that The Premiership gets big ratings on RTE. Truth is LOI games regularly get more viewers and The Premiership has had very poor figures. Even if it did get massive numbers (which it doesn’t) as treaty pointed out viewing figures shouldn’t be only consideration.

8

Exactly, RT receive significant funding from license fees and decisions such as showing the Confederations Cup ahead of the IAAF Athletics reflect very badly on their decision making process.

They’re far too reliant on soccer in England and international soccer as their commitment to sport. The reality is that fulfills zero of their responsibility for public service broadcasting.

9

[quote=“larryduff”]There is a big misconception out there that The Premiership gets big ratings on RTE. Truth is LOI games regularly get more viewers QUOTE]

Have you any figures to back that up or are you just talking thru your hole?

I would venture you are talking thru your hole.

10

Have you any figures to back that up or are you just talking thru your hole?

I would venture you are just talking thru your hole.

11

[quote=“treaty_exile”]would the GAA not come under the same umbrella as most of Larry’s post above?
i.e. on their doorstep, not costing the earth to cover, and has a degree of relevance to the average irishman on the street.[/quote]

Ah yeah I’m not saying I take any great issue with the coverage of the GAA in principle (although I do think it’s too extensive), just that GAA coverage has to be a massive part of the reason why other sports aren’t getting a look-in at this time of year. RTE Sport only has finite resources, and almost all of them are devoted to the GAA these days from what I can see.

I’d also agree on the coverage of the Premiership, the viewing figures for it have never really stacked up. There have been no shortage of rumours suggesting that MNS is under serious pressure in its current slot, but there seems to be no suggestion that a Premiership highlights show which has been moved around, re-packaged and even re-named, could possibly be under any kind of pressure. Make no mistake, the Premiership is their baby, and likely to stay that way for the moment.

I would just acknowledge the superb production that MNS has become though, it does go to show that when they put time and effort into these things, the overall end result is far superior to TV3, Setanta, or TG4, no matter what sport we’re on about.

12

[quote=“tipptops*”]Have you any figures to back that up or are you just talking thru your hole?

I would venture you are just talking thru your hole.[/quote]

I wouldn’t know where to find them now, but I remember seeing figures where a live LOI game drew more viewers than the Premiership. It’s a few years ago now, but I can’t imagine much will have changed.

13

[quote=“Sledgehammer”]Ah yeah I’m not saying I take any great issue with the coverage of the GAA in principle (although I do think it’s too extensive), just that GAA coverage has to be a massive part of the reason why other sports aren’t getting a look-in at this time of year. RTE Sport only has finite resources, and almost all of them are devoted to the GAA these days from what I can see.

I’d also agree on the coverage of the Premiership, the viewing figures for it have never really stacked up. There have been no shortage of rumours suggesting that MNS is under serious pressure in its current slot, but there seems to be no suggestion that a Premiership highlights show which has been moved around, re-packaged and even re-named, could possibly be under any kind of pressure. Make no mistake, the Premiership is their baby, and likely to stay that way for the moment.

I would just acknowledge the superb production that MNS has become though, it does go to show that when they put time and effort into these things, the overall end result is far superior to TV3, Setanta, or TG4, no matter what sport we’re on about.[/quote]

well put sledge.

one other thing that has been bothering me, RTE are one of 3 headline sponsors of the hurling championship, along with Etihad and Guinness.

What business have RTE sponsoring anything?

It’s not like they’re getting a return on their investment. Every match you watch has RTE in the top left hand corner of your screen, and you see enough of it when you check the
scoreline.

I’d argue they gain the square root of sweet FA sponsoring the GAA. I can’t see Setanta and TV3 outbidding them for the TV rights anytime soon. There was no neeed for a thinly-veiled sweetener prior to submitting their bid.

14

[quote=“Rocko”]Exactly, RT receive significant funding from license fees and decisions such as showing the Confederations Cup ahead of the IAAF Athletics reflect very badly on their decision making process.

They’re far too reliant on soccer in England and international soccer as their commitment to sport. The reality is that fulfills zero of their responsibility for public service broadcasting.[/quote]

Dead right, RTE will happily show any shite soccer or rugby game they can get but don’t work too hard on the other sports, if they had the chance to show the cycling and the cricket they should have.
But the public gets what the public wants… there were loads of lads I work with who watched every game of the confederations cup on RTE, there was much less talk about the world Athletics Championships.
LOI gets the coverage it deserves, what’s the average LOI attendance? 1,200 or so? The interest isn’t there. If anything I think the coverage of LOI on Radio One is OTT, but I guess it’s a handy time filler for them

Something I would say in RTE’s favour though, the sports they do cover they generally do very well.

15

[quote=“tipptops*”]Have you any figures to back that up or are you just talking thru your hole?

I would venture you are just talking thru your hole.[/quote]
Could only get figures for 2006/2007 season but here goes. If you want more info look here (http://tvsales.rte.ie/downloads/PremiershipHighlights.pdf):

In 2006/2007 the highlights of the days Premiership action ran on
Saturday evenings. There was a total of 32 programmes across
2006/2007. It was presented by Johnny Giles & Darragh Moloney, along
with panellists Ray Houghton and Trevor Steven
The series which ran from 19thAugust 2006 until 13thMay 2007
attracted an average of 141,000 viewers to each Programme
(Based on Individuals 4+, Average of 32 Programmes)
The highest rating programme of the latest season was on 11th
November 2006. It achieved an average audience of 171,000

If you compare that to figures below they are interesting. While FAI Cup final may have been an attractive match the sums involved to cover it compared to the millions they spend on covering The Premiership it tells of massive waste of money when they could be covering Tour Of Ireland, St Pats in Europe, World Athletics etc:

The attendance of 24,521 in addition to the RT Two television audience for last Sunday’s FAI Carlsberg Cup final brought the attendance and viewing figures to over 1.5 million for the 2005 season.

Sunday’s coverage of the FAI Cup final showed a rating of 4.7, peaking at 7.5 and a share of 21.9, peaking at 31.7.

This gave an average viewing figure of 179,000, peaking at 285,000.

Total attendance figures for the season for the eircom League, FAI Carlsberg Cup, Setanta Cup, eircom League Cup and European competitions are up by 6% to 520,000 with the Cork City v Derry City game on 18 November drawing the highest league attendance of just over 8,000.

A total of 44 games were shown live on television by RT, TG4 and Setanta Sports while a further three had a deferred broadcast giving viewing figures of just over 1 million throughout the season.

The highest peak viewing at 355,000 was for the final eircom League game of the season between Cork City and Derry City, while last Sunday’s FAI Carlsberg Cup Final drew the highest peak viewing for the Cup of 285,000.

FAI Chief Executive Officer, John Delaney, in welcoming the figures said, “the decision to strike the deal for domestic football with our television partners has been truly vindicated while the greater exposure of domestic football has led to increased attendances at the games”.

Paddy McCaul, Chairman of the eircom League, paid tribute to the clubs for embracing the television coverage and said: ‘the quality of the football played and the atmosphere generated by the fans made our domestic football attractive viewing throughout the season and gives a great platform for the further development of our game.’

16

hopefully this works:

http://www.rte.ie/aertel/images/369-02.gif

long story short, aertel p 369 shows the TAM ratings for RTE.
RTE 2 is consistently lower than RTE 1. No. 1 here would make it to fourth spot for RTE 1 over the same period.

17

So the Premiership had an average of 131,000 over the season, the FAI Cup Final had 179,000 viewers…this doesn’t exactly prove the case for LOI coverage

18

[quote=“treaty_exile”]hopefully this works:

http://www.rte.ie/aertel/images/369-02.gif

long story short, aertel p 369 shows the TAM ratings for RTE.
RTE 2 is consistently lower than RTE 1. No. 1 here would make it to fourth spot for RTE 1 over the same period.[/quote]

poor enough viewing figures compared to what they get for the champions league

19

I don’t see the point of RTE paying for Premiership rights in this country, in fact I think it’s an outrage. It’s already on BBC to fcuk, which is surely piped into the houses of 80% plus of houses already. Let them cover it and try doing your own thing. The fact that this banana republic delivers premiership results before local football results is an outrage aswell. Let the commercial stations do that if they want, RTE should have a duty to Ireland first. National broadcaster my hole.

20

[quote=“larryduff”]Could only get figures for 2006/2007 season but here goes. If you want more info look here (http://tvsales.rte.ie/downloads/PremiershipHighlights.pdf):

In 2006/2007 the highlights of the days Premiership action ran on
Saturday evenings. There was a total of 32 programmes across
2006/2007. It was presented by Johnny Giles & Darragh Moloney, along
with panellists Ray Houghton and Trevor Steven
The series which ran from 19thAugust 2006 until 13thMay 2007
attracted an average of 141,000 viewers to each Programme
(Based on Individuals 4+, Average of 32 Programmes)

A total of 44 games were shown live on television by RT, TG4 and Setanta Sports while a further three had a deferred broadcast giving viewing figures of just over 1 million throughout the season.

'[/quote]

So - Premiership = 32 programmes x 141,000 average = 4,512,000

LOI = 44 games with TOTAL viewing figures of just over 1,000,000.

Despite having 12 extra chances to attract viewers, LOI reached about 22% of the Total that the Premiership reached.

On Yer Bike Son.