Sports Rights: Champions League: TV3 are back.

DMC

TV3 have won back Tuesday Champions League matches, RTÉ hold onto Wednesday night matches. No word on Setanta. Deal is from August 2009 to May 2012

http://www.uefa.com/uefa/keytopics/kind=131072/newsid=704408.html

Media rights deals
Monday 2 June 2008

UEFA has announced a UEFA Champions League and UEFA Cup media rights deal for 2009 to 2012 in Russia, as well as for the UEFA Champions League media rights in the Republic of Ireland for the same period.

Irish rights
In the Republic of Ireland, UEFA has also announced the first award of UEFA Champions League rights. From 2009 to 2012, Ireland's public service broadcaster RTÉ will broadcast the first-choice match on a Wednesday night (including the UEFA Champions League final and the UEFA Super Cup), as well as a Wednesday night highlights programme and the weekly magazine programme – all on RTÉ Two. The rights will also be exploited on the internet via www.rte.ie and on mobile via RTÉ.ie Mobile.

Internet and mobile
Commercial broadcaster TV 3 has secured the rights to the first-choice match on a Tuesday, as well as a Tuesday night highlights programme, delayed matches and the weekly magazine programme. These rights will be exploited on the TV 3 channel, on the internet via www.tv3.ie and on mobile.

Fantastic contribution
"UEFA is delighted to be renewing its relationship with RTÉ who have made a fantastic contribution to the UEFA Champions League in the Republic of Ireland in recent seasons," said UEFA. "At the same time UEFA is pleased to welcome back TV 3 – a former broadcast partner for the UEFA Champions League and UEFA's current UEFA Cup partner." TEAM Marketing AG is the exclusive marketing agent of UEFA for the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Super Cup and UEFA Cup.

©uefa.com 1998-2008. All rights reserved.

Mossy Monk

At least free tv will get a match on both nights but TV3, guh :mad:. Setanta will no doubt pick up the rights for the other matches.

channelsurfer

and its good evening to packie trevor and mark.. where we will have 10 minutes of adverts followed by 2 minutes of analysis. ah well at least setanta didnt get any of the first choices. tv3 seriously need to get their act togehter this time and ensure that they get a good presenter and analyists.. no point in asking for a good commentator as treooooovoor seems to be the only one they have.

Mossy Monk

A fortnightly trip to a Manchester United game for Trevor. He must be over the moon.

mike65

Fcuking disaster, ITV it will be, then.

Mike.

DMC

Not for the new contract Mike. ITV are switching back to Wednesdays.

The new 2009-2012 contract in the UK is all games are on Sky Sports, except for 1 match every Wednesday on ITV1.

TV3 will be the only source of FTA matches on Tuesdays.

mike65

Cheers. I just saw that on the other thread, any idea if that was deliberate? ie TV€ chose Tuesday as ITV were switching to Wednesday?

Mike.

DMC

Wednesdays are deemed the premium day. ITV won the only package available to terrestrial TV, which was the Wednesday games, after Sky had snaffled everything else.

ITV opted for Tuesdays in previous contracts, probably as it didnt cock up their schedules for Corrie lovers.

channelsurfer

it will be interesting to see how tv3 handle the whole scenario. and whether rte or tv3 will show the feeds in HD as itv plan to from next year. I wonder did RTE just go for one package. the last time it was a joint bid with setanta.

Elmo

it will be interesting to see how tv3 handle the whole scenario. and whether rte or tv3 will show the feeds in HD as itv plan to from next year. I wonder did RTE just go for one package. the last time it was a joint bid with setanta.

They probably didn't get a chance to go with Setanta, since setanta is now part owned by TV3 owners Doherty Hanson, Hence the RWC on TV3 last year.

Also UFEA demanded that the services show the championship online 3 years ago. TV3 where not in a position to provide online coverage LOL.

Notice how TV3 have a special GAA website for live coverage on the net. How many years is it since TG4 launched tg4.tv?????? 4 or 5?????

gaa.tv3.ie I wonder if the GAA have to run this site?

Mossy Monk

TV3 stream their coverage live? I did notice that RTÉ have the TV3 game on their site afterwards.

DMC

Elmo wrote: »

They probably didn't get a chance to go with Setanta, since setanta is now part owned by TV3 owners Doherty Hanson, Hence the RWC on TV3 last year.

While the same owners are one reason, it might not have been totally the case. There was also the need for a terrestrial partner for the Rugby World Cup, as the Ireland games and final in the tournament are protected under the governments listed sports events here.

On a side note, still UEFA related, UEFA are to complain to the EC about the UK Governments requirement to have all of the European Football Championship matches on the listed sporting events.

BBC News article.

As most know, ITV and BBC have always shared the rights to the tournament, but UEFA are aghast that why is the whole tournament such a protected species! They can understand home games and the finals of the tournament, but not the rest of the games, which they would like to sell to the highest bidder. The UK government are likely to defend their position. FIFA are also equiring, the rules are the same for the World Cup too.

With DSO by 2013 in the UK, the TV landscape will change, but there is something reassuring that every 2 years, all these games have been free-to-air since the 1960's.

Change is a'comin.

DMC

Mossy Monk wrote: »

TV3 stream their coverage live? I did notice that RTÉ have the TV3 game on their site afterwards.

Indeed, as also RTÉ can show the TV3 match on the Sunday Game that night. Each "broadcast partner" has equal access to pictures for their GAA programming, unlike Sky and Setanta for the Premier League: Sky don't show highlights of the game televised by Setanta on Football First that night.

Elmo

While the same owners are one reason, it might not have been totally the case. There was also the need for a terrestrial partner for the Rugby World Cup, as the Ireland games and final in the tournament are protected under the governments listed sports events here.

It just seemed to me that it was very late in the day when TV3 where announced as the partners. And it also seemed as if Setanta where choosing the terrestrial partner rather then the IRB.

DMC

Setanta had already bought the rights from the IRB, and they had to get a terrestrial partner.

Remember that it was only in late 2006 that Doughty Hansen bought into Setanta, and the deal between them for the RWC was done around that time.

Mossy Monk

DMC wrote: »

Change is a'comin.

Why should a tournament that does not feature any temas from the UK be listed? Makes no sense and I agree with UEFA on this one.

patr1ck84

JUST WANT TO SAY EVERYONE IS ENTITLED TO THEIR OPINION BUT I THINK ITS BECOME A HABIT TO JUST JUMP ON THE BANDWAGON HAVING A GO AT TV3, SOME OF RTES COVERAGE AND BROADCASTING IS BRUTAL,
DUNPHY IS A JOKE, CUNNINGHAM ,HOUGHTON, STEVENS, PETER COLLINS ARE NO BETTER. BRADY WAS VERY GOOD BUT HES GONE. I THOUGHT TV3 DID WELL WITH THE RUGBY AND GAA. THOUGHT THE COMMENTARY AT THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE WAS GOOD. WELCH IS DEFINATELY AS GOOD AS HAMILTON OR GER CANNING. MOLONEY IS THE BEST ON IRISH TELEVISION ALSO HOW IS IT THAT NOBODY HAS A PROBLEM WITH LAWERENSON ON BBC BUT ON TV3 PEOPLE HAVE A GO.

Mossy Monk

Why are you shouting?

The bit that made me laugh is

patr1ck84 wrote: »

WELCH IS DEFINATELY AS GOOD AS HAMILTON OR GER CANNING.

Trevor Welch is a disaster as a commentator. While I do not rate Ger Canning at all, it is unfair to lump George Hamilton into the same category as Trevor.

patr1ck84 wrote: »

ALSO HOW IS IT THAT NOBODY HAS A PROBLEM WITH LAWERENSON ON BBC BUT ON TV3 PEOPLE HAVE A GO.

He annoys me on the BBC also.

byte

patr1ck84: Please edit your post and type properly. Using Caps-lock is considered shouting and generally frowned upon.

Elmo

patr1ck84: Please edit your post and type properly. Using Caps-lock is considered shouting and generally frowned upon.

I think we can handle it!

To patr1ck84:

I amn't into sport but I just find TV3 to be a dreadful service. They really haven't done anything to improve standards in Irish TV, certainly The Rugby World cup and their GAA coverage has been good. But don't forget TV3 have never shown GAA or Rugby before this year, 10 years of nothing.

I am just anti-TV3, I don't think anyone on boards has noticed yet

mike65

Mike.

patr1ck84

Sorry for shouting i think its fair to say that tv3 have not shown gaa before this year its hard to show gaa when rte have it sown up for years do ye not think its good that they are getting a bit of competition its like the league of ireland prog they are showing now they never bothered until tv3 started doin one

Mossy Monk

I have no problem with TV3 getting sporting rights if they handle them correctly. TV3 and football do not mix well. The studio is a cupboard, terrible analysis and commentary.

Elmo

Sorry for shouting i think its fair to say that tv3 have not shown gaa before this year its hard to show gaa when rte have it sown up for years do ye not think its good that they are getting a bit of competition its like the league of ireland prog they are showing now they never bothered until tv3 started doin one

That is because they have never shown an interest in LIVE rights to GAA sports. GAA have given rights to TG4, RTE and Setanta over the last 10 years the was never any reason for TV3 not to gain rights, they just had no interested in them. DITTO Rugby rights.

TV3 didn't even look towards GAA AIB League or TG4 Ladies Football but TG4 constantly get good veiwing figures for these matches. It is funny to see that TV3 could only manage 255,000 viewers for a Dublin match when TG4 can get that for a final of TG4 Ladies Championships.

And just to mention yet again TV3 make 60,000,000 in advertising revenue each year. They are not a small business yet they only employ 165 people.

League of Ireland and Soccer are tied up with money they cann't see past the money, just like TV3 so TV3 have always suited the IFA.

patr1ck84

cant see why tou keep on about tg4 cause their just rtes third channel so to say they went for the gaa is wrong they are government aided just like rte i accept that tv3 have too many ads but rte should be treated like bbc and made to operate without ads also its easy for a state funded broadcaster to outbid the likes of tv3 with the funding they get

Mossy Monk

patr1ck84 wrote: »

cant see why tou keep on about tg4 cause their just rtes third channel so to say they went for the gaa is wrong they are government aided just like rte i accept that tv3 have too many ads but rte should be treated like bbc and made to operate without ads also its easy for a state funded broadcaster to outbid the likes of tv3 with the funding they get

TG4 are not RTÉ's third channel. Where did you pull that one from?

Do you really think RTÉ can survive on the licence fee alone? You cannot say that because it works in the UK that it will work here. Firstly there is the population difference and secondly the UK licence costs more.

patr1ck84

Tg4 have a look at their broadcasts and the archive material they use its all old rte stuff and their another state broadcaster are they not, i accept your point about the population but you have to see its not a level playing field when it comes to funding.the point i was trying to make originally is that we are all blinded by how good we think rtes coverage is when in fact its actually not that great, controversial yes but giles can't name half the players on any given night, dunphy is put forward as an expert on spanish soccer when the truth is that he watches the same games as the rest of us on any given weekend ie. real madrid or barcelona thats like saying your an expert on the premiership but only ever watching utd and arsenal and forgetting the other 18 clubs. i do think Brady is very good. you mentioned the dublin game a few weeks ago i thought the coverage of this was very good, and anyway gaa viewership is down all over even on rte and on the terraces because the provencial championships are so worthless

Mossy Monk

patr1ck84 wrote: »

Tg4 have a look at their broadcasts and the archive material they use its all old rte stuff and their another state broadcaster are they not

That still does not mean that they are part of RTÉ. TG4 have to pay for rights themselves. They do not rely on RTÉ to do that. Sure RTÉ do provide some programming but this is no different to BBC Wales providing programming to S4C in Wales.

patr1ck84 wrote: »

the point i was trying to make originally is that we are all blinded by how good we think rtes coverage is when in fact its actually not that great

It doesn't matter if it is good or not. The point being made is that it is superior to TV3 in every way. TV3 have a terrible history when it comes to soccer coverage. You cannot deny that it is ****e.

Elmo

Tg4 have a look at their broadcasts and the archive material they use its all old rte stuff and their another state broadcaster are they not,

TG4 have 30,000,000 euro annually from Advertising Revenue (3.5million) and Grant-in-aid, unlike TV3 who have 60,000,000 in advertising revenue (6million for staff and 20,000,000 in bought in shows, the rest is give back to the shareholders). TG4 generally spread out their budget across all genre e.g. the spend 3million on US programming inculding Cartoons, 3.5million on Drama (however this has gone up since the sound and vision fund). etc etc.

TG4 spend 3.5million on sport annually according to their annual report.

I didn't realise that LIVE coverage of Wimbleton, Tour De France, AIB GAA League, Eircom League, TG4 Ladies Football, Celtic Rugby Cup (which they lost to Setanta) are Archive material.

TG4 do well out of 3.5million euro. There is no reason why TV3 cannot compete with either RTE or TG4.

You have to remember that RTE have so many other thing that they have to fund TV3 only has one TV channel and it has plenty of money to spend on it.

Regardless of presenters and production values, TV3 could easily provide more sport. And this is the case for most of their years on the air.

TV3 also have access to funding through the Sound and Vision Fund <<<< from the licence fee.

patr1ck84

you just

Mossy Monk

patr1ck84 wrote: »

you just

???

patr1ck84

you just proved my point by listing these LIVE coverage of Wimbleton, Tour De France, AIB GAA League, Eircom League, TG4 Ladies Football, Celtic Rugby Cup none of these are veiwer grabbers and if they were rte would have them, their rtes 3rd channel! ok they have some homegrown stuff but all there old stuff is rtes

DMC

patr1ck84 wrote: »

and if they were rte would have them, their rtes 3rd channel!

Dunno about anyone else, but I certainly lol'ed. :pac:

Seriously, ¿Que?

Mossy Monk

patr1ck84 wrote: »

their rtes 3rd channel!

What drugs are you smoking? TG4 are NOT RTÉ's third channel.

channelsurfer

http://www.tg4.ie/Bearla/Corp/culr.htm

taking from TG4's website. It is independent since 1 april 2007.

Elmo

you just proved my point by listing these LIVE coverage of Wimbleton, Tour De France, AIB GAA League, Eircom League, TG4 Ladies Football, Celtic Rugby Cup none of these are veiwer grabbers and if they were rte would have them, their rtes 3rd channel! ok they have some homegrown stuff but all there old stuff is rtes

Ok Patrick I am trying to point out to you that TG4 has better viewing figures for Ladies GAA football then TV3 had for a DUBLIN match, TG4 have shown Live GAA coverage over the last 10 years and it has constantly been their best rated show, for a channel that is in Irish surely an English lanuage station could grab even more viewers.

TG4 bid againist RTE, TV3 and Setanta Sport for sports. TG4 do not spend as much on sports as TV3 yet TV3 have plenty more money and have a bigger audience. You can not just throw around that RTE and TG4 get public funding as a case for TV3 never venturing into LIVE coverage of GAA or IRFU games up until this year, 10 years where TV3 never even bid on GAA or IRFU coverage. It is not just about TV3 not having the money to gain these right but it is about their lack of interest in these sports. RTE and TG4 never had any competition for these sporting events from TV3. They only had a monoploy because TV3 didn't want to play the game.

Even during the first 10 years of TG4 lifetime, TG4 always bid againist TV3 and RTE for TV Rights. RTE do not provide TG4 with live sporting events, american TV shows or much of their Irish programming.

However TG4 Nuacht is produced by RTE, RTE must provide 1 hour of programming a day to TG4 but this does not effect other aspects of TG4's independence.

None of TG4 LIVE sporting events are owned by RTE. RTE could not move Wimbleton, Tour De France, AIB GAA League, Eircom League, TG4 Ladies Football, Celtic Rugby Cup to RTE ONE or RTE TWO. It would be against the law.

And you also have to point out the Commerical aspect of BBC. The sell programming to RTE, some British Digital channels (i.e. DAVE), BBC America, UKTV Austraila, BBC Canada, DVD sales, Lonely Planet and other BBC publications etc etc. I would be surprised if BBC's commerical services aren't worth more then their licence fee revenue.

TG4 is NOT RTE's third channel. If it was it would be called RTE TG4 just like all of the other RTE channel such as RTE RADIO 1, RTE 1, RTE 2, RTE 2FM, RTE LYRIC FM and RTE RnaG.

TV3 as access to some of RTE's licence fee through the BCI's sound and vision fund, much of the new shows that TV3 have produced have come with funding from the Licence Fee.

Also any old coverage of sporting events either on TV3, Setanta or TG4 will come from RTE. Because RTE had a monopoly for 34 years.

Digifriendly

AFAIK Celtic Rugby has not been shown on TG4 since 2004. Setanta have held Irish rights for past 4 years.

Elmo

I had pointed that out in a previous post. TG4 lost the rights to Cletic Cup Rugby in 2004 to Setanta. Setanta bid against TG4 to gain the rights. This has cause some dissatisfaction for those without access to cable or sat.

Digifriendly

Elmo wrote: »

I had pointed that out in a previous post. TG4 lost the rights to Cletic Cup Rugby in 2004 to Setanta. Setanta bid against TG4 to gain the rights. This has cause some dissatisfaction for those without access to cable or sat.

Sorry, I didn't read previous post closely. Suppose that those on East coast with access to S4C and BBC 2 Wales at least get Friday/Saturday evening action though miss out on most matches in Ireland if they don't have cable or satellite. After TG4 lost the rights, I had to go down the satellite route to get any decent live rugby outside the 6 nations and autumn internationals.

DMC

S4C Digidol and BBC Wales are free on satellite, on a Sky box they just need to be manually tuned to get their Celtic League live matches.

Also, S4C will have english language commentary behind the red button on all their matches next season.

Digifriendly

DMC wrote: »

S4C Digidol and BBC Wales are free on satellite, on a Sky box they just need to be manually tuned to get their Celtic League live matches.

Also, S4C will have english language commentary behind the red button on all their matches next season.

Yes this is indeed great news for rugby fans who have satellite. However will english language facility be available on a non - Sky FTA satellite box i.e. will it be able to be added as a separate channel as BBC interactive streams can on those boxes?

byte

I'd expect so.

I've noticed today when scanning Astra 2 that S4C tuned in twice on two frequencies, though I'd expect that to be unrelated.

Elmo

Also those with UPC cable or Eircom Broadband have access to Setanta Ireland.

patr1ck84

eircom broadband does not have live setanta

Elmo

eircom broadband does not have live setanta

They were advertising some sort of deal with Setanta, I don't have Eircom Broadband. I have UPC.

Mossy Monk

patr1ck84 wrote: »

eircom broadband does not have live setanta

Someone should tell Eircom. From their site is the following,

Setanta events shown on Always on for Sport will be a mixture of live and delayed programmes. Please see the schedule for complete programming details.

live and delayed programming.