Sexism in RTE Sports Coverage?

siopatmul

Hi folks,

Is anyone else fed up with the lack of women's sport on RTE? I've just seen their ad for sports coverage for 2011.
Premiership Soccer – men's sport
Six Nations Rugby - men's sport
League of Ireland Soccer – men's sport
Various golf tournaments – men's sport
GAA hurling and football – men's sport
Horse racing – a male dominated sport
If we are lucky, women will have a few highlights here and there of but there's no mention of even that in the recent RTE advert.
There seems to be a touch of the Andy Gray's about RTE's sports department where women and our sports play second fiddle to the more dominant men's sports output. This has been the case for many years. If 50 per cent of the people in Ireland are women, then 50 per cent of the license payers are also women. Let's do something about the imbalance in RTE's sports coverage?
The Broadcasting Complaints Commission (BCI) is now defunct and has been put under the remit of the Broacasting Authority of Ireland (BAI) so they are the organisation to complain to.
The BAI's remit is:
objectivity & impartiality in news
fairness, objectivity & impartiality in current affairs
harm & offence - Code of Programme Standards
law & order
privacy of an individual
general advertising codes
children's advertising code
In the list of BAI above, there is nothing about “equality” in the range of output or coverage on our national channels. Maybe the status quo of inequality is acceptable to them. But what would we expect when the BCC was state funded as is its “new” section within the BAI.

There is only one way to make a complaint by email and that is to contact info@bai.ie otherwise, you have to write a letter to them on an official complaint form. Yes, the newly formed BAI make it as difficult as possible to make a complaint, just as the BCC did before them.
I am suggesting that those of you who are also fed up with the lack of equality in the output of women's sport compared to men's sport on RTE, contact the email address above. I would expect men as well as women to do this. I am assuming the men in Ireland are not like the broadcasters on Sky Sports (Andy Gray in particular) or in RTE Sports dept who do their best to ignore women's sport altogether. At least TG4 make an effort towards equality but they are on their own in this country.
Anyway, I hope you will do what I've done, which is to complain to the BAI about this. Email: info@bai.ie It's up to you.
At the same time, you could complain about RTE's bias towards FF in their political output!
Best,
Siobhan
siobhan patricia mulcahy

BoardsRanger

Yes indeed, we really need more women's beach volleyball and I shall take the necessary steps to complain about this.

fivestar

It's simple supply and demand. Viewing figures are much higher for the more popular sports, most of which are male dominated.

Wile E. Coyote

Simply a case of supply and demand. Nothing to do with sexism. They're not going to put on a load of sports that no one is going to watch just to keep you happy.

cup of tea

No offence women sport is a niche.Sport viewing is male dominated. Let's just say the quality between a male football game and a women football game is enormous. An example is an u16 boys team beat a women county team here 2 years ago!!.
I watched the final 10mins of a womens game on TG4 and the score was something ridiculous like 4-3 to 5-5.
TV broadcasters have to follow the money and the majoriy of viewers interests. Take for example if RTE had a choice between a choice of a licence for premierleague football or eircom league football for the same cost to RTE, it would be a no-brainer which they would choose. Likewise they will choose men played sports over women played sports for the obvious reason that there is a substantially bigger viewers interests. SIMPLE

goose2005

Should Division 10 football get the same coverage as Division 1? If we aired sport based on talent, there would be no women's sports on TV at all.

siopatmul

Supply and demand my elbow.
How can viewing figures be high for women's sport when there isn't any on RTE.
During WW2, women's baseball was hugely popular while US men were at war. As soon as the war ended, men took over the game once more and that was the end of popularity for women's baseball.
If there is 50 per cent women sport on over a long timeframe, then you can talk about popularity, viewing figures and supply and demand.

UrbanSea

Over reaction of the century.
So going by your theory,if RTE played 50% female played sports and 50% male played sports,then they'd have the same number of viewers?
What utter nonsense.

longhalloween

Men for the most part prefer male sports over female sports as they are more professional and physical

Women dont really watch sport, or they watch the guys more than the game.

Hence...male sports are more popular and RTE follows that market.

Same reason theres twice as many womens clothes shops as mens...retailers follow the market

JayEnnis

Of course the popularity of women's baseball would soar if there was no competition for it. What a ridiculous example.

Bonavox

siopatmul wrote: »

Supply and demand my elbow.
How can viewing figures be high for women's sport when there isn't any on RTE.
During WW2, women's baseball was hugely popular while US men were at war. As soon as the war ended, men took over the game once more and that was the end of popularity for women's baseball.
If there is 50 per cent women sport on over a long timeframe, then you can talk about popularity, viewing figures and supply and demand.

Oh, get off your high horse, I'm sick of this rampant sexism craze lately. Going by your philosophy, women are sexist because shows like Off The Rails and Xpose are mostly dominated by women. If people want to see male sports more than they want to see female sports, RTÉ are going to oblige.

CarrickMcJoe

RTE are a touch racist too, have you ever seen a black newsreader or weather reporter?

No Trevor McDonalds here!

UrbanSea

And I cannot see how Andy Gray's situation is even remotely similar to this.
All the soaps on tv are aimed at women,must make a complaint.

mikemac

RTÉ are pretty good at showing hockey if there is a big tournament on, that seems to be mainly a girls sport

I'd watch it anyway, it's entertaining, fast and skilful

Morgans

siopatmul wrote: »

Hi folks,

Is anyone else fed up with the lack of women's sport on RTE? I've just seen their ad for sports coverage for 2011.
Premiership Soccer – men's sport
Six Nations Rugby - men's sport
League of Ireland Soccer – men's sport
Various golf tournaments – men's sport
GAA hurling and football – men's sport
Horse racing – a male dominated sport
If we are lucky, women will have a few highlights here and there of but there's no mention of even that in the recent RTE advert.
There seems to be a touch of the Andy Gray's about RTE's sports department where women and our sports play second fiddle to the more dominant men's sports output. This has been the case for many years. If 50 per cent of the people in Ireland are women, then 50 per cent of the license payers are also women. Let's do something about the imbalance in RTE's sports coverage?
The Broadcasting Complaints Commission (BCI) is now defunct and has been put under the remit of the Broacasting Authority of Ireland (BAI) so they are the organisation to complain to.
The BAI's remit is:
objectivity & impartiality in news
fairness, objectivity & impartiality in current affairs
harm & offence - Code of Programme Standards
law & order
privacy of an individual
general advertising codes
children's advertising code
In the list of BAI above, there is nothing about “equality” in the range of output or coverage on our national channels. Maybe the status quo of inequality is acceptable to them. But what would we expect when the BCC was state funded as is its “new” section within the BAI.

There is only one way to make a complaint by email and that is to contact info@bai.ie otherwise, you have to write a letter to them on an official complaint form. Yes, the newly formed BAI make it as difficult as possible to make a complaint, just as the BCC did before them.
I am suggesting that those of you who are also fed up with the lack of equality in the output of women's sport compared to men's sport on RTE, contact the email address above. I would expect men as well as women to do this. I am assuming the men in Ireland are not like the broadcasters on Sky Sports (Andy Gray in particular) or in RTE Sports dept who do their best to ignore women's sport altogether. At least TG4 make an effort towards equality but they are on their own in this country.
Anyway, I hope you will do what I've done, which is to complain to the BAI about this. Email: info@bai.ie It's up to you.
At the same time, you could complain about RTE's bias towards FF in their political output!
Best,
Siobhan
siobhan patricia mulcahy

No.

super_furry

siopatmul wrote: »

Supply and demand my elbow.
How can viewing figures be high for women's sport when there isn't any on RTE.

Ok then. So what are the attendance figures like at these women's events then? How many people go to watch women's football or rugby?

It's not on television because people don't want to watch it.

whydoibother?

I think it is a supply and demand thing. Whether we like it or not, sport is a physical thing, and that means that men being faster and stronger can generally play it in a more entertaining way. There is a difference in standard which is why we don't have mixed teams in most sports. I am a woman, and forced to watch either hurling and camogie, I'd prefer to watch hurling because it's faster. However, what I'd like much better than either is a comedy show, which brings me on to my second point.

I also think it's to do with the fact that women generally aren't as into watching sports as men. I'd say that across all sports I've watched about 4 matches over the last year (usually only because I happened to be in the room when a man was using the TV). I'd also say that's about average with women. Of course we can all now immediately think of a female we know who is mad into soccer or something, but the majority aren't.

While I agree that weak demand is the reason for the current lack of women's sports on TV, I don't think that the showing of sports should be entirely demand-lead. Because of the health and social benefits of sports, womens sports should be more available to girls on TV to inspire interest. (Something I sadly lack)

SarahBM

super_furry wrote: »

Ok then. So what are the attendance figures like at these women's events then? How many people go to watch women's football or rugby?

It's not on television because people don't want to watch it.

People dont watch it because its not on TV.

Ive seen better quality womens football than I have in League 1
and the notion that most women dont like sport is just out dated.

siopatmul

Well said SarahBM.
To answer a few of the points made above:
1. You cannot analyse the viewing numbers, demand etc for something that does not already exist so most of the replies here so far are irrelevant and off message
2. Women's sport would become more popular/ be in more demand if it got more of an airing, specifically on RTE
3. All our home tv channels survive on advertising revenue (although RTE also gets state funding and license money) and TV3 and TG4 have made a good stab at representing women's sport; they would not be doing this if there was no advertising revenue flowing in from it
In summary: The original post was about RTE's dearth of coverage - most of the replies (from men presumably) have missed the point completely

Morgans

SarahBM wrote: »

People dont watch it because its not on TV.

Ive seen better quality womens football than I have in League 1
and the notion that most women dont like sport is just out dated.

Do you think that a Woman's team would beat a League 1 team? Seriously? I think they would get hammered by at least 5 against the very worst League 1 team. Just like there are fantastic women athletes, but the very very best 100m runner wouldnt be in the top 1000 men. If you are going to have this debate, have it on the egalitarian affirmative action grounds, don't go down the road that a woman's team would beat a League 1 team. Absolutely no chance Im afraid. I couldn't see the very best women's team competing with a conference side. And on quality grounds, they should be on tv more than any woman's side.

Sure its only a WUM of a thread anyway. Its clear that equating men's sport dominance to an "Andy Gray" attitude among RTE is just claptrap.

SarahBM

I really do think that if more womens sports were covered then more people would watch. take the USA for example. Womens soccer is one of the fastest growing sports, nearly more popular than mens soccer. correct me if Im wrong but I think the womens league even have their own channel.

Womens sports might even bring in more advertising revenue, as a more diverse range of products could be advertised when you broaden the target market.

The thread is about the lack of sports coverage and not about lack of women. just because RTE have 4 or 5 female sports presenters doesnt make it balanced.

siopatmul

Morgans wrote: »

Do you think that a Woman's team would beat a League 1 team? Seriously? QUOTE]

Who's talking about women playing soccer or any other sport against men?
I suggest you go back and read my original post slowly so you might understand it.
Yet another reply completely off message.

Morgans

siopatmul wrote: »

Well said SarahBM.
To answer a few of the points made above:
1. You cannot analyse the viewing numbers, demand etc for something that does not already exist so most of the replies here so far are irrelevant and off message
2. Women's sport would become more popular/ be in more demand if it got more of an airing, specifically on RTE
3. All our home tv channels survive on advertising revenue (although RTE also gets state funding and license money) and TV3 and TG4 have made a good stab at representing women's sport; they would not be doing this if there was no advertising revenue flowing in from it
In summary: The original post was about RTE's dearth of coverage - most of the replies (from men presumably) have missed the point completely

You believe that TV3 and TG4 cover women's sport because of the money they make from it?
And they actively choose women's sport shunning more high profile men's sport. Or is it because the sport are so delighted to get any coverage that the media rights are free or virtually free.

Because RTE don't cover women sport instead of more popular male sport, its because of an Andy Gray type attitude in RTE?

Do you think the women soccer fans would prefer to see a premiership game or a women's game on TV? Are RTE being sexist in catering for these female fans?

SarahBM

Morgans wrote: »

Do you think that a Woman's team would beat a League 1 team? Seriously? I think they would get hammered by at least 5 against the very worst League 1 team.

I would love to test your theory. I love how you dismiss my point having no evidence to prove that women are worse than men at soccer. show me proof. I would love to see a ladies team put up against a mens team to see if you are right or wrong.

as for your comment that this thread is a claptrap, I totally disagree. I think a valid point has been raised. There is little or no coverage of womens sport on RTE aside from all Ireland Camoige and Ladies Football finals.

SarahBM

Morgans wrote: »

You believe that TV3 and TG4 cover women's sport because of the money they make from it?
And they actively choose women's sport shunning more high profile men's sport. Or is it because the sport are so delighted to get any coverage that the media rights are free or virtually free.

Because RTE don't cover women sport instead of more popular male sport, its because of an Andy Gray type attitude in RTE?

Do you think the women soccer fans would prefer to see a premiership game or a women's game on TV? Are RTE being sexist in catering for these female fans?

nobody said show womens sport instead of men sport. I would happily watch both if I could. I for one would just like to see more coverage of womens sport, and not necessarily soccer!

Morgans

siopatmul wrote: »

Morgans wrote: »

Do you think that a Woman's team would beat a League 1 team? Seriously? QUOTE]

Who's talking about women playing soccer or any other sport against men?
I suggest you go back and read my original post slowly so you might understand it.
Yet another reply completely off message.

Read what I said before jumping down my throat. I was relying to SarahBM's message that she had seen women's game with better quality than league 1. If its off topic report it to the moderators.

If women want to be treated as equals, then the market is to show the best exponents of the game. Unfortunately for women, in the most popular sports the best exponents of the game are men. If RTE deliberately ignored women's tennis or women's athletic events at championships, then you could have an arguement re sexism, but the fact that the most popular sports are dominated by men, and surprise surprise, they want to be watched by more people and surprise suprise RTE strive to provide people what they want. Saying that RTE have an Andy Gray type attitude is offensive and does the feminist arguement no favour.

Todd Gack

Womens sports aren't on tv because they are not very popular apart from tennis which is shown on RTE at Wimbledon, as is track and field whenever theres's a big championship on.

Sport doesn't exist solely on tv, the popularity of sport in general and female sport can be judged on the attendance numbers they get.....and in the case of most women's sports they're particularly low. If people, male or female, were interested in following them they would do so. Televising something that hardly anyone is interested in is pointless.

Morgans

SarahBM wrote: »

I would love to test your theory. I love how you dismiss my point having no evidence to prove that women are worse than men at soccer. show me proof. I would love to see a ladies team put up against a mens team to see if you are right or wrong.

as for your comment that this thread is a claptrap, I totally disagree. I think a valid point has been raised. There is little or no coverage of womens sport on RTE aside from all Ireland Camoige and Ladies Football finals.

Im afraid it would set back the arguement of having women's football on TV should a game be played. I think anyone who thinks they are at League 1 level are unbelievably unrealistic. But you can take the lack of proof to suggest that the worst womens team could beat Barcelona if you want. There is no proof out there to prove you wrong. But given that its generally accepted by League of Ireland fans team would struggle in league 1 at the moment, and managers in Scotland believe that Celtic (60,000 see them every home game) are of a League 1 standard, it doesnt mean that an amateur team of women couldnt hold their own in the league. You are free to hold that opinion. I do think its complete nonsense.

RTE sport, like all media companies, have a limited budget. F1 was dropped recently cos it cost too much, horse racing has been cut back on, Heineken Cup isnt shown live. Hundreds of thousands are missing out and Eamon Ryan tried to change this (rightly or wrongly) Its expensive and there is limited space on schedules. If its on quality grounds, then women are possibly over-represented. If its on a public service grounds then there is some arguement to have more women's sport on. However, to say its because of an Andy Gray type attitude in RTE is 100% wrong.

Morgans

Todd Gack wrote: »

Womens sports aren't on tv because they are not very popular apart from tennis which is shown on RTE at Wimbledon, as is track and field whenever theres's a big championship on.

Sport doesn't exist solely on tv, the popularity of sport in general and female sport can be judged on the attendance numbers they get.....and in the case of most women's sports they're particularly low. If people, male or female, were interested in following them they would do so. Televising something that hardly anyone is interested in is pointless.

Likewise sponsorship in women's sport isn't the same as it is for male sport. It just may be, that more men watch the sports. Of course, that is a typically Andy Gray reaction.

Spook80

You don't see me trying to claim i'm better at ironing

Mossyman

siopatmul wrote: »

Well said SarahBM.
In summary: The original post was about RTE's dearth of coverage - most of the replies (from men presumably) have missed the point completely

What an awfully sexist comment and as a man I take particular offence to it. How would you like it if I told you to get off the computer, into the kitchen and make me dinner every night like a woman should? Not that I would say it, I am extremely supportive and open minded about woman being equals. You are so presumptuous and completely narrow minded.

How can you say that it would become popular would watch it when many women, including the girlfriend, sister, the vast majority of female college friends and female relatives have no interest in sport, regardless if women or men are playing it. They are the ones that may watch the All Ireland finals (men or women), The Grand National (which female jockeys take part) and World Cup Final simply because of the grand scale of these events. They are not interested in it, but watch it because they want to be part of the conversation on Monday morning.

Now if this is to be the case that they would not be guaranteed to watch these events of the highest standard in their respective sports, then how would you (or any television station with any sense) put on a match where the standard is substantially not as good and expect good ratings? And I'm not being sexist, its fact, although on occasion womens game may be of good quality.

If you want to start a television station then go ahead, I sure you would last almost a whole week. I would love you to prove me wrong.

Now back to watching the Premier League and rugby highlights......

UrbanSea

I swear I think the two girls here are taking the piss at this stage. What utter nonsense.

I was going to multiquote and respond to many different points but it'd be pointless,I'd be multi quoting every single post they made in favour of what the OP said.
Morgans has summed it up more than sufficiently. OP there is no sexism whatsoever in the selection of men's sports over female sports.

Let's call a spade a spade. Can you think of any sport in the world where the top female sports person is better than their male counterpart?
Can you imagine how little revenue in advertising RTE would receive from broadcasting a female match?

And of course it's supply and demand. For example the ladies' camogie final on RTE every single year. Have you ever seen Croke Park even resembling full?
No. They could have it in Markeveizc Park here in Sligo and they might just about fill it,but they open up Croke Park just for that match(at a huge loss aswell I'd imagine).

The whole point of this thread is ridiculous.

MyKeyG

I think another poster hit the nail on the head. How much are these sports supported in body at the respective venues? Male sports ranging from GAA to Soccer to Rugby or whatever the case may be are played at the big venues and all well supported. They pack out your Aviva's, your Thomonds, your Croke Parks. Why should RTE waste time and money transmitting female sports when the games themselves command very little attendance?

whydoibother?

I don't dispute the fact that men are better at sports.
I equally don't dispute the fact that the selection of sports is demand-lead?

My questions to anyone who feels the current situation is acceptable are:
1. Do you think due to the social and health benefits of playing sports it is important to get girls interested?
2. If you do think that, is it appropriate that sports coverage continue to be demand-lead, or should some less popular women's events be screened to achieve this objective?

siopatmul

Thanks to all those (few) who support the idea of equality of output for women's sport on RTE and even the beach volley ball fan who at least tried to imbue his negative response with a sense of humour.
As for the rest of you, a quote from the great Michael Collins (who believed vehemently in equality of the sexes) comes to mind:
"God preserve us all from the small minds of the small-minded Irish people".
He was taking a swipe a de Valera at the time but the quote seems very relevant here.
Adieu.

Morgans

1. Yes
2. Ideally yes. Ive no problem with this argument. Ideally, lots more of womens sports would be covered, and a lot more of the special olympic type events would be televised also - even if they wouldnt pull in many viewers. Maybe there will be more scope when the digital channels come on stream, or the RTE website could be used. However, given that RTE are commonly criticised for not supporting Irish domestic football, and even the most popular sports (missing the Heineken Cup) to the level many fans want, it is in a bind. It makes sense to have the most popular programming on at primetime. Do RTE still cover the hockey finals, the basketball finals. I know it used to on Sports Stadium - which died a death due to low viewers. I think RTE covering women's sport and placing it on the digital channels, at unsuitable times or on the RTE website, some would still see it as evidence of sexism to some who want to see it.

Morgans

siopatmul wrote: »

Thanks to all those (few) who support the idea of equality of output for women's sport on RTE and even the beach volley ball fan who at least tried to imbue his negative response with a sense of humour.
As for the rest of you, a quote from the great Michael Collins (who believed vehemently in equality of the sexes) comes to mind:
"God preserve us all from the small minds of the small-minded Irish people".
He was taking a swipe a de Valera at the time but the quote seems very relevant here.
Adieu.

Yeah, Be emboldened. You are right. Those who agree with you are right. Every else who didnt has a small mind. On a public forum, where you ignored all of those who had rightful objections to your opinion, you didnt try to rebut those. You're still right and every one else is wrong, Despite not answering any of the objections or retracting your utterly ludicrous statement that it was an Andy Gray type attitude that stopped women's sport being on RTE. But enjoy the beautiful feeling of superiority that comes with never having to question yourself or to adjust your position. I look forward to future evidence that you took nothing on board from this thread and you rehashing this arguement some time in the future. Thank you.

MyKeyG

siopatmul wrote: »

Thanks to all those (few) who support the idea of equality of output for women's sport on RTE and even the beach volley ball fan who at least tried to imbue his negative response with a sense of humour.
As for the rest of you, a quote from the great Michael Collins (who believed vehemently in equality of the sexes) comes to mind:
"God preserve us all from the small minds of the small-minded Irish people".
He was taking a swipe a de Valera at the time but the quote seems very relevant here.
Adieu.

Exactly you're being a big baby because people have disagreed with you. You can ride around on your high horse all you want but people have more than shown sufficient evidence why RTE cannot afford to showcase Male and Female sporting events equally. It's nothing to do with sexism or narrow minds. It's to do with practicality. Have you any idea how much it costs to produce and transmit a sporting event? Not only that but mens sport draw the bigger sponsors whom RTE are required to honour by showcasing the events they sponsor.


I'll make you a deal. When a ladies senior football final sells out Corke Park like a mens final I'll agree RTE's obligation to equal transmission.

whydoibother?

Morgans wrote: »

1. Yes
2. Ideally yes. Ive no problem with this argument. Ideally, lots more of womens sports would be covered, and a lot more of the special olympic type events would be televised also - even if they wouldnt pull in many viewers. Maybe there will be more scope when the digital channels come on stream, or the RTE website could be used. However, given that RTE are commonly criticised for not supporting Irish domestic football, and even the most popular sports (missing the Heineken Cup) to the level many fans want, it is in a bind. It makes sense to have the most popular programming on at primetime. Do RTE still cover the hockey finals, the basketball finals. I know it used to on Sports Stadium - which died a death due to low viewers. I think RTE covering women's sport and placing it on the digital channels, at unsuitable times or on the RTE website, some would still see it as evidence of sexism to some who want to see it.

I agree with you and I don't think the current situation is evidence of sexism, but I do think it's a problem that needs to be addressed. I wouldn't personally be offended if women's sport had less prime-time slots until it becomes popular, because I will of course accept that running TV stations is a commercial exercise, and demand has to be taken into account in some way.

I'd like to see some more women's sports though. You mention hockey. I'd love to see the odd hockey match because I played it at school, I understand the sport fully and there is some realistic prospect of me joining a club and taking an interest. Contrast that with today's rugby, I'm delighted Ireland won. I know it's popular and I don't for a second begrudge them their prime-time slot, but you'll never find me in a scrum! It's not the most feminine sport despite the fact that many girls play and enjoy it (and good luck to them).

Morgans

It is a tricky one. I dont know if there are many around now, but I know that Sports Stadium back in the day used to give a lot of time to less popular sports, and latterly programs like OB Sport used to look at the less mainstream, both men and women. Both generally suffered from poor ratings. I do think there would be a market for an hour long weekly women's sport magazine-style program and would serve the public broadcast remit as well as being interesting to all sports fans. I think there is a similar argument to be made by supporters of all the less popular sports. Everyone gets interested in Grainne Murphy when its the Olympics but wouldn't cross the road to a Swim meet.

whydoibother?

Morgans wrote: »

It is a tricky one. I dont know if there are many around now, but I know that Sports Stadium back in the day used to give a lot of time to less popular sports, and latterly programs like OB Sport used to look at the less mainstream, both men and women. Both generally suffered from poor ratings. I do think there would be a market for an hour long weekly women's sport magazine-style program and would serve the public broadcast remit as well as being interesting to all sports fans. I think there is a similar argument to be made by supporters of all the less popular sports. Everyone gets interested in Grainne Murphy when its the Olympics but wouldn't cross the road to a Swim meet.

Yes, a magazine-style program is a good idea, as was the suggestion of using the RTE website. There's no limit to the amount of minority sports that could be posted there. It has the potential for lots of underage stuff too, schools matches etc. At the end of the day, fans will seek out their sport if it's available in some format. (Childhood memories of Dad in the car in the driveway listening to the radio in peace) The trick is to introduce them to the sport in the first place, so that they can become fans.

The fact that you bring up swimming is also interesting because it's mainly an individual sport and a lot of these aren't as popular to watch as team sports for whatever reason. I assume it's because there isn't as much going on. Yet, not everybody is going to want to play a team sport for various reasons. It's often competitive, you have to get your place on the team to get a game, you have to be available for training at set times with the rest of the team etc. Promotion of individual and less popular sports is necessary to let people who are turned-off by mainstream sports know they have options and get more of the population playing sport. I could see the potential for great use of new media for this. Of course I'm not knocking the traditional and popular GAA, soccer etc., they are great things to be involved in, they are rightly popular and should retain prominence on TV.

siopatmul

Boards.ie has a reputation for intelligent debate and I'm glad to see that since I left here, the quality of the debate on this issue has improved.
To those of you who have discussed the popularity of women's sports and its lack, the point is that if women's sports were on television more often, their popularity would increase.
RTE's coverage is lopsided in favour of men, therefore it is sexist. They make no attempt to redress this imbalance, year after year and this situation MUST change.
I agree with those who say that encouraging women to play different types of sports would have huge health benefits for women and young girls. Apart from anything else, RTE are failing in their duty to promote and encourage women in this regard.

srfc19

siopatmul wrote: »

RTE's coverage is lopsided in favour of men, therefore it is sexist. .

RTE's soap coverage is lopsided in favour of women, therefore it is sexist.
RTE's fashion coverage is lopsided in favour of women, therefore it is sexist.
RTE's afternoon shows coverage is lopsided in favour of women, therefore it is sexist.

Do you not see how ridiculous your argument is? It is all about supply and demand, if you think women's sport would ever have even a tiny percentage of the support of men's sport you are seriously misguided.

Morgans

Morgans wrote: »

But enjoy the beautiful feeling of superiority that comes with never having to question yourself or to adjust your position. I look forward to future evidence that you took nothing on board from this thread and you rehashing this arguement some time in the future. Thank you.

It didn't take long.

UrbanSea

The line srfc highlighted is the most ridiculous statement.
Talk about tunnel vision from the OP,you just cannot face even the smallest possibility that you're wrong.

RandolphEsq

The main point was in a post above; that women generally won't watch sport because of their general lack of interest in watching sport.

Although, women's golf has unfortunately taken off since they were allowed play golf so it might be a good idea to show highlights of women's golf competitions on RTE. Have female members of the panel and turn it into an hour weekly show covering amateur and 'professional' women's golf.

I use golf as an example but it might work for other more popular women's sports, maybe beach volleyball?

UpTheSlashers

Mens sport is more popular. Simple. Even most women would rather watch/attend a mens football/rugby match than the womens equivalent. There was c. 80,000 at each of (mens) All-Ireland finals last year. Amongst those figures were tens of thousands of women. How many were at the womens All-Ireland finals?
The fact of the matter is that the airtime for womens sport reflects the interest.
And this "50/50 gender population spread" argument is pure bollocks. Im sure there is a considerable portion of the population over 50 years old. Does that mean there should be more airtime given to sporting events involving the over 50's? Give me a break :rolleyes:

siopatmul

The comparison between RTEs daytime output and its audience is flawed, especially as daytime shows usually have one male presenter, fashion designers are often male, chefs are usually male, consumer experts are sometimes male and health professionals who contribute on these are also often male.
The main audience may be women but not exclusively so. Men contribute to these shows and air their views on these shows as often as women sometimes more so - therefore they are not excluded in the way women are in both sports coverage and contributions.
Go back to the drawing board and try to come up with a better argument if you believe daytime RTE output sets the balance right. It doesn't.

UrbanSea

The presenters are male to attract females viewers. Will men tune in to watch Daithi O Se? Don't think so.
Some men are better fashion designers yes,that doesn't mean men are going to tune in to watch a programme on female's clothes because a man designed them.
Men give their opinions on these topics because they affect women but men are in positions of power relating to these issues e.g politicians.


So do you think RTE should include a female presenter on the Champions League for example?
Look at Tracy Piggott on the racing,a female in a position of power in the sports. She's brutal,couldn't remember Pathfork's name the other week when questioning his trainer.

Bonavox

Off The Rails is presented by three women, and no men. Xpose is hosted by four women, and has a history of only one man out of its host of previous presenters. As a man, I take offense to this, and am utterly shocked by how sexist some women are.

Morgans

siopatmul wrote: »

The comparison between RTEs daytime output and its audience is flawed, especially as daytime shows usually have one male presenter, fashion designers are often male, chefs are usually male, consumer experts are sometimes male and health professionals who contribute on these are also often male.
The main audience may be women but not exclusively so. Men contribute to these shows and air their views on these shows as often as women sometimes more so - therefore they are not excluded in the way women are in both sports coverage and contributions.
Go back to the drawing board and try to come up with a better argument if you believe daytime RTE output sets the balance right. It doesn't.

I had a look at the sports sections in several Sunday papers yesterday. Amazing to see that the news reported in them covered the premiership (male dominated) six nations rugby (male dominated) Irish GAA (male dominated) superbowl (american football, male dominated) I think its a disgrace that you single out RTE for this Andy Gray type attitude and not the entire media, all papers, all sports departments. Im beginning to wonder if there is a conspiracy out there.

For someone who throws around serious accusations about the RTE sports department, its clear that you aren't aware that there are many females contributor, commentators and presenters - exactly the same argument you used to suggest that afternoon shows are used more by men than women to air their views. Feel free to keep going with this.

I also had a look at my girlfriend's Heat magazine and I didnt see Male sports mentioned once. it was the same with the Sunday lifestyle type supplements. Are all magazines as sexist as this?