TG4 trump RTE for Euro rights?

wixfjord

Big news if true.
At least it'll mean no more Hook and McGuirk though, and thank god I've Sky!
http://www.independent.ie/sport/rugby/tg4-trump-rte-for-euro-rights-2671102.html

RTE are understood to have suffered a major blow to their rugby coverage after being outbid by TG4 for the exclusive rights to delayed Heineken Cup coverage on a three-year deal from next season.

Four Irish provinces will compete in European club rugby's flagship competition for the first time next season, with Connacht making their debut courtesy of Leinster's dramatic final victory in Cardiff last month.

While Sky Sports have the rights to live transmission of Heineken Cup and Amlin Challenge Cup matches, RTE's delayed coverage -- featuring their established panel of pundits who regularly cover Ireland's international games -- has attracted a large terrestrial audience.

However, TG4 are now believed to have won the rights to show extended highlights of Heineken Cup and Challenge Cup matches ahead of RTE on a three-year deal from the start of the 2011/12 season. That will include the 2013 Heineken Cup final at the Aviva Stadium, after Dublin was yesterday confirmed as the venue for its first decider since Toulouse beat Perpignan at the old Lansdowne Road in 2003.

The draw for next season's Heineken Cup pool matches was made earlier this week and fixtures such as Connacht versus Toulouse, Munster taking on this season's beaten finalists Northampton, champions Leinster versus Bath and Ulster against Leicester and Clermont will have a significant draw factor for the Irish language station.

TG4 and RTE shared coverage of Magners League (now the Rabodirect Pro 12 League) matches this season and this latest development represents significant, further expansion of the Irish language station's rugby coverage.

- Hugh Farrelly

durkadurka

It's a straight forward argument as to whether you prefer hook talking out of his arse in English or someone saying something possibly sensible in a language you barely understand.

thomond2006

"Outbid" by TG4? I find that surprising.

CIARAN_BOYLE

thomond2006 wrote: »

"Outbid" by TG4? I find that surprising.

RTE didn't bid this year, they left the issue until september and ERC asked around because they wanted a FTA partner for highlights and RTE said I suppose I'll do it if you don't want much money

wixfjord

durkadurka wrote: »

It's a straight forward argument as to whether you prefer hook talking out of his arse in English or someone saying something possibly sensible in a language you barely understand.

Speak for yourself táim líofa sna Gaeilge! (Hopefully that's correct! )

JohnFalstaff

I think TG4 do a good job as regards their coverage of the Magner's League but there is room for improvement.

Also, seeing as they will be showing delayed coverage of the Heineken Cup games there is now the possibility that subtitles could be added prior to broadcast. They did this with the repeat of the leaders' debate that was broadcast before the recent election.

WeeBushy

durkadurka wrote: »

It's a straight forward argument as to whether you prefer hook talking out of his arse in English or someone saying something possibly sensible in a language you barely understand.

Both sounds like gibberish to me tbh.

totallegend

wixfjord wrote: »

Speak for yourself táim líofa sna Gaeilge! (Hopefully that's correct! )

It isn't Ah you were nearly there, but 'sna' means you're fluent in something plural, 'sa Ghaeilge' would be the job.

I'm delighted about this;
1) I think TG4 have done a decent job on the Magners League RaboDirect Pro D12.
2) They'll be taking all their pictures from Sky anyway
3) I'm sick to the back teeth of George Hook
4) As someone else said, there is the possibility of adding English subtitles

Now, if only Conor O'Shea and Popey are fluent in Irish themselves, we'll be boxed off.

wixfjord

totallegend wrote: »

It isn't Ah you were nearly there, but 'sna' means you're fluent in something plural, 'sa Ghaeilge' would be the job.

Ah bollix! You've sunk my battleship!

durkadurka

should it not be 'san ghaeilge'?

crisco10

Luke to be a panelist if he is not playing for whatever reason?

Delighted to see RTE trumped. They had gotten so lazy. Tom spends 10 minutes pontificating then George spends 5 minutes saying that BOD/POC/Ferris etc wouldn't make Otago U12's. Pope, O'Shea laugh and say something interesting for 30 seconds. The stalest panel ever. At least the soccer boys got a rake of new guys in (mixed quality admittedly) and didn't just let Dunphy and co dominate everything.

The more I think about it the more chuffed I am.

totallegend

durkadurka wrote: »

should it not be 'san ghaeilge'?

Nope, you use 'san' when the noun begins with a vowel, e.g. "bhí mé san ospidéal"

DDC1990

durkadurka wrote: »

should it not be 'san ghaeilge'?

Sa Ghaeilge I think. Might be different, depending on the region. :P

Ar aon nós, is rud iontach é seo do TG4, is brea liom an craoladh a ndeineann siad.

I was wondering slightly off topic, what the viewing figures for the ML final were.
I watched on TG4, and wanted to know if many others did with the option of watching it on TG4, RTE or BBC. I'd say the numbers were fairly low, but I wanted to watch it As Gaeilge to support them after the coverage they have given through the season.

(Tried Googleing but can only find regular season figures.)

kennedmc

I don't see how this is a good thing - a small minority speak the language so nobody else will understand the commentary or analysis?

I used to enjoy watch the highights for commentary and analysis but I won't anymore :mad:

Opelfruit

DDC1990 wrote: »

Sa Ghaeilge I think. Might be different, depending on the region. :P

Ar aon nós, is rud iontach é seo do TG4, is brea liom an craoladh a ndeineann siad.

I was wondering slightly off topic, what the viewing figures for the ML final were.
I watched on TG4, and wanted to know if many others did with the option of watching it on TG4, RTE or BBC. I'd say the numbers were fairly low, but I wanted to watch it As Gaeilge to support them after the coverage they have given through the season.

(Tried Googleing but can only find regular season figures.)

Sadly I didn't know it was being simulcast on TG4 as well as RTE. If I'd known I'd have watched on TG4, my favourite TV channel.

How quickly some rugby fans forget, TG4 were the first channel to show Celtic League games, when nobody else wanted to.

nathan99

I hate watching rugby matches in irish, But Do we have a alternative option to watch it in sky sports?

Opelfruit

nathan99 wrote: »

I hate watching rugby matches in irish, But Do we have a alternative option to watch it in sky sports?

Sky Sports own the rights, if you want to watch it live then buy Sky Sports.

Careful Now

This displeases me. I remember the days when rte had live rights to those matches. Now losing even delayed coverage.

dubhthach

Well given that RTÉ is predicting a deficit of €34m and is talking about cutting salaries of it's "stars" by 30% it's not surprising they were outbid. More then likely they bid less then before thinking that there wasn't gonna be any competition.

As for Hook, he's always saying on the Raidio that he use to wear a "Fáinne" if that's the case he should be well able to appear in the TG4 studio.

Tbh people this is rugby not like the match commentary is discussing abstract philosophy or something in Irish. It's all fairly basic when it comes to linguistics.

vkid

Delighted if true. RTE's coverage of rugby is getting worse not better.

channelsurfer2

thats gas...only in ireland where rte pay tg4 a 10million subvention can they be outbid by another channel they have to fund from now on via the licence fee...its as if tg4 said thanks for the 10milion we will use some of it to grab heineken cup rights from ya..

Digifriendly

Wonder will the coverage be 'blacked out' via Sky Digital here in NI the way RTE2's HC coverage was? Notice that Ireland vs Italy soccer highlights on TG4 was not 'blacked out' though Sky had UK rights. Maybe because of Irish language rights being for the whole island (GFA) TG4's coverage will be 'in the clear.' Let's hope so anyway.

dubhthach

channelsurfer2 wrote: »

thats gas...only in ireland where rte pay tg4 a 10million subvention can they be outbid by another channel they have to fund from now on via the licence fee...its as if tg4 said thanks for the 10milion we will use some of it to grab heineken cup rights from ya..

Or perhaps RTÉ shouldn't have put in a lowball bid. Given that Sky have the live coverage I can't imagine RTÉ were willing to spend too much on showing the repeat especially given their financial troubles at the moment.

circos

nathan99 wrote: »

I hate watching rugby matches in irish, But Do we have a alternative option to watch it in sky sports?

Would it be too much to ask for an option like s4c where you can choose different commentary via red button or something?

phog

Sky will be delighted, anyone that want's English commentry will probably pay for their service now.

TG4 do reasonable coverage but will have to cater for the majority of the population and do at least english sub titles. No excuse now as it's delayed coverage.

An opening for Fla as an analyst if he losses out to the game through injury as he is fluent in irish and has a great knowledge of the game.

Best of all this is seeing the back of Hook.

Trenchman

Fla would be a great analyst, I've always found him interesting.Hope TG4 make a good fist of it. I enjoyed their Magners League coverage but the lack of a highlights show was a stones.

Ciaran-Irl

channelsurfer2 wrote: »

thats gas...only in ireland where rte pay tg4 a 10million subvention can they be outbid by another channel they have to fund from now on via the licence fee...its as if tg4 said thanks for the 10milion we will use some of it to grab heineken cup rights from ya..

It isn't RTE's money, it is TV license fee money, and as a license fee payer, I'm delighted.

dubhthach

TG4 doesn't receive one cent of TV license money. Instead all of it goes to RTÉ who are legally obliged to provide TG4 with 1 hour of TV programming a day free of cost. This is reserved for the Nuacht. RTÉ calculate that this costs the station €10m a year or about 5% of income from TV license. They also pay about the same amount to "An Post" for managing the collection of the license fee.

TG4 receives a block grant from the exchequer (€35M or so) and earns about €3m a year in advertising revenue. In comparison RTÉ receives 50%+ of it's income from TV advertising and the rest from TV license -- which is blows on "Celebrity pundits", a heavily unionised workforce and the like.

To put it in comparison RTÉ Sport has a larger budget per year then entire TG4 Budget! Let in my opinion better sports coverage in general on TG4 whose sport department has 1/10th budget of RTÉ Sport.

In general given that TG4 produces alot more in way of "Public service" broadcasting then RTÉ it should get a chunk of TV license. Likewise it's only fair that TV3 should be allowed a share.

Does anyone have any figures on what "delayed broadcost" rights would cost? I would assume a fraction of what Sky are paying for live coverage.

totallegend

Ciaran-Irl wrote: »

It isn't RTE's money, it is TV license fee money, and as a license fee payer, I'm delighted.

Well, as dubhthach says, it's not technically licence money but yeah, it's all the same.

Something to maybe keep in mind is that RTE would (presumably) attract more advertising revenue during its HC highlights than TG4 will, so the net cost to the licence-payer is probably gone up.

Digifriendly

With TG4/BBC Alba/S4C having live rights to Pro 12 and TG4 now Irish highlights rights to HEC there's certainly a glut f rugby with commentary in the native tongue. Wonder will 6 nations follow or is it too big a product to sell rights to e.g. TG4 in Ireland?

dubhthach

totallegend wrote: »

Well, as dubhthach says, it's not technically licence money but yeah, it's all the same.

Something to maybe keep in mind is that RTE would (presumably) attract more advertising revenue during its HC highlights than TG4 will, so the net cost to the licence-payer is probably gone up.

Depends really, I'd reckon they probably turn a profit as their overall costs would be lot lower the RTÉ with it's celebrity pundits. If anything TG4 probably got the rights for less then RTÉ paid the last time they were up for grabs.

hmmm

This is bad news for Irish rugby in general. Many people would have seen the H Cup matches by default because they were on the "main" channels, now people will have to very deliberately change channel to see it on TG4. It won't make much difference to the diehard fan, even if they know their taxes are paying for this nonsense, but it will mean matches are only watched by the diehards.

PARKHEAD67

wixfjord wrote: »

Big news if true.
At least it'll mean no more Hook and McGuirk though, and thank god I've Sky!
http://www.independent.ie/sport/rugby/tg4-trump-rte-for-euro-rights-2671102.html

It doesnt really make much difference what language is used.When youre watching rugger you kinda guess whats happening.Big overgrown lads(wheter or not they use steroids is not for me to say) jumping and humping on an oval ball.Id prefer a game of hurling anyday:D

durkadurka

I'm wondering why you saw fit to post this on this forum?

PARKHEAD67

durkadurka wrote: »

I'm wondering why you saw fit to post this on this forum?

Well, because I dont see what the big deal is that TG4 are showing highlights of the heino cup now instead of Ryle Nugents RTE.Whether the commentary is in Irish or English we can all see whats happening out there.Cant we?

durkadurka

You dont seem to have much regard for the game of rugby

PARKHEAD67

durkadurka wrote: »

You dont seem to have much regard for the game of rugby

Its ok when its played properly.Dont get me wrong.I just think its overhyped.There are loads of better sports out there getting little or no media coverage.

durkadurka

Based on your description of the game you are clearly very knowledgeable so I won't discuss any further for fear of being shown up

phog

PARKHEAD67 wrote: »

Well, because I dont see what the big deal is that TG4 are showing highlights of the heino cup now instead of Ryle Nugents RTE.Whether the commentary is in Irish or English we can all see whats happening out there.Cant we?

Why do so many TV stations bother with commentary so, it would be much cheaper to broadcast live games with just the sound from the supporters at the stadum, sure everyone watching will know what's happening.

PARKHEAD67

durkadurka wrote: »

Based on your description of the game you are clearly very knowledgeable so I won't discuss any further for fear of being shown up

Im no expert on rugby.Id watch the 6 nations and thats it!! But its the only sport where you really cant really tell the rules.Only the ref on the day knows the rules.Ive rugby freak mates and they can never explain why such and such decision was or wasnt given.In other words theyre as clueless as me. Would it make a difference if you were clueless in Irish(tg4) or sassenach(rte)?;)

jolley123

PARKHEAD67 wrote: »

Im no expert on rugby.Id watch the 6 nations and thats it!! But its the only sport where you really cant really tell the rules.Only the ref on the day knows the rules.Ive rugby freak mates and they can never explain why such and such decision was or wasnt given.In other words theyre as clueless as me. Would it make a difference if you were clueless in Irish(tg4) or sassenach(rte)?;)

It's more complicated than most sports but over-time you get to grips with the laws. Most rugby fans will be able to tell you why decisions were made, so I'm surprised that your mates can't. The only time I would be stumped would be in scrum-time, but that's a problem with everybody(including the ref!)

You should try and catch the Tri-Nations. I was of the same opinion once. I couldn't watch a game because I just thought it was dull as sh*te. But after a while of watching it, I got more and more into it. Now I'm crazy about it.

PARKHEAD67

jolley123 wrote: »

It's more complicated than most sports but over-time you get to grips with the laws. Most rugby fans will be able to tell you why decisions were made, so I'm surprised that your mates can't. The only time I would be stumped would be in scrum-time, but that's a problem with everybody(including the ref!)

You should try and catch the Tri-Nations. I was of the same opinion once. I couldn't watch a game because I just thought it was dull as sh*te. But after a while of watching it, I got more and more into it. Now I'm crazy about it.

Maybe my mates are thick. I think theyre Munster fairweathers anyway.Lets see how committed they are in the next couple of years.Munster are on the way down it seems.Tri-nations is a much higher quality though.

jolley123

PARKHEAD67 wrote: »

Maybe my mates are thick. I think theyre Munster fairweathers anyway.Lets see how committed they are in the next couple of years.Munster are on the way down it seems.Tri-nations is a much higher quality though.

Well, these next 2 years will be the best time to try and get into it. You've got the WC, HC final in Ireland,the new Rabodirect pro12 and the new Four-nations in 2012.

And mate, not only did I learn to love the game over time, but I also learned that Munster never stay down.

JustinDee

PARKHEAD67 wrote: »

Its ok when its played properly.Dont get me wrong.I just think its overhyped.There are loads of better sports out there getting little or no media coverage.

It isn't overhyped. Worth, support and coverage for Ireland's only non-intl professional team sport is perfectly justified. There is a genuine affinity involved in supporting a domestic team as opposed to getting all worked up over an overseas soccer team in England or Scotland or a millionaire's Formula 1 plaything.

ftakeith

JustinDee wrote: »

It isn't overhyped. Worth, support and coverage for Ireland's only non-intl professional team sport is perfectly justified. There is a genuine affinity involved in supporting a domestic team as opposed to getting all worked up over an overseas soccer team in England or Scotland or a millionaire's Formula 1 plaything.

at least I have access to france2 and can watch live games fta

when france2 show irish teams I put on newstalk or rte radio1 for audio

I prefer newstalk to rte radio one

Irish fta tv are a disgrace to live heineken cup rugby, sky's coverage is much better than bbc/rte ones, irish tv needs to splash the cash, they do have the money, splash the cash on reality/entertainment tv, rugby is Ireland's best world class sport

The only solution is for RTEtv, TV3 and TG4 to come together and bid to show the same coverage as Sky sports, they can alternate between the popular games during each season

Digifriendly

ftakeith wrote: »

The only solution is for RTEtv, TV3 and TG4 to come together and bid to show the same coverage as Sky sports, they can alternate between the popular games during each season

Don't disagree but this is unlikely - a bit like BBC/ITV/Channels 4/5 bidding for live EPL soccer. I was about to say that the 3 Irish channels are in competition with each other but TV3 shows precious little sport apart from the odd GAA match so maybe they should try and join forces with the other 2 to at least try and increase their sports output.

dubhthach

Digifriendly wrote: »

Don't disagree but this is unlikely - a bit like BBC/ITV/Channels 4/5 bidding for live EPL soccer. I was about to say that the 3 Irish channels are in competition with each other but TV3 shows precious little sport apart from the odd GAA match so maybe they should try and join forces with the other 2 to at least try and increase their sports output.

TV3 got the All-Ireland minor championship this year. There is some debate wether they will broadcast it with english or irish commentary as it was always shown with irish commentary for the last 40 years or so. RTÉ had tried at one stage to switch it to english commentary but came in for a huge amount of criticism. Tbh I find that TG4 has probably the widest selection of sport on. Of course it helps that they don't blow most of their budget on the Premiership like RTÉ Sport do.

seanin4711

what gives?

dubhthach

seanin4711 wrote: »

what gives?

Nope TG4 is an independent station. Both are state owned, but then again so is the ESB and Bord Gais and they compete in both Gas and Electricity markets now.

Trojan

I'm delighted for RTE, they've got exactly what they deserved for the rubbish rugby coverage they've been feeding us lately.

ftakeith

Trojan wrote: »

I'm delighted for RTE, they've got exactly what they deserved for the rubbish rugby coverage they've been feeding us lately.

This is where the highlights on fta heineken cup rugby are:

S4C and ITV4 on freesat
TG4 on saorview or analogue

ITV4's highlights are on monday evenings

S4C's and TG4's highlights will be on fridays, saturdays and sundays depending on their regional teams etc