RTE cycling coverage: rhymes with 'plucking clap'

dermabrasion

I saw the ad promo for RTE sport for the coming spring: Dominated by Rugby, Soccer and GAA. I know cycling is a minority sport, but it is a visible minority and perhaps now up there as one of the biggest participation sports. But this is not reflected by coverage. This is wrong, but it is also a missed opportunity.
We have the Giro start on the island, which will be a huge showcase for the us. We have elite Irish cyclists with the potential to win stages, classics and perhaps even a grand tour. Watched by millions. And, we have a several juniors coming through that have the potential to win for years to come.
I am going to bug them until I get a response.

spoke2cun

Good point. RTE are missing a trick here alright.

Raam

Eurosport do a good enough job for me. I'd watch it there sooner than I'd watch RTE do cycling coverage.

Shedite27

Very expensive to cover. The number of cameras and the technology required to cover a race that is moving over great distances is way more than any field sport.

The Dublin City Marathon has lost its live coverage for the same reason.

dermabrasion

They don't need to cover the Giro, just take the feed, show the highlights on the news, have a Sunday Game highlights. Look what GCN, Black Umbrella ext can do with very little. Setanta covered Ras na mBan. It can be done. In fact, Setanta could be a vehicle to show cycling now that i think of it.

Wishbone Ash

Sports coverage is governed by advertising sales which, like it or not, would be much greater for GAA/Rugby/Football. Those games are relatively short and, as has been said, are played in the same place - therefore much easier to cover.

Peterx

Minority sports (any of them) gaining access to RTE airtime is at least partially dependent upon RTE sports reporters playing that minority sport.

Witness the 12 minute radio segment and interview that covered the Art O'Neill Challenge event run over the weekend on RTE radio, all down to one RTE staffers participiation in the event. It will also make the 6pm RTE 1 TV news tonight.

I think my point is;
If you want cycling covered on RTE start giving entries to cycling events to RTE reporters, or at the very least keep letting them know about the events.

Cycling, sailing, kayaking, badminton, kudo, hockey and so on are all fantastic participation sports that will never command advertising revenues so they need a different approach to be heard.
You cannot call plucking clap on the coverage of cycling unless you are willing to watch an equal amount of claptrap about hockey and judo.

Chips Lovell

Despite the upsurge in popularity, I really don't think there is sufficient public interest in cycling for RTE to decide to start showing it. It's still very much a minority sport.

Wishbone Ash

Peterx wrote: »

....Witness the 12 minute radio segment and interview that covered the Art O'Neill Challenge event...

Did they actually 'cover' the event or just interview someone who had taken part?

Andy Magic

I'll stick with Eurosport. I'd rather the commentators on there than listening to some D4 'expert' who is related to the head of Sport in our national broadcaster!

Peterx

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

Did they actually 'cover' the event or just interview someone who had taken part?

https://soundcloud.com/user590094777/art-oneill-2014?utm_source=soundcloud&utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=facebook

a good job of covering it, I would think.
taken from http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057113534

possibly there will be an RTE segment about a cycling race if it can tick enough boxes for the national broadcaster and be accessible to a sports reporter, a race with history such as the Shay Elliott (not very accessible to the average reporter) or else a mass participation with a bit of history such as the Ring of Kerry.

Wishbone Ash

Peterx wrote: »

https://soundcloud.com/user590094777/art-oneill-2014?utm_source=soundcloud&utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=facebook

a good job of covering it, I would think

Interesting and relatively inexpensive to do - a reporter with a recording device and an interview later with the winner.

(Not much different from what it costs Paddy O'Gorman recording people coming out of court/pawn shops/dole offices etc.)

CatFromHue

I only watch cycling for the scenic backgrounds.

If it's on the flat in some non descript French town I'm out!

Anyway TG4 show some cycling.

DirkVoodoo

Raam wrote: »

Eurosport do a good enough job for me. I'd watch it there sooner than I'd watch RTE do cycling coverage.

Could you imagine, Dunphy on cycling:

“Martin is a disgrace to the sport. His petulance, temperament, throwing himself on the ground. It was a disgrace to professional cycling. This fella Martin is a cod.”

mossym

Vladimir Kurtains wrote: »

Despite the upsurge in popularity, I really don't think there is sufficient public interest in cycling for RTE to decide to start showing it. It's still very much a minority sport.

agree totally with this. Despite the huge numbers out cycling every weekend, i'd guess less than a tiny fraction of them have more than a passing interest in the pro game.

michael196

its how you sell it. CI licences total 20,000 (?). that's 20, 000 on the road.

Combine all the GAA clubs players , what figure do u hit ?

whats the comparison?

Wishbone Ash

michael196 wrote: »

its how you sell it. CI licences total 20,000 (?). that's 20, 000 on the road....

I'd say the vast majority of cyclists are not members of CI!

boege

michael196 wrote: »

its how you sell it. CI licences total 20,000 (?). that's 20, 000 on the road.

Combine all the GAA clubs players , what figure do u hit ?

whats the comparison?

I live in a small village in co limerick. They have hurling sides here down to under 6. Go to any number of local rugby clubs on a Sunday morning and you will have over 100s of kids out playing for different age sides, soccer the same.....and don't forget the supporters and all the backoffice teams. Total cycling club membership in the county is maybe around the 200 mark. I suspect most people take out CI membership to get insurance for the charity/leisure events and don't participate in clubs. Real cycle sports fans (those that watch races other than TDF) is probably a few thousand, I suspect. That's a limited audience for advertisers.

dermabrasion

All points made so far I think are valid. But think that we should celebrate when we have excellence in our athletes from our broadcaster. For example, women's boxing is a minority sport, and Katie Taylor is a hero. running is a mass participation sport. We have thousand of runners pounding the pavements, with very few competing, but correctly RTE will cover Fionnuala Britton because she is excellent. So, Martin, Roche, Bennett, Deignan Irving Brammier et al should get a look in.
With regard to the Giro, when the world is watching, use the opportunity.

dave_o_brien

dermabrasion wrote: »

All points made so far I think are valid. But think that we should celebrate when we have excellence in our athletes from our broadcaster. For example, women's boxing is a minority sport, and Katie Taylor is a hero. running is a mass participation sport. We have thousand of runners pounding the pavements, with very few competing, but correctly RTE will cover Fionnuala Britton because she is excellent. So, Martin, Roche, Bennett, Deignan Irving Brammier et al should get a look in.
With regard to the Giro, when the world is watching, use the opportunity.

I don't think boxing or athletics are minority sports.

Shedite27

michael196 wrote: »

Combine all the GAA clubs players , what figure do u hit ?

whats the comparison?

Over a million people tune in to the AI

What's the best case scenario? What would you like RTE to show? Live coverage of TDF or classics? Occupying one of their two channels for 4-6 hours? Not even the most die-hard fan would watch that.

I don't get the point of the thread. We can all see whatever cycling we want to see anyway.

mossym

Have TG4 said they are not covering the Tour de France this year? They show live coverage every day don't they?

DKO

It would be great to have a decent program showing highlights from different minority sports on RTE, and also giving some air time to national events in these sports, there is so much going on around the country. Public broadcasters have an obligation to do such things and it is sadly missing from RTEs schedules.

I watched street orienteering in Finland last spring (for about 2 minutes mind you)... it seemed to be some relatively local event... but fair play to the local TV station for covering this, it may be a popular sport in Finland, but ice hockey, skiing disciplines and overseas soccer would get a much better audience over there.

On the topic of RTE covering Irish cycling, some effort at covering the RAS(s) and the nationals in each discipline would be a great effort at a highlights level even, the CX nationals last week would have been relatively easy to cover with a few cameras in the one spot and would have given a fun highlights program to a casual viewer if for nothing other than the crashes and muck involved :-)

But hey, as PeterX said no minority sport gets the coverage here in Ireland, so why cycling.

RayCun

michael196 wrote: »

its how you sell it. CI licences total 20,000 (?). that's 20, 000 on the road.

Combine all the GAA clubs players , what figure do u hit ?

750,000 club members
a bunch of them bar members, sure, but they count for viewing figures

Athletics 50,000 club members

dermabrasion

Wow, I had no idea that Athletics was so well subscribed.
I would love to watch an Irish a weekly cycling magazine with a roundup of events on the road, MTB, tract and BMX, home and abroad. Also a segment with advice, mechanical know how , technical riding, sportives, history, new products. Basically, the Sticky Bottle show.

Qualitymark

RTE's odd like that. Ireland scooped the top award, and the junior and senior awards, in this year's One Man and His Dog shepherding contest, beating shepherds from England, Wales and Scotland, and there wasn't a word on the news about it.

Cee-Jay-Cee

Marty Morrissey just wouldn't be able to handle the pressure of it all...his head would explode.

mossym

CJC999 wrote: »

Marty Morrissey just wouldn't be able to handle the pressure of it all...his head would explode.

let corcoran at it.

and after a thousand, no a hundred thousand, no a million, no 500 million meters of climbing Dan Martin has emerged from the fog to claim a famous victory, those %*&&%ers who berated him all week, where are they now, he's looked them in the eye and by god has he stared them down, he's beaten them down, hes knocked them down in a way that says you may prohibit the epo, but you'll never take my freeeeewheeeellllll


if you've not heard the legend:
http://www.joe.ie/rugby/heineken-cup/audio-brilliant-radio-commentary-of-ronan-ogaras-game-winning-kick-last-night/

Captain Havoc

When they dropped the premier league highlights earlier this year, they said something along the lines of wanting to show programes that would bring in advertising revenue and shows that were of Irish interest or not available elsewhere. Unfortunately cycling would not bring in advertising revenue and Eurosport have enough coverage, so they don't want to compete with that.