The official Sky Sports GAA Thread!

Roquentin

No

bruschi wrote: »

Just to add, again, that those figures are a poor representation of the actual viewers. They still dont count people who bought an online subscription, nor do they count HD viewers.

And just in case anyone was wondering, I watched the hurling on RTE. I dont have sky sports, so was just handier than hooking up the laptop to the TV and getting the stream set up. I do find their analysis better though. I prefer watching analysis of a game, rather than a bullcrap sideshow of clowns arguing over suits or some stupid point that has nothing to do with the actual game itself. Donal Og seems to be the only one on RTE who is trying to bring focussed analysis on playing style and formations etc into the discussion. Sky are doing a far better job on breaking down particular aspects of the game.

Some prefer that, and others like the comedy sideshow that Brolly and Spillane bring. Much for the same reason I dont watch RTE anymore for soccer games once they finish. Dunphy is a parody of himself and offers nothing to analysing a game.

i agree. Sky sports analysis is always top notch. there F1 commentary is very good

menace404

sammy37 wrote: »

Just saw the viewing figures for all ireland hurling semi final and its not very good at all for sky with a paltry 9000 viewers compared to rtes 560,000. I wonder are sky regretting getting involved at all cos surely it cant be paying. Even the football quarter finals where they had exclusive rights they could only muster 60,000 viewers which considering Dublin were playing in is pretty poor.

Sky don't give two ****es about Irish customers. If they did they would have RTE 1 HD, RTE News Now, RTE1+1, TG4HD etc etc on their program guide but they don't. The continually neglect to provide the services Irish customers want. And these are basic services mind you. And its a big bug bearer of alot of Sky subscribers. Sky are only interested in viewing figures for the UK. They couldn't give a hoots about how many people watch it in Ireland because the population and subscription numbers are negligible to their bottom line.
Now what would interest me is their viewing figures for the UK but we haven't seen a single report on that yet. The newspapers and the Irish Indo in particular are mad about firing out crap articles about the paltry viewing figures. If you had the 5million people on this island watching all the games on sky and nobody in the UK watching you could bet your bottom dollar the deal will be scrapped after the 3 years.

Prop Joe

Undecided

Kermit.de.frog wrote: »

Don't forget 50% of Sky's customers have HD which is not included in those figures. It safe to assume they could be nearly double if HD was included. Also does not include pubs etc.

Yes but the figures don't include people who watched RTE in pubs either,Which i would imagine would be a far greater number

munchkin_utd

No

Prop Joe wrote: »

Yes but the figures don't include people who watched RTE in pubs either,Which i would imagine would be a far greater number

who goes to a pub, on a sunday afternoon at 3, to watch a match that is on TV at home?
Seriously.

bruschi

No

Just to add too, seeing as it was one of the big issues at the time, is that from what I know, Sky Ireland and their operations as a whole here are now to become, if they havent already, a separate entity to BSkyB. It makes little difference to me, and it probably wont to those who had the whole UK business thing as an agenda, but worthwhile to notice that the operations will be totally Irish based, from what I understand of it.

sammy37

Undecided

munchkin_utd wrote: »

who goes to a pub, on a sunday afternoon at 3, to watch a match that is on TV at home?
Seriously.

ahh ummm but seriously i do

munchkin_utd

No

sammy37 wrote: »

ahh ummm but seriously i do

grand, I'm sure you do!
But theres a swathe of the population who wouldn't automatically hit the pub for watching a game if they have it at home on a sunday afternoon, especially families who would have other priorities on how they spend their time.

And no doubt the TV stats include tens of thousands of 5 to 10year olds who are playing with their lego in front of the telly on the Sunday afternoon, whilst their dad is telling them to be quiet as hes watching the match and wishing he were in the pub where he could watch it in peace!

Realt Dearg Sec

munchkin_utd wrote: »

grand, I'm sure you do!
But theres a swathe of the population who wouldn't automatically hit the pub for watching a game if they have it at home on a sunday afternoon, especially families who would have other priorities on how they spend their time.

And no doubt the TV stats include tens of thousands of 5 to 10year olds who are playing with their lego in front of the telly on the Sunday afternoon, whilst their dad is telling them to be quiet as hes watching the match and wishing he were in the pub where he could watch it in peace!

They'll only include those kids if the Dad decides to actually register them as viewing. If he's that addled listening to them, you can be sure he isn't going to register them, as it's a bit of a pain in the hoop of a thing to do (I used to have one in an apartment I lived in, we never put in accurate information on people viewing, you'd spend half your day at it)

Prop Joe

Undecided

munchkin_utd wrote: »

who goes to a pub, on a sunday afternoon at 3, to watch a match that is on TV at home?
Seriously.

I would honestly say tens of Thousands...I would imagine alot of pubs in Limerick were chock a block for the game Sunday.I was in Cork Sunday and the pub was full for the match and emptied after the final whistle.

munchkin_utd

No

Prop Joe wrote: »

I would honestly say tens of Thousands...I would imagine alot of pubs in Limerick were chock a block for the game Sunday.I was in Cork Sunday and the pub was full for the match and emptied after the final whistle.

indeed, done that myself in Cork with the Mrs out shopping which left me to nip to the pub to catch a premier league game (on setanta, would have been Man U v West Ham, last saturday afternoon before Christmas).

One of the big city centres of the few cities in Ireland who would have a crowd in shopping on a Sunday would have that benefit. The 1000s of pubs down the country on the other hand would not have that passing trade to be honest.

Prop Joe

Undecided

munchkin_utd wrote: »

indeed, done that myself in Cork with the Mrs out shopping which left me to nip to the pub to catch a premier league game (on setanta, would have been Man U v West Ham, last saturday afternoon before Christmas).

One of the big city centres of the few cities in Ireland who would have a crowd in shopping on a Sunday would have that benefit. The 1000s of pubs down the country on the other hand would not have that passing trade to be honest.

In fact i was in a very rural part of Cork,I would imagine alot of people all over the country would pop down to the local for the Sunday game

sammy37

Undecided

Prop Joe wrote: »

In fact i was in a very rural part of Cork,I would imagine alot of people all over the country would pop down to the local for the Sunday game

Ah what better way to spend a Sunday afternoon than in the pub watching a big gaa match while the wife is at home cooking the roast having it ready for me when i fall in the door after the match.:D

Prop Joe

Undecided

Have to say RTE spanked SKY over the past 2 weekends simulcast.

Quality wise TSG was far superior in terms of discussing tactics & the promo's were excellent also

Sky in general produced a far lesser product but i do like the extra replay angles they have.

The SKY deal might be the best thing that ever happened to RTE's coverage of the game because they have upped there game considerably.

Just get rid of Brolly now and they will be on the pigs back

ciarriaithuaidh

Prop Joe wrote: »

Have to say RTE spanked SKY over the past 2 weekends simulcast.

Quality wise TSG was far superior in terms of discussing tactics & the promo's were excellent also

Sky in general produced a far lesser product but i do like the extra replay angles they have.

The SKY deal might be the best thing that ever happened to RTE's coverage of the game because they have upped there game considerably.

Just get rid of Brolly now and they will be on the pigs back

Brolly is well down the list of "what should we cut" for RTE..

Cahill, Spillane, O'Rourke, Martin McHugh, using analysts/co-commentator from county involved in a game would all be much more important IMO.

Brolly, when not trying to wind people up is actually clued into the modern game somewhat and can be a good analyst.

I disagree that RTE have "upped their game" in the Football coverage, Hurling as ever, seems to get better coverage for some reason.

On the wider TV battle, have switched to Sky for commentary a few times. Can't stick Marty Morrissey elongating everyone's name any time there's a score. Canning used to be excellent, but is now terrible.
Sky studio stuff is awful obviously. I don't know if they'll every switch or introduce slightly less fluff in the studio (getting rid of Carney would be a start) but if they got in, say McDevitt or someone like that, they could get a huge chunk of market.
People are tiring/have tired of looking at Des Cahill, Cyril Farrell, Spillane and others.
Won't hold my breath on that one though.

Realt Dearg Sec

ciarriaithuaidh wrote: »

Canning used to be excellent

Must have been before the advent of television, I've watched all Ireland gold from the eighties and nineties and he was as bad then as now.

bruschi

No

Really dont agree that RTE have upped their game either. Its the same old bland stuff with no insightful analysis at all. The football lads all making a fuss over nothing and not being able to discuss their points, and the hurling lads guffawing and talking rubbish about nothing. The few decent guys they have (Brennan, Cusack, Whelan etc) rarely get time to say their real analysis of a game. Cusack was making good points on the Cork situation on the Sunday Game, and you have plankhead Des Cahill going on about them having 2 pitches. But sure they have 2 pitches Donal. Even when Martin McHugh made the 2 trick pony comments, instead of bringing it into a debate, he stifled it and made an arse of the whole situation. An utterly useless anchor.

I think for a first years effort, sky have been well ahead already on where TV3 were, and I think thats where the comparison should start. I really dont agree that RTE are miles ahead either, their coverage and highlights programs are still far from perfect.

sammy37

Undecided

I dont think rte are miles better either and wont be either unless they seriously cut back on the likes of Brolly, Spillane and dump Des Cahill altogether. Their football pundits are too negative and critical and their hurling pundits saying every game of hurling is the best game of hurling they ever saw ever.RTE could badly do with a lot of new faces to freshen it up and probably will have to compete with Sky.

ciarriaithuaidh

bruschi wrote: »

Really dont agree that RTE have upped their game either. Its the same old bland stuff with no insightful analysis at all. The football lads all making a fuss over nothing and not being able to discuss their points, and the hurling lads guffawing and talking rubbish about nothing. The few decent guys they have (Brennan, Cusack, Whelan etc) rarely get time to say their real analysis of a game. Cusack was making good points on the Cork situation on the Sunday Game, and you have plankhead Des Cahill going on about them having 2 pitches. But sure they have 2 pitches Donal. Even when Martin McHugh made the 2 trick pony comments, instead of bringing it into a debate, he stifled it and made an arse of the whole situation. An utterly useless anchor.

I think for a first years effort, sky have been well ahead already on where TV3 were, and I think thats where the comparison should start. I really dont agree that RTE are miles ahead either, their coverage and highlights programs are still far from perfect.

Yeah, what the hell was Cahill on about there? Was he saying 2 pitches is enough? It actually sounded to me like he thought Donal Og was wondering why there was 2 pitches and not 1!! He said "shur there HAS to be 2 pitches"..now I could be wrong there, but either way, your point is valid..he's not a good presenter and most people are agreed on that I'd say.

Everybody gave a :rolleyes: when McHugh made his silly remarks (not for the first time) but who exactly made the decision to put him on air and why, is the real question? Why is Martin Carney continuously put co-commentating on Mayo games when he acts like a teenage schoolgirl when Mayo score? etc etc

thesultan

Undecided

Rte have a ready man replacement for the Sunday game imho in O'Cinneide. Cusack is very good in the hurling analysis . Where has Tony Davis gone ?

NavyandBlue

thesultan wrote: »

Rte have a ready man replacement for the Sunday game imho in O'Cinneide. Cusack is very good in the hurling analysis . Where has Tony Davis gone ?

I think he got the chop to make room for Eamon O'Hara and his topman suits.

ProudDUB

NavyandBlue wrote: »

I think he got the chop to make room for Eamon O'Hara and his topman suits.

Who in turn seems to have gotten the chop to make room for Tomas O'Se and his First Communion suits. Such is the circle of life in RTE. :rolleyes:

I actually didn't mind O'Hara. His outburst last year against his former manager was out of line, but other than that, I think he was quite good. He seems ok with offering up an actual opinion, when a lot of them prefer to sit on the fence, lest they offend anyone. I'd include Tomas O'Se in that.

I also think it is good thing to have more commentators on from the so called lesser counties involved more. If freshens things up and brings a new perspective, instead of always knowing what you are going to get from the same pundits from same batch of bigger, more successful counties.

RoyalCelt

No

I hope sky recruit Anthony Tohil for next year. Used o love listening to him.

Borders no.2

RoyalCelt wrote: »

I hope sky recruit Anthony Tohil for next year. Used o love listening to him.

Tohill was excellent but had an awful accident a few years back I think which may not allow him to appear on TV again. Very sad as he was an excellent player and knew his stuff as a pundit.

RoyalCelt

No

Borders no.2 wrote: »

Tohill was excellent but had an awful accident a few years back I think which may not allow him to appear on TV again. Very sad as he was an excellent player and knew his stuff as a pundit.

Yeah facial injuries from a chainsaw accident. Would love to see the man back but will probably not happen.

Neeson

Anyone see Tohills injury?

RoyalCelt

No

Neeson wrote: »

Anyone see Tohills injury?

No. Are there pictures of it?

Edit:

Found this one. Have to say he looks good considering where it happened. You can see it almost got his eye. He's a lucky man.

RoyalCelt

No

I see the Dublin Donegal match was on Sky sports 2 and the hurling this Sunday is on sky sports 1. Great to see the matches not all resigned to Sky Sports 3. The Mayo v Kerry Replay was actually on sky sports 4 so the GAA has done the rounds in it's first season.

Will be interesting to see the viewing figures for the Dublin match and the hurling final this sunday. And I'm sure it's been said but it's weird seeing joey barton tweeting about the GAA for the last few games. A nw found fan for sure and if he can like it I'm sure many others will too. Seen a tweet from a woman saying she wished the premier league players would wear the GAA shorts, super sexy haha

Prop Joe

Undecided

Hoping they really give the Hurling final a big SKY SPORTS push and see if they can bring in some UK viewers.
If they really don't milk this it will prove that this deal was a disaster

Brian017

Well, putting it on their main channel and giving it a hours buildup is a good start

Kermit.de.frog

You would have to think that having it on Sky Sports 1 on a Sunday afternoon without Premier League football on is the top exposure it could possibly get.


The football final definitely will not get that slot.