RTE lose rights to ERC coverage from 2006 to 2010

Eoin

Hope you are getting to like Doewy (sp?) Morris, and Stuart Barnes. from eircom.net news:

Sky Sports television has secured exclusive live coverage of European Cup matches involving Irish teams from the start of the 2006/07 tournament up to and including the 2010 final.

The deal means RTÉ can not screen live matches involving the Irish provinces in the Heineken Cup during those four seasons.

"Obviously we’re disappointed," says RTÉ Head of Sport Glen Killane, "but we have made great efforts to ensure that the public has access to these games free-to-air."

RTÉ will continueto screen live Munster and Leinster’s home games next season and will then broadcast deferred coverage of the Irish provinces home and away from 2006/07.

Both Sky and RTÉ have covered Irish teams in recent seasons but the ERC - organisers of the European Rugby Cup - finalised a fresh deal with the former today, ensuring exclusive rights.

Sky Sports say they will broadcast up to seven live matches during each of the six pool weekends and will show all of the quarter-finals, semi-finals and finals live.

RTÉ will screen a comprehensive highlights package to facilitate coverage of all games from the 2006/07 pool stage to the 2010 final.

Derek McGrath, ERC Chief Executive said: "RTÉ are an excellent partner to the Heineken Cup and have provided wonderful coverage of the tournament in Ireland over the past number of years.

"We look forward to continuing our strong relationship with them in the seasons ahead as they will now be able to broadcast all games involving Irish teams in the Heineken Cup."

The opening games of next season's competition take place on the weekend of October 21st-23rd.

Munster, find themselves in Pool 1 alongside Castres Olympique, the Newport Gwent Dragons and English Premiership side, Sale.

Leinster are once again pitted against Bath and Bourgoin while they also play Glasgow. Ulster face Biarritz, Saracens and Treviso.

Bri

Great.

vorbis

aw balls

typical, typical RTE, soccer, F1 and now rugby. Soon Gaelic football and hurling will be on sky only too!

sound_wave

Good ol' RTE. :mad:

Davei141

Pissing me off big time, it was bad enough when we couldnt watch football friendlies from our own national broadcaster, now we cant even watch irish teams competeting in europe. Do RTE just roll over and die? theyre absolutely useless as of now.

Scruff

well at least the increased licence fee in gone to good use increasing all the **** radio and tv presenter's pay. presenters are the key, content isnt.

Dempsey

FFS, How was this allowed to happen. Exclusive Rights are a load of bollox

zAbbo

More or less made up my mind to get Sky for the coming season

Eoin

Sadly, it is just a case of BSkyB having the cash to outbid RTE. I can't remember, but did the BBC also televise the matches?

I think there is an exemption on exclusive rights for matches of national interest, IIRC that is how Sky couldn't get the rights for the roundball matches.

I wouldn't mind having to get the Sky sports as much if the commentary wasn't so bad - I can see them finding a way to say how good Wilkinson is during the matches. It's like a moving version of the Daily Mail or something :mad:

zAbbo

RTE will still have full delayed coverage home and away of the irish teams, as well as the knockout stages, all delayed coverage mind u

De Deraco

this is ridiculous its one thing not being able to watch the lions now this. i don't blame sky or rte as much as i blame ERC and the IRFU they shouldensure these games are kept on terrestial tv in order to spread the game isn't that their main :mad: aim

LostinBlanch

Doesn't this sound a mite anti competitive to you? I know the EU commission were looking very closely at the sky premiership deal in England because of their dominant position. Quick someone complain to the commission office!

Mind you by the time they get around to it, it'll probably be 2010 :rolleyes:

Serbian

eoin_s wrote:

Sadly, it is just a case of BSkyB having the cash to outbid RTE.

That pretty much sums it up. RTE will never have the resources that Sky have to play around with. Exclusive rights is bull**** all the same.

Scruff

eoin_s wrote:

I wouldn't mind having to get the Sky sports as much if the commentary wasn't so bad - I can see them finding a way to say how good Wilkinson is during the matches. It's like a moving version of the Daily Mail or something :mad:

wouldnt it be nice in this age of digital tv that they introduced localised commentry for sporting events like this so you could listen to pundits from your own country instead of getting a british slant on things the whole time? If they had that i'd have less of an issue with subscribing to the Microsoft of tv land.

ah yes the entertainment revolution that was the promise of digital tv....

Davei141

In the football friendly internationals they gave us a boxing presenter

Steffano2002

It drives me mad when an english company manages to have exclusive rights for braodcasting sports abroad. We're in Ireland, outside the UK. Why isn't the Irish government able to do something about this? Fair enough for the Premiership being exclusive to BskyB as it is english but the European Rugby Cup? Hello??? That should not happen! It's appalling! :mad:

So we just have to get Sky Sports and pay that idiot Murdoch €50 EUR a month to watch European rugby matches? I mean come on!!! :mad: :mad: :mad:

evilhomer

Steffano2002 wrote:

It drives me mad when an english company manages to have exclusive rights for braodcasting sports abroad. We're in Ireland, outside the UK.

As far as I know Sky always try to get exclusive rights for the "British Isles". which as much as we don't like to admit it includes us.

If they do have the rights for the British Isles that ment the offer they put in was more then the combined amount RTE and the BBC offered.

Steffano2002 wrote:

Why isn't the Irish government able to do something about this? Fair enough for the Premiership being exclusive to BskyB as it is english but the European Rugby Cup?

Well the EU rule only applies to Sporting events of national importance.
They would be hard pushed to apply it to a Provincial/League competition.

Steffano2002

Well then we're all properly f*cked and Murdoch's having a good laugh... Old fart... :mad:

Sundy

Ah quit moaning lads GO to the home matches and then to the pub for the away ones. Problemo solved!!!