Winter Olympics Coverage

Flinty997 · 24-02-2026 01:07AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124260940#Comment_124260940

No audience really...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/2026/bbc-sport-largest-overall-audience-consumption-record-viewing-figures-winter-olympic-games

There is a difference between having poor access and no interest.

I doubt the UK and Ireland are that different when it comes to interest in sport.

Dodge · 24-02-2026 10:35AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124260976#Comment_124260976

are you comparing Ireland (no ice rink in the 26 counties) with a country having their best ever winter Olympics and literal gold medal finals in prime time?

Yes we are different. Come on now

RoTelly · 24-02-2026 10:57AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124261324#Comment_124261324

I thought there was one in Louth? Or has that since closed?

It still does answer why RTÉ didn't schedule the games opening and closing ceramonies on RTÉ2 or the highlights programme.

You seem to think that RTÉ2 has an audience outside sports programming.

Dodge · 24-02-2026 11:05AM

The ice rink in Dundalk closed in 2010.

RTE shows repeats for the same reason VM shows the Chase and Tipping Point constantly. The cheapest possible option.

I’m not suggesting they’re good choices, but this is a thread about Winter Olympics coverage so I’ll stick to that - there is no audience for that in Ireland.

We qualified 2 athletes for the games (outside of the 2 alpine spots awarded to every country). One from Norway, one who’s lived in Canada since he was 2. The only others who attempted to qualify were an Australian born short track speed skating, an English born Norwegian based luge athlete and a Canadian couple who switched as they were out of the running for the Canadian ice dance team

Again, we don’t have an ice rink

So you can argue about how useful RTE is or isn’t, but 99.99% of Irish people do not care about the winter sports (and I’m one of the 0.01%) and those who do definitely have access to BBC and/or Discovery+

Some are arguing that RTE should show it in the public interest, which I don’t think is true. You can argue it would have done better numbers than repeats, it might have done. But either way, it’s not a big deal

I’ll leave it there as we’re going round in circles on, what I believe, is a non issue

csirl · 24-02-2026 11:08AM

Repeat programmes getting less than 30k viewers is disgraceful when the option of new content was available at little or no cost. RTE didnt need to produce a programme or even a highlights show. All they had to do is broadcast the international feed, which was a finished product

Furthermore, most of the events take place in the morning when there's nothing worth watching on RTE2.

RTE could very easily have broadcast the international live feed from breakfast to lunchtime each day. Difficult to understand how it would not attract more viewers than the close to nil viewers attracted by their repeats schedule at this time.

RoTelly · 24-02-2026 11:38AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124261417#Comment_124261417

I didn't realise it closed :(

Do you know how much RTÉ spent on international programming rights and sports rights each year?

It is a thread about Winter Olympic games and the question asked is why RTÉ aren't providing more coverage, you're making the assumption that RTÉ is the the ten penny place and have no money and if they did money would be spent better elsewhere but their is no proof of this at all going by the cost of imports (~25m per year, ~5m for Irish imports (Co-Pros and what not)).

Comparing RTÉ to VMTV is like comparing RTÉ to the BBC.

I suppose the 25K allowance that their Executive get is worth the money!

dublinman1990 · 24-02-2026 01:09PM

There is a proposal to build two permanent ice rinks in Cherrywood near Loughlinstown in Co. Dublin.

https://www.primearenaholdings.com/prime-arena#:~:text=Prime%20Arena%20will%20be%20an,first%20professional%20ice%20hockey%20franchise.

''Developed at a highly prominent Cherrywood location, the arena will feature two Olympic-sized ice rinks, a 6,000-seat / 8,000-standing capacity for events, and a 1,500-capacity conference space.

Prime Arena will be an enduring home for Irish Winter sports, with the country’s first permanent ice rinks serving as a training facility for Irish athletes, from the elite to the casual.

The facility will also be home to the country's first professional ice hockey franchise.''

The inclusion of a first ever Irish ice hockey team wouldn't be too bad for RTÉ's viewership numbers for the next winter olympics or the one after it.

Flinty997 · 24-02-2026 01:30PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124261324#Comment_124261324

So your theory is people don't watch something unless they've done it. So no one's going to watch ski jumping unless they have done it. No one watches bobsled unless they've done it.

So 26.3 million have gone ice skating in the UK.

I don't think so.

Cosmo Kramer · 25-02-2026 10:26AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124260976#Comment_124260976

Sorry, but this is a nonsensical argument and shows a complete lack of understanding of what the sporting public actually wants to see. When it comes to minority sports the sporting public, be they Irish or British or whatever, loves a medal chase. In Britain they get that at the Winter Olympics. They are strong in curling because of its Scottish origins, they have a medal history in figure skating and they have turned the Skeleton into a mini version of F1 where they basically engineer medals for themselves by spending more money building faster tea trays than everyone else has.

We don't have any of that. We had no realistic medal contenders at the games. Therefore there is little public interest in them. And, for that reason, they are only very lightly covered by the broadcaster. It really is as simple as that.

Flinty997 · 25-02-2026 04:31PM

No interest in Irish national soccer team because they never win anything...

RoTelly · 25-02-2026 06:07PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124263740#Comment_124263740

My problem with this arguement is that RTÉ2 has little else to show. As pointed out they have the games.

How much revenue are they generating by pushing to the Player? are they making their money back? If that is all there is too these games on a public service broadcaster.

In this argument RTÉ should never have aired the summer Olympic games in past decades. (BTW you don't need to argue the case fro the Olympics on RTÉ, its a throw away remark).

Surely to provide coverage would get people interested in the games.

Most of the proponents of RTÉ airing the games are simple stating that their current programming isn't going to lose an audience, with such a small audience there for them.

It seems this is a fact that many on hear don't want to hear or wish to ignore.

Flinty997 · 25-02-2026 09:51PM

I think it's a bit of catch 22. Circular argument No one can watch it because it's not shown. They won't show it because no one watches it.

It's over now doesn't really matter does it. I enjoyed the highlights lots of new sports to watch.

Cosmo Kramer · 26-02-2026 12:07AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124264705#Comment_124264705

"When it comes to minority sports…"

Football is a minority sports now, is it?

Flinty997 · 26-02-2026 12:59AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124265779#Comment_124265779

"...Approximately 1% to 1.5% of the Irish population actively plays rugby..."

"Approximately 4.8% to 16% of people in Ireland play soccer.."

"...38% of adolescent males and 33% of adolescent females participating in Gaelic football, and roughly 22–24% in hurling/camogie..."

" UK "28% of people surveyed said they had played football in the past month"

I think the idea that no one's interested in winter sports because no one does them, no ice rink etc. Doesn't track.

Look at Rugby look at Soccer. There isn't a one to one relationship with winning or participating. No doubt everyone loves a story, Eddie the Eagle, or Medal Rowing. But some people just like sport. Often it's about access to seeing it. The latter is a catch 22.

You won't know how popular something is until you try it. People used to watch snooker in black and white. Some people even watch cricket.

Flinty997 · 26-02-2026 01:16AM

I really only watch sport on RTE. If it's not there and only on paid streaming services I guess that's where I'll watch it.

Caquas · 28-02-2026 03:11PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124265844#Comment_124265844

RTE's abysmal coverage of the Winter Olympics was scandalous but absolutely necessary.

RTE are bankrupt and they need every penny to pay gilded redundancy packages. No major sponsor was willing to bankroll RTE's coverage of the Winter Olympics because there wasn't an Irish star performer. There was certainly an audience eager to watch the most spectacular sporting jamboree in the world this year but sponsors need personalities who can become "brand ambassadors".

The teaser show on RTE Player was an insult - letting the hungry masses get the merest whiff of the goodies which they can't have.

Does this mean that sport is just warfare by other means i.e. we don't really care about skill or effort or grace or all the wonderful attributes displayed at the Winter Olympics, we will only watch if "our side" could defeat the "others"?

Flinty997 · 28-02-2026 03:20PM

It's was implied no one was interested.

I was only saying I'm interested. I'm sure others are and stats suggest they are.

The argument that RTE is too broke too show them is a entirely different one. I don't watch RTE enough to comment.

I enjoyed the highlights and glad RTE ran them. Quite happy with highlights of events. Tour de France, F1, Rallying, American football etc on other providers.

odyssey06 · 28-02-2026 03:26PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124272284#Comment_124272284

There are wide audiences for many events that dont have Irish competitors eg 100m in summer olympics, champions league final with no teams from these islands, superbowl.

Would be very intetesting to see the stats of viewing figures from ROI for BBC coverage of the Winter Olympics.

Caquas · 28-02-2026 07:55PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124272323#Comment_124272323

I agree - sport isn't just about "us v. them", and there would have been a large and appreciative audience for the Winter Olympics - but how else to explain RTE's dire coverage?

fits · 28-02-2026 08:03PM

The BBC coverage was excellent and we also took out a discovery subscription for the month. There’s no real public service element here for RTE as the games are readily available to view and there was very little of particular Irish interest. We watched BBC every day nonetheless. Agree they could probably have streamed the games at times without Irish commentary.

odyssey06 · 28-02-2026 08:07PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124273162#Comment_124273162

Risk averse / zero initiative.

Imagine what tg4 could have done with the rights rte had.

csirl · 28-02-2026 08:25PM

The "nobodys interested" argument fails when you consider RTE showed months old repeats of Nationwide in the Winter Olympics time slot!

We all just have to remember that tbe RTE D4 set know and tell us whats good for us. The taxpayers opinion doesnt matter. Our only role is to pay inflated wages to the RTE set and their nepo hires.

Caquas · 02-03-2026 11:49AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124273183#Comment_124273183

That's what I did and it would make perfect financial sense if we got a refund on our TV licence.

RoTelly · 02-03-2026 05:56PM

Monday - From That Small Island (Originally RTÉ1 2025, Repeat)
Tuesday - Your Home Made Perfect (Import, Repeat)
Wednesday - The Simpsons (Import, Repeat) leading into Champions League
Thursday - Bake Off: The Professionals (Import, Available on Channel4.com, Season 5)
Friday - Son of a Critch (Import, Repeat), followed by Rick Stein's Food Stories (Import, Repeat)
Saturday @ 6 The Shelter (Import, Repeat), followed at 7 by The Saturday Game Live.
Sunday - The Future of Nature (Import, Repeat)

Monday - 42K

Tuesday - 58K

Wednesday - >39K, with pre-match show getting just 39K

Thursday - >39K

Friday - >39K

Saturday - > 39K, with pre-match show getting 44K

Sunday - not one prime time show getting over 39K

They have nothing to show.

Winter Olympics Coverage

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