tones wrote:Why should RTE be annoyed?...
Aimed at me, I presume, so I'll answer.. Mainly because however half-assed (in your opinion) effort they did put in to the lageue coverage, it was mainly on terms that suited them, and terms they had a large say in. Sky changes all that. It'll almost definitely increase the value of the leauge (which might be a good thing for the sport, but not so for RTÉ).
tones wrote:They haven't supported the league form the start
They have. Now they mightn't have done it to the extent that you like, but you (as an avid supporter of a province/club and, by association, the sport) are not their target audience. You are part of that. Their public service remit covers all sorts of things. It is neither within the bounds of their commercial remit nor public service remit to cover every game. Now with a few small changes they could easily do a better job (and Sky will help nudge them along, as you say), but that has no bearing on the point of the Sky deal making RTÉ (and other terrestrials) not-so-pleased.
That RTÉ snubbed rights / Setanta were better .. I agree (again, nothing to do with the point). I don't know if that'll change because of the Sky deal, though, unfortunately. No broadcaster has a real interest in the development of the sport. They have only a commercial interest in increasing the popularity of the sport to enhance their own business. It's not RTÉ's (or Sky's) job to improve the league.
tones wrote:I am glad its going to Sky, they're not perfect but a far sight better.
I'm not, it means I'll see less matches. They do a much better production, and that will hopefully increase the profile of the league, but I'll see less of it as a result. I'm more than prepared to see how it goes (for the league).
tones wrote:Also, the Sky deal isn't exclusive. So there will be matches on RTE/TGS/BBC Alba etc - just not as many.
Yup, that's been reasonably clear from the start. Again, the point was that RTÉ now have much less a say in what matches they'll get to show, and when they get to show them. That'll no doubt make them angry. Angry might be too strong a word, but certainly there are people in RTÉ who are very much less than impressed with this change.
The ideal, for me, at least, would be Sky to get the cream of the crop (and pay more for it), by dictating fixtures and getting exclusitivity on live scheduling. If they don't want to cover a game live, then the appropriate terrestrial gets 2nd dibs. All broadcasters get delayed coverage rights, as long as they also do a weekly round up / highlights package. That'd be a middle ground to the money of Sky versus the exposure of FTA, with a mandatory highlights programme to sweeten the pot (from the league's point of view). Then if one route (premium or FTA) clearly wins out, then off down that road we go.
RTÉ would be angry with this move, though!
"You'd better watch who you're calling a child, Lois. Because if I'm a child, you know what that makes you? A paedophile. And I'll be damned if I'm gonna be lectured by a pervert"
