RTÉ Sport launched its comprehensive coverage of the 2016 GAA Championships yesterday with coverage of a great Allianz League Final Replay won by Clare and a dose of hot water following comments made about Dublin ‘Scumbags’ by Kerry’s Tomás Ó’Sé (pictured above with Dessie Dolan)
RTÉ will take you there this Championship season with 31 live games on RTÉ One television, 30 live games on RTÉ Radio 1 and over 40 live games on RTÉ Radio na Gaeltachta.
The Championship will be brought to audiences across RTÉ’s digital platforms with live updates on every single game on RTÉ.ie and the RTÉ News Now app for GAA supporters on the move.
“The GAA Championship is a unique sporting and cultural experience that RTÉ is proud to share with the Irish public across all our platforms,” said RTÉ Group Head of Sport Ryle Nugent.
“This Championship season we will showcase the unrivalled passion of our national games with supporters at home or on the go.”
“It was particularly fitting to be announcing details of our comprehensive coverage on a game day in Thurles as we look forward to a summer of Sundays just like this.”
Ó’Sé’s comments, he later apologised for a pure choice of words and suggested he meant scamps rather than what he said, added a touch of hot spice to the coverage which has been a hallmark in recent years.
To be fair to RTÉ’s sports coverage it has never been anodyne, and commentators and analysts have been chosen, certainly with personality in mind, to be unafraid to voice an opinion.
The sponsorship around the live programmes will as ever be offered on a shared basis to the six key supporters of the All Ireland Championships.
We will cover any new themes being developed by AIB, Supervalu, eir, Etihad Airways, Centra and Liberty Insurance right here over the coming weeks.
The role of GAA Coverage in the Future of TV Sport here will be covered at this coming Thursday’s Sport for Business debate at the RTÉ studios.
The full range of coverage being rolled out between now and September is listed below:
RTÉ One
This year RTÉ One television will be the home of the Sunday Game Live with Michael Lyster anchoring a comprehensive package of 31 live games in High Definition, across this summer’s GAA Championships including all six Provincial Finals, four All Ireland Senior quarter-finals plus All Ireland Senior semi-finals and finals in both Hurling and Football.
The Sunday Game Live throws-in for the first time this year on Sunday 22 May with an exciting double-header of football and hurling action with Derry v Tyrone in Ulster Senior Football action from Celtic Park, Derry followed by Cork v Tipperary in the Munster Senior Hurling quarter-final from Semple Stadium.
RTÉ2
Now in its 38th year, Ireland’s premier GAA television programme, The Sunday Game, will return next Sunday, May 15th on RTÉ2 with presenter Des Cahill in the chair. Des and guests will take a look back at Laois v Kildare, Louth v Carlow and Offaly v Longford in the Leinster Senior Football Championship and Fermanagh v Antrim in the Ulster Senior Football Championship
The Sunday Game will have highlights of up to 100 games throughout the season providing definitive analysis every single Sunday of the Championship summer.
RTÉ Radio 1 & RTÉ 2fm
RTÉ Radio will this summer offer the very best action in hurling and football with a comprehensive range of commentary and analysis right through the GAA Championships. RTÉ Radio 1 will have exclusive national coverage of the top match every day on Saturday Sport and Sunday Sport. There will be full commentary on more than 30 matches across the Championship season as well as reports and updates from every other match.
The team of RTÉ commentators will include Ger Canning, Darragh Maloney and Pauric Lodge as well as GAA correspondents, Marty Morrissey and Brian Carthy.
In addition to all the live action, Brian Carthy’s magazine programme, The Championship, will return to RTÉ Radio 1 on Fridays at 10.00pm and from next Sunday 15 May the Marty Squad returns, live from Tullamore, with an extra hour of interviews, analysis and reaction after 6pm each Sunday, giving experts and fans their chance to air their views.
RTÉ Radio 1 bulletins throughout the day on Morning Ireland, Today with Sean O’Rourke and Drivetime will also have all the breaking news and all the issues that matter to the fans who follow the Championship, with extensive analysis and debate featuring also on RTÉ 2fm’s daily sports programme, Game On.
RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta
RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta will broadcast up to 40 football matches, and more than 20 hurling games, with live commentary, reporting and analysis across its sports programmes.
The summer schedule for the station will include 10 hours of sports programming each weekend. Analysts will include players, former players, managers and former managers including Dara Ó Cinnéide, John Allen, Joe Connolly, Cathal Moore, Pat Fleury, Gary Brennan, Stephen Joyce, Charlie Vernon, Mícheál Ó Muircheartaigh and Máire Ní Bhraonáin.
The weekend sports schedule is Spórt an tSathairn at 2pm on Saturdays and Reacaireacht an Tráthnóna at 6.30pm for evening fixtures. On Sundays, Spórt an Lae is broadcast at 2 pm, and a roundup of results can be heard in Spórt an Domhnaigh at 7 pm.
RTÉ Digital
Across its digital platforms, RTÉ Sport will have coverage of every moment of the All-Ireland Football and Hurling Championships, with reporters at every single game in 2015 and live updates on every score via rte.ie and the RTÉ News Now app.
Each week there will be columns from analysts including Richie Power and Dessie Dolan, as well as features, videos and a weekly Championship podcast on iTunes and Soundcloud.
Fans around the world can keep up to date on every game via @rtegaa on Twitter, join the debate on the Sunday Game Facebook page and watch the best of the analysis on RTÉ Sport’s dedicated Youtube channel.
All summer long, the Sunday Game on Instagram will capture the best photos and moments of the Championship. Fans can tag their photos #sundaygame – with the best pics featured on RTÉ Sport.
And across the island of Ireland, The Sunday Game Live and The Sunday Game highlights programme can be watched live and on-demand via the RTÉ Player or on the move via the RTÉ player app.
GAAGO
For GAA fans living or travelling abroad, the 2016 GAA Championships can be watched anywhere in the world with GAAGO, RTÉ and the GAA’s online streaming service for Gaelic Games outside of Ireland.
With GAAGO subscribers can access over 120 events, including the 2016 GAA Championships and The Sunday Game highlights show with events available to watch live and on-demand on any internet-enabled device.
