Each week we take a look at the world of the Irish and international sports media, the stories, the numbers and the organisations that are, more than ever before, our window on the world of sport…
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UNITED RUGBY CHAMPIONSHIP HITS ONE MILLION
The United Rugby Championship has recorded over one million viewers for a single round for the first time ever, just one week after setting a new viewership record for the league.
Round One of the URC broke the previous league record and a 15 per cent increase last weekend during the second round has pushed the total domestic audience beyond one million.
This figure is the combination of the average viewing figures for each of the eight matches. With international viewing figures, audiences from URC TV and consolidated reports due after Round 5 these figures will grow yet again.
Average viewership across the UK, Ireland, Italy and South Africa have proven to be greater than the initial forecasts and with some of the biggest games still to come across the next 16 rounds and the knock-out stages – the URC is on course to shatter previous viewing figures right across the season.
Read more and see the five highest viewership games
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IRISH SPORTS MEDIA CHECK-IN
Women’s sport has never been stronger in terms of public appeal and media coverage but it is still in the foothills of what could and should be the level of engagement that we have through mainstream and major online media with the events that are taking place.
Since the end of the 20X20 campaign, in a quieter fashion than might have been hoped due to the not inconsiderable matter of Covid-19, there is no longer a single source of nudging and holding to account those who have committed to doing better.
Sport for Business has been pushing the agenda of equal respect for sport regardless of gender since our very first Round Table event on that very subject in the Croke Park Hotel almost a decade ago.
With that in mind, we have taken it upon ourselves on an occasional basis to check in on the level of coverage which is being delivered in relation to Women’s sport.
It is not done to throw stones at any outlets in particular, but rather to have an independent voice with the occasional ear of the sporting and sponsorship community to cast an eye over what is being delivered.
Take a look at what we found last weekend
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DISCOVERY TAKES ON FIVE YEAR PARTNERSHIP WITH WOMEN’S TOUR DE FRANCE
Exclusive live rights in 50 markets across Europe have been granted to Discovery for the first five years of the Women’s edition of the Tour de France, starting in 2022.
The broadcaster has committed to providing the same level of coverage as it would for the men’s race.
The coverage will be shown here on Eurosport and there will be pre and post-race highlights programmes to catch up with all the action as well.
“We are thrilled to have reached an agreement with the EBU that guarantees every stage of the Tour de France Femmes will be able to watch live and on-demand across our channels and platforms,” declared Guy Voisin, director of cycling at Discovery Sports.
“We have made it our mission to invest in more world-class women’s races because it is just a great sport, to help grow cycling further and to meet the expectations of our viewers everywhere. We will now harness our deep cycling expertise and unrivalled scale to bring coverage to the widest possible audience in Europe, truly unlocking the power of the sport.”
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TG4 TO SHOW WORLD CLASS INDOOR ATHLETICS
TG4 has extended its deal with World Athletics and will now show seven World Indoor Tour Gold meetings across the early months of 2022.
The Irish Times reported this morning that the deal had been brokered by Pierce O’Callaghan in his new role as Head of Competitions at the International Governing Body.
The meetings will include ones from new York, Boston, Germany, France, England and Spain and are likely to feature a number of Irish athletics stars.
“There’s never been a series of indoor athletics meetings like this on Irish TV before O’Callaghan told Ion O’Riordan writing in the paper.
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WE HAVE BEEN LISTENING TO…
Our podcast listening this week has included the second Captains on tour in Berlin and Sarah Rowe talking sport of all shapes and rules with Alan Cawley as part of a new series from EVOKE.ie.
We also dropped in on Evanne Ní Chuillin’s Life in Sport where she had a very engaging chat with Sport for Business member Sinead Galvin.
RTÉ, Sky Sports, Virgin Media, OTB, TG4, Nemeton TV, TVM, Iris Productions, Pundit Arena and Balls.ie are among the more than 250+ members of the Sport for Business network of sporting and business organisations working together across a number of key areas.
“A powerful and influential network of information and collaboration”
Download our latest membership brochure here.
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