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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EURO’S HIT TV HIGHS ACROSS EUROPE AND THE WORLD
The Euro’s have been a bonanza for TV broadcasters with many reporting record numbers tuning in for matches, even at this early group stage of the tournament.
ITV saw an average of 18.4 million viewers for Friday night’s game between England and Scotland. The tournaments only scoreless draw to date hit a peak of 20 million, representing 79 per cent of those watching TV at the time.
It also saw a record number of 4.8 million streams of the game on its Player service.
This was the highest TV audience since England’s World Cup semi-final defeat to France at the 2018 FIFA World Cup
France
The French opening game against Germany also produced a three year high on TF1 with 15 million tuning in, followed up by 12.3 million watching the draw against Hungary, albeit with an earlier kick-off time. The Germany game represented a 70 per cent share.
Germany and Portugal
20.1 million Germans watched their team bounce back to winning ways against Portugal, a 75 per cent market share. It was also the most-watched programme of the year in Portugal, peaking at a share of 71.3 per cent
Spain
Spain has yet to fire in the tournament, and that is reflected in interest among the fans. 12.1 million tuned in to watch the draw with Poland, averaging out at just a 51.6 per cent share.
Italy
Rai reported that the opening game of Italy’s campaign against turkey drew an average audience of 12.7 million and that this climbed to 13.3 million foe the win over Switzerland.
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OTB SPORTS LAND LIONS RIGHTS
OTB Sports has secured FM radio rights to broadcast all of The British & Irish Lions 2021 fixtures from South Africa this summer. This is the first time that Newstalk will broadcast the Lions Test Series.
It is a major coup for the broadcaster with the TV eights available on Sky Sports and NowTV meaning that the non-TV audience will be substantial.
The three Test matches will take place during the Olympic Games but the time zones will work well with the action from South Africa taking place in the afternoon while Japan sleeps.
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JOIN US FOR STREAMING SPORT IN 2021
Our next Sport for Business Conference which will look in-depth at the world of Sports Streaming. This will take place now on the morning of Thursday, June 24th and places can be reserved now at the link below.
No single factor has emerged as a bigger opportunity for sport, and a bigger positive for fans than the growth of awareness of what streaming is capable of.
From professional leagues to local clubs, streaming technology has democratised the ability to deliver live sporting content to audiences at local and global level.
We will look under the covers of what the streaming revolution will mean for sporting bodies, sponsors, fans and media companies.
Each of the four conferences we have hosted this year has attracted strong audiences of hundreds of sporting and business leaders from across Ireland and around the world.
Sport for Business Streaming Sport in 2021 will be the same.
09:45 Virtual Doors Open
10:00 Opening Comments from Rob Hartnett, CEO of Sport for Business
10:10 LiveScore’s Champions League deal and What it Means for Fans
10:25 The Changing Face of Streaming Ireland’s Domestic Soccer
We will be joined by Mark Scanlon of the FAI to discuss the progress of LOITV
1045 Sponsors Bringing Sport to a Streaming Audience
1100 Expectations of the Future
Irial MacMurchú of Nemeton TV joins us to discuss the differences between traditional broadcast and the streamed experience
1115 Bringing Cricket Ireland to the World
Heatley Tector of HBV Studios and Andrew May of Cricket Ireland on the success of streaming Irish Cricket to the world.
1140 Close
REGISTER TO JOIN US, FREE IF YOUR ORGANISATION IS A MEMBER OF SPORT FOR BUSINESS
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PREMIER SPORTS ADDS UNITED RUGBY CHAMPIONSHIP
Premier Sports is to take on the broadcast of every game in the tournament for audiences across Ireland and the UK.
RTÉ and TG4 will also show matches free to air in Ireland on a non-exclusive basis.
This new deal will run for four years and is an extension of the partnership between Premier Sports and Pro14 Rugby that has run since 2018.
Headline names such as Stephen Ferris, Andrew Trimble, John Barclay, Jim Hamilton, Shane Williams and Tom Shanklin will continue to offer Irish, Scottish and Welsh supporters key insight from personalities who have played at the highest levels.
In addition, Premier Sports will introduce territory-specific commentary teams for their live URC games, increase studio coverage and launch a new and improved Premier Player OTT service for UK customers.
Premier Sports is an investor in digital platform SportsJoe which has the rights to clips and highlights from its output which should see another raising of the bar for that medium in terms of its sports coverage.
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RTE AND TG4 ENSURE FREE TO AIR PROVINCES
RTÉ and TG4 have been confirmed as the broadcast media partners in Ireland for the new United Rugby Championship.
The public service media organisations will deliver the tournament free to air for Irish audiences for the next four years.
RTÉ has secured the rights for live TV, radio and online coverage of 26 games featuring the Irish provinces in the 16 team league, plus additional knockout matches.
TG4’s Rugbaí Beo will continue to be the station’s flagship rugby programme and will broadcast 26 games involving Irish provincial clubs and an additional 16 games featuring international club sides from South Africa, Wales, Scotland and Italy.
The United Rugby Championship final will also be delivered free to air with RTÉ and TG4 broadcasting it live on alternate years.
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PADDY POWER LAUNCHES INTO COMEDY
Paddy Power betting offices and online services may have been flat to the boards this week with the Euro’s Royal Ascot and the US Open but they still found time to launch The Var Room, a new four-part sitcom series that debuted on Virgin Media Two this week.
It charts the imagined goings-on at VAR HQ in Stockley Park over the course of last season.
Written by in house content creators Steven Quick and Noel Slevin the show is a first-time appearance for the brand’s content on free to air mainstream TV.
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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.
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