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…
This week we look at the story of the referee microphone in Gaelic Games, Virgin Media’s win for Shamrock Rovers and a streaming play by FIFA for the Women’s U20 World Cup
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REF MIC SUSPENDED AFTER ONE WEEK
One of the highlights of last week’s return of GAA Club Games to TG4 was the inclusion of a referee microphone that allowed a rugby-style understanding of what the ref’s view on the game was and why his decisions had been made.
It was introduced by Nemeton TV who produce the coverage for TG4 and went down very well with the audience and on social media.
John O’Halloran’s reasoning and explanation for his decisions in the Herry Hurling Championship final added to the game and there were no inadvertent curses or controversies.
The fear though that this might not always be the case has prompted the GAA to step in and request that the experiment not be repeated this weekend for the Wexford Hurling Final, also to be broadcast on TG4.
Nemeton were all set to go again but the GAA believes that it will require more consideration and a possible rule change to be allowed. Those things do not happen quickly so it may be a while before we hear the thoughts of the official live and in real-time again.
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ROVERS PROGRESS A WIN FOR VIRGIN MEDIA
Shamrock Rovers progress to the group stage of the Europa Conference league at a minimum will be a big win for Virgin Media who secured the rights last year to all the Europa League and Europa Conference league matches for the next three seasons.
The games will generally be played on Thursday nights getting underway next month.
Tuesday night’s match was not broadcast in Ireland due to an issue with control of the rights resting with the North Macedonian FA and a bit of bad blood over restrictions on flights into Dublin Airport.
It was streamed live on LOITV however, at a reasonable cost for a historic game of €10.
Discussions are understood to be ongoing now about coverage of the game against Ferencvaros of Hungary to determine if the dream could expand into the group stages of the higher level competition in the Europa League.
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FIFA+ STREAMS WOMEN’S U20 WORLD CUP FREE TO AIR
The Women’s U20 World Cup is underway in Costa Rica at the moment and is being streamed free of charge to over 100 countries around the world on the new FIFA+ service run by the world gioverning body.
“After a summer that has seen women’s football capture the hearts and minds of fans around the world, with continental champions crowned in every major region, we’re delighted to be bringing the stars of tomorrow to the world on FIFA+,” said FIFA Director of Strategy and Development, Charlotte Burr.
“For years, the FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup has been a fascinating window into the next generation of superstars in the women’s game, and 2022 promises to be no different. Costa Rica will provide a stunning backdrop to elite football and drama aplenty – we’re excited to be bringing fans around the world closer to the tournament and the future stars of the women’s game.”
If it also serves to get plenty of fans signed up to the FIFA+ service then that will be a double win.
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BROADCAST POWER BEHIND THE EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS
RTÉ will be offering in-depth TV, radio, and digital coverage from the European Championships Munich 2022, the second edition of the multi-sport event taking place in the Bavarian city on 11 to 21 August.
They will be part of a 40-strong team of European broadcasters delivering the tournament to domestic audiences on a free-to-air basis.
The European Championships takes place every four years, in partnership with Europe’s free-to-air broadcasters.
This year’s edition will aggregate the existing continental championships of nine sports: Athletics; Cycling (road, track, mountain bike and BMX freestyle); Gymnastics (artistic); Rowing; Triathlon; Beach Volleyball; Sport Climbing; Canoe Sprint; and Table Tennis.
More than 3,500 hours of live, delayed, and digital programming has so far been scheduled across more than 50 channels. This compares with just over 3,000 hours of intentions for the inaugural European Championships staged in Glasgow and Berlin in 2018.
READ MORE ABOUT THE BROADCAST SET UP AND THE WORDS OF GLEN KILLANE
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