Each Wednesday we take a look at the world of Irish sports media, the stories, the numbers and the organisations that are, more than ever before, our window on the world of sport…
RTÉ REPORT RISING NUMBERS FOR GAA CHAMPIONSHIPS
The number of viewers tuning in to RTÉ Sport coverage of the All Ireland Championships over the past three weeks has been accelerating.
On the last weekend in October, RTÉ 2 broadcast its first games with Limerick against Clare in the Munster Hurling Championship centre stage.
It achieved an average audience of 326,000, peaking at 397,000
The following week, Limerick were back and the average audience for their Semi-Final against Tipperary had climbed to 395,000 with a peak of 450,000. The supporting cast performed well too with Donegal’s win over Tyrone peaking at 330,000 and the late throw in between Wexford and Galway peaking at 321,000.
The late drama of last weekend’s Cork victory over Kerry was watched by 507,000 at a peak after an average of 392,000. The average for Mayo against Roscommon in the early throw-in was 232,000.
In total, the nine hours of coverage across RTÉ2 and TG4 at the weekend drew an audience of 925,000. We now know what people are doing with their weekends during this second lockdown.
All of these numbers are from TV only and do not take account of the ever-increasing numbers tuning in on the RTÉ Player as fans watch multiple screens to take account of a large number of competing events.
Without a single provincial final yet to be played, the numbers are bigger than ever before and climbing.
VIRGIN MEDIA VIEWERS FOR RUGBY
The final day of the Guinness 6 Nations drew in hundreds of thousands of viewers for Virgin Media One which broadcast all three games live.
The opener between Wales and Scotland attracted 255,670. This climbed to 350,930 for Italy against England and then 850,280 for the prime time winner takes all clash between France and Ireland in Paris.
There were 950,000 at the peak which was as half time approached but the prospect of defeat meant that the number then dipped.
The number was up on last year’s clash between the nations which attracted an average of 772,400 and was the sixth most-watched TV programme of the year.
It will be interesting to watch the Rugby numbers over the coming weeks as the games are shown live on RTÉ, starting this Friday.
STREAMING SUCCESS FOR LADIES FOOTBALL AND CAMOGIE
Just under 18,000 live streams were recorded last Sunday for the lunchtime TG$ All Ireland Ladies Football Championship clash between Dublin and Waterford. Over 15,000 tuned in for Mayo against Tyrone and just over 11,000 for Sligo and Kildare.
These numbers all exceed the number who attended last year’s doubleheader of semi-finals at Croke Park and are indicative of a real appetite for fans to seek out coverage.
Another near 20,000 tuned into the Liberty Insurance live streams of Cork and Galway and Westmeath against Waterford in the group stages of the Camogie Championships.
The pandemic and the lockdown may have prevented us from attending the matches in person but the byproduct of greater streaming coverage means that they will be exposed to more people than ever before.
TG4 FRIDAY NIGHT DELIGHTS
TG4 has showcased two matches on successive Friday nights in the Ladies Football All Ireland Championships and they have attracted average audiences of 35,000 for Armagh and Tyrone on October 30th and 47,600 for Monaghan against Tipperary on November 6th.
The audience reach taking into account a blend of social, online and linear hit 163,000 for the first game and 158,000 for the second.
“There is no doubt that the primetime Friday night lights coverage has given TG4 and Ladies Football some great exposure and has raised the profile of the Championship,” said TG4 Head of Sport Rónán Ó Coisdealbha.
“From all of the social media platforms that we have been monitoring, the live coverage has also attracted new viewers and fans to the sport. Both of these games were close and had some great scores – thus highlighting how good the sport can be.”
OTB SPORTS LAUNCHES BUSINESS OF SPORT PODCAST
OTB Sports has launched The Ball Game, a new podcast looking at the business of sport.
The opening show was released last night and featured a conversation between host Adrian Barry, Jill Downey from Core Sponsorship, Matt Mooney from AIB and Noel Quinn from the GAA.
The theme was looking at the challenges faced by sport during the pandemic, including around fan experience, technology and more.
Theirs is a welcome addition to the world of media looking at this important side of the sporting universe.
Join us every Friday morning for our popular and essential guide to everything you can watch each weekend; every Wednesday for our Weekly Media Matters column; and every day for the latest on the commercial world of Irish sport.
Sport for Business Partners
