National Forum

Ridiculous Bias towards Ulster Shown by RTE

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Yeah.It's been very competitive so far this year what with an average margin of victory of over 10 points inthe 3 games they've showed.

Right, well, first off - they have only shown 2 Ulster games where the average victory was 10 points. The other match Live was Mayo v Sligo - a 9 point victory.

Leinster have played 3 Preliminary rounds - all on the 21st May and on that day RTÉ televised the Connacht Match - not the Ulster Championship game between Donegal and Antrim.

The other games played to date in the AI Championships are:

27th May
Waterford v Cork - no other games on this day. No game televised.

28th May
Clare v Limerick
London v Leitrim
Derry v Tyrone

Ulster Championship Derry/Tyrone televised, which would have on paper attracted the biggest viewing audience.

So as others have said above with Ulster normally being the most competitive (not the best, most competitive) it is more likely that the games would attract larger viewing audiences and therefore attract the cameras. Likewise they chose Mayo v Sligo as it had a wider appeal than the Ulster match on that day.

If there is any bias then from RTÉ it is a bias against Antrim as they never ever show us despite showing all the other Ulster games... ;-)

Also you will probably be delighted that in the next 4 televised games on RTÉ only has 2 Ulster games so you'll get a couple of weeks of watching beyond the Sunday Game theme tune before switching over. Better still, only 2 of the next 6 games to be televised on RTÉ or Sky are from Ulster.

Offside_Rule (Antrim) - Posts: 4058 - 01/06/2017 12:09:53    1992999

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There's a very simple answer to this, and it's in the first reply.

patk (Monaghan) - Posts: 936 - 01/06/2017 12:10:25    1993000

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No one is arguing the Ulster is the most competitive province that fact is well established , however theres a difference between competitive province and non competitive fixtures , Ulster has thrown up some very uncompetitive fixtures to date and they were known before hand that they were miss matches

See above post damo

Offside_Rule (Antrim) - Posts: 4058 - 01/06/2017 12:10:56    1993001

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Replying To gotmilk:  "How in the name of god is that relevant to this thread?"
Read the comment I responded to.He mentioned the low attendance at the offaly westmeath hurling match last week.

uibhfhaili1986 (Offaly) - Posts: 1296 - 01/06/2017 12:16:30    1993004

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Replying To uibhfhaili1986:  "Read the comment I responded to.He mentioned the low attendance at the offaly westmeath hurling match last week."
Yes highlighting why it wasn't on tv.

gotmilk (Fermanagh) - Posts: 4971 - 01/06/2017 13:05:36    1993028

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Replying To Offside_Rule:  "No one is arguing the Ulster is the most competitive province that fact is well established , however theres a difference between competitive province and non competitive fixtures , Ulster has thrown up some very uncompetitive fixtures to date and they were known before hand that they were miss matches

See above post damo"
cheers

Damothedub (Dublin) - Posts: 5193 - 01/06/2017 13:14:39    1993038

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Replying To gotmilk:  "Yes highlighting why it wasn't on tv."
I wasn't complaining about it not being on TV.

uibhfhaili1986 (Offaly) - Posts: 1296 - 01/06/2017 15:59:40    1993118

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Replying To Offside_Rule:  "No one is arguing the Ulster is the most competitive province that fact is well established , however theres a difference between competitive province and non competitive fixtures , Ulster has thrown up some very uncompetitive fixtures to date and they were known before hand that they were miss matches

See above post damo"
Mayo and Sligo was competitive was it?..an absolute brutal game of football even Mayo barely deserved to win, themselves and Sligo were afraid to kick a point in the end as most shots were either well wide or fell short...I think it would be no harm to show the likes of Wexford or Wicklow etc in a first round match and give them, and Antrim in Ulster a time slot...it will be Mayo/Roscommon & Mayo/Galway now for the whole summer and Martin Carney blah blah blah..Tyrone and Derry has run its course too as Derry have gone back so much in recent years...a terrible game of football now to look at...no point showing it because it looks good on paper if the reality is that it will be rubbish...no disrespect to either county by the way...

Fairplayalways (Offaly) - Posts: 1034 - 01/06/2017 17:23:55    1993165

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Replying To cuchulainn35:  "Fact - Down Div 2 will play Armagh Div 3 on Sunday in a packed newry - 20,000 sell out expected

offaly can't even get 300 to watch their footballers

offaly v westmeath which wasn't live had only 2,500 last week in Mullingar.....

Why oh why would you show a match live with less than 3,000"
If the games could not even attract their own county supporters, why would they be of interest to anybody else?

neverright (Roscommon) - Posts: 1648 - 01/06/2017 17:57:01    1993184

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Replying To Fairplayalways:  "
Replying To Offside_Rule:  "No one is arguing the Ulster is the most competitive province that fact is well established , however theres a difference between competitive province and non competitive fixtures , Ulster has thrown up some very uncompetitive fixtures to date and they were known before hand that they were miss matches

See above post damo"
Mayo and Sligo was competitive was it?..an absolute brutal game of football even Mayo barely deserved to win, themselves and Sligo were afraid to kick a point in the end as most shots were either well wide or fell short...I think it would be no harm to show the likes of Wexford or Wicklow etc in a first round match and give them, and Antrim in Ulster a time slot...it will be Mayo/Roscommon & Mayo/Galway now for the whole summer and Martin Carney blah blah blah..Tyrone and Derry has run its course too as Derry have gone back so much in recent years...a terrible game of football now to look at...no point showing it because it looks good on paper if the reality is that it will be rubbish...no disrespect to either county by the way..."
Didn't say Mayo or Sligo was competitive in the end - just that it wasn't all 3 Ulster matches which have been televised as your esteemed fellow County poster claimed. And yes I would love to see Antrim year on year being televised or indeed some of the 'lesser' Counties games as these can throw up great contests. But sadly this isn't the way it works and when they are picking the games they look at the ones which have the potential to attract most viewers.

Offside_Rule (Antrim) - Posts: 4058 - 01/06/2017 18:01:05    1993188

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Replying To uibhfhaili1986:  "I wasn't complaining about it not being on TV."
So what were you complaining about?
He highlighted the lack of interest in the game as a reason why it's not on tv.
What the hell has Armagh and down hurling got to do with the post?

gotmilk (Fermanagh) - Posts: 4971 - 01/06/2017 21:16:57    1993283

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Replying To gotmilk:  "So what were you complaining about?
He highlighted the lack of interest in the game as a reason why it's not on tv.
What the hell has Armagh and down hurling got to do with the post?"
What the hell did Offaly v Westmeath hurling have to do with the point I was making?

Absolutely nothing yet someone brought it up anyway.

My point was we have 2 channels continuously showing Ulster matches when other matches are on, it's a completely stupid policy.RTE should show Kilare v Laois and let the BBC show the Ulster match and people can at least have an option over what they watch.

uibhfhaili1986 (Offaly) - Posts: 1296 - 01/06/2017 21:54:17    1993297

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Its not bias towards Ulster its just laziness from RTE as they just get the feed from the BBC as opposed to going to the effort of showing a different game somewhere else

KYTotalFootball (Kerry) - Posts: 280 - 01/06/2017 22:11:44    1993304

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Replying To uibhfhaili1986:  "What the hell did Offaly v Westmeath hurling have to do with the point I was making?

Absolutely nothing yet someone brought it up anyway.

My point was we have 2 channels continuously showing Ulster matches when other matches are on, it's a completely stupid policy.RTE should show Kilare v Laois and let the BBC show the Ulster match and people can at least have an option over what they watch."
Actually it had everything to do with it. Why would they show a game that didnt even have those with a vested interest in seeing? The neutral, the viewers would not want to watch it.

If you take a look at the games RTE have shown, with the exception of Fermanagh v Monaghan there has been very large crowds at them.

Also you have been told numerous times why ulster matches are shown on tv like that. BBC can only show games live that RTE are showing. RTE use the bbc feed to save them money.

gotmilk (Fermanagh) - Posts: 4971 - 01/06/2017 22:26:15    1993308

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Replying To gotmilk:  "Actually it had everything to do with it. Why would they show a game that didnt even have those with a vested interest in seeing? The neutral, the viewers would not want to watch it.

If you take a look at the games RTE have shown, with the exception of Fermanagh v Monaghan there has been very large crowds at them.

Also you have been told numerous times why ulster matches are shown on tv like that. BBC can only show games live that RTE are showing. RTE use the bbc feed to save them money."
The Offaly Westmeath hurling match has nothing to do with the point i was making.There will be a good crowd at the Laois Kildare match an yet it won't be televised when it should be if RTE put in any effort into the service they are providing.

uibhfhaili1986 (Offaly) - Posts: 1296 - 01/06/2017 23:00:33    1993324

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Sure tell you what, why don't you start your own broadcasting channel dedicated to showing the Live games. And with so many knowledgeable pundits and analysts on here you shouldn't be short on people in the studio/commentary. I am sure Hoganstand could provide the required funding and launch HoganstandTV by next years league campaign but you should also set up a PayPal subscription or at the very least a GoFundMe page. Coverage of one game on the main channel and every other Intercounty match on the red button. I've thought it through before posting and can see no pitfalls whatsoever, which leaves me confused as to why RTÉ can't do this themselves.

P.S. Let us know when its up and running so I can make sure it's on the Kodi. Wouldn't want to have to be paying to watch a bit of sport....

Offside_Rule (Antrim) - Posts: 4058 - 02/06/2017 08:26:26    1993364

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Replying To uibhfhaili1986:  "The Offaly Westmeath hurling match has nothing to do with the point i was making.There will be a good crowd at the Laois Kildare match an yet it won't be televised when it should be if RTE put in any effort into the service they are providing."
Meath v Louth will be a sell out too, cant understand why both weren't as a double header this Sunday, in say port Laois, great venue easy access and safe for everyone to attend. And two close matches with attacking football on display. It would be a great advertising for football, and even brolly and Spillane couldn't give out about it.

royaldunne (Meath) - Posts: 19449 - 02/06/2017 09:01:55    1993372

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Offaly and Westmeath have no real history of a rivalry in hurling for the past 40 years

Offaly supporters look down their noses at Westmeath, and Westmeath supporters generally don't support their hurlers as its the minority sport in the county with clubs based in the more rural north of the county

the game was very poorly promoted, and the Westmeath county board had football league games on that evening!
they also put underage games on Wednesday when the U21 hurling game was on

valley84 (Westmeath) - Posts: 1890 - 02/06/2017 09:34:25    1993383

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Replying To uibhfhaili1986:  "The Offaly Westmeath hurling match has nothing to do with the point i was making.There will be a good crowd at the Laois Kildare match an yet it won't be televised when it should be if RTE put in any effort into the service they are providing."
Down v Armagh should be a closer game than kildare v Laois and Meath v Louth. I'd expect Meath and Kildare to win handy enough. Maybe RTE want to show close games, oh and save money. You know the whole BBC thing that you keep ignoring.

gotmilk (Fermanagh) - Posts: 4971 - 02/06/2017 09:44:09    1993390

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Replying To gotmilk:  "Down v Armagh should be a closer game than kildare v Laois and Meath v Louth. I'd expect Meath and Kildare to win handy enough. Maybe RTE want to show close games, oh and save money. You know the whole BBC thing that you keep ignoring."
I think meath v louth will be a better game than Armagh v down tbh.

I find the Down team hard to watch in recent years, though I think Armagh will beat them

bumpernut (Antrim) - Posts: 1852 - 02/06/2017 10:29:10    1993417

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