RTÉ live output to drop 25 per cent

GAELIC GAMES:RTÉ have announced a 25 per cent reduction in live championship coverage compared to last year. This reflects the GAA's revised TV rights packages agreed last November, which reduced the number of live matches to be covered annually from 50 to 40 as a way of sustaining match attendances while also reducing impact on club activity.

Last year RTÉ covered 40 live scheduled matches, with the other 10 on TV3. This summer only 30 games will be broadcast live, while there will be full deferred coverage of the Ulster football clash between Armagh and Down on May 28th. The remaining nine games will be shown on TV3.

There are, however, several new additions to the RTÉ championship coverage this summer, including a new midweek programme, The Committee Room, as well as two new match analysts in Tipperary’s 2010 All-Ireland hurling winning manager Liam Sheedy, and former Dublin midfielder and All Star Ciarán Whelan.

But RTÉ’s overall traditional grip on live GAA championship broadcasts has been loosened, with TV3’s coverage now extending to the All-Ireland senior quarter-finals, and both minor All-Ireland finals, while Newstalk radio finally gets to break into live national GAA broadcasting with a choice of “second” championship matches – the latter marking an end to what had been RTÉ’s long-standing monopoly of radio championship broadcasts.

Although the number of senior championship matches tendered for television broadcast in 2011 was reduced from 50 to 40, this is not expected to impact heavily on the overall television audiences, as the fixtures dropped are primarily from the early part of the season.

GAA sources claim the decision to reduce the number of live broadcasts this summer was based mainly on there being too many matches on television in the first place. The previous TV rights agreement three years back increased the number of live games from 36 to 50, and this essentially resulted in excessive coverage, particularly of Saturday evening games, which was having a negative impact on club activity.

Such a reduction was in fact flagged last summer by the association’s director general, Páraic Duffy, and Dermot Power, the GAA’s commercial and marketing director, said that while “good matches on television can be a great promotional event for the games, bad matches on television are a turn-off”.

RTÉ’s 31 games this summer still includes most of the headline games in terms of the senior All-Ireland semi-finals and finals in both football and hurling, plus four of the quarter-finals between football and hurling, the Munster football and hurling finals, and the Leinster football final. All of RTÉ’s 31 live championship matches will also be streamed simultaneously live on rte.ie/gaa.

TV3 won what is known as “package two” – or the second best of five championship packages, and will be showing this summer’s Ulster and Connacht football finals as part of their package of nine games (two All-Ireland football quarter-finals, two qualifiers, three provincial finals, two other provincial fixtures – plus the two All-Ireland minor finals).

RTÉ's The Sunday Game, now in its 33rd year, returns this weekend too, with presenter Des Cahill again in the chair.

RTE’s championship coverage in 2010 produced some record audiences, including the highest ever viewership for an All-Ireland hurling final, peaking at 1.236 million viewers.

BBC Northern Ireland, who showed every Ulster senior football championship game live in 2010, will now only be allowed show five games; another three will be shown as deferred coverage.

(All games are football unless preceded by H:)

Live Games on RTE

May 15th –Donegal v Antrim, 3.30pm

May 22nd – Laois v Longford, 2pm

Kildare v Wicklow, 4pm

May 29th –H: Dublin v Offaly, 2pm

H: Tipperary v Cork, 4pm

June 4th –Limerick v Kerry/Tipp, 6.45pm

June 5th –Kild/Wick v Meath, 2pm

June 11th –H: Ant/Lao/Wex v Kilkenny, 7pm

June 12th – Sligo/Leit v Roscommon, 2pm

H: Limerick v Waterford, 4pm

June 18th –H: Car/West/Gal v Dub/Off, 7pm

June 19th – Der/Ferm v Arm/Down, 2pm

June 25th –Football Qualifier, 7pm

June 26th –London/Mayo v Galway, 2pm

Kild/Wic/Mea v Lao/Lon/Dub, 4pm

July 3rd –Munster Football Final, 2pm

July 10th –Leinster Football Final, 2pm

H: Munster Hurling Final, 4pm

July 16th –Football Qualifier, 7pm

July 23rd –Football Qualifier, 7pm

July 24th –H: SHC Quarter-finals

July 30/31 –SFC Quarter-finals

Aug 7th –H: Minor Senior Semi-final

Aug 14th –H: Minor Senior Semi-final

Aug 21st –Minor Senior Semi-final

Aug 28th –Minor Senior Semi-final

Sept 5th – H: All-Ireland Final

Sept 18th –All Ireland Final