Prompted by the recent successes of Munster and Leinster on the European stage, Eamon Ryan (Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources) is planning to add the Heineken Cup final to to a list of sporting events that must be shown live on free-to-air television in Ireland.
The addition of the Heineken Cup final to the list of “events of major importance to society” is likely to be opposed by the IRFU, BSkyB (Sky Sports) and ERC. Live coverage of the Irish team’s games in the Rugby World Cup tournament is also included on the free live coverage register, which is found in the Broadcasting (Major Events Television Coverage) Act 2003.
This is an encouraging move, and one which hopefully will wrestle Sky Sport’s stranglehold off live rugby games. Incidentally, apparently only delayed coverage of Ireland’s Six Nations matches is on the free live coverage register, meaning the IRFU can charge RTÉ more to broadcast the games live. This in a year when the IRFU made at least €3 million in profit solely due to the extra coffers provided by Croke Park’s capacity – it appears the IRFU are more than willing to use the Government-funded stadium, but not to return the favour when it comes to utilising this “free-to-air” directive…
An interesting observation der tierarzt and one which I will follow with interest. In this day and age a bit of I'll scratch your back if you scratch mine could be the solution to all our problems, quite literally.
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