Campagin to e mail rte/tv3/tg4

[max power]

i have just sent an email to each of these stations asking if they intend to show any live games this season,

i e mail means nothing really...so should we get word an email together and send it in bulk to all of these organisations........

moaning is one thing, taking action is another.....

[dancinpants]

Not that it would benefit me,but I'd go along with that. Probably achieve f**k all but worth a try.

[Roo69]

Not that it would benefit me,but I'd go along with that. Probably achieve f**k all but worth a try.

True, unless they get tens of thousands of e-mails i dont think they'll take notice. Can the e-mail be posted on here so we can all have a butchers

[pete]

Anyone got the mail addys?

[John83]

Don't forget to thank them for the improvement to the AERTEL service. That eL focus on 234 is a step in the right direction, even if they still think Cobhin City play in the First Division.

[max power]

press@rte.ie

sport@tv3.ie

and www.tg4.ie ( their site is all over the place at the mo )

[John83]

To email TG4, try this link:
http://www.tg4.ie/bearla/feed.htm

My letters so far:


Dear Sir/Madam,

I'm writing to you about your coverage of the Eircom League. I watch Eircom League Weekly regularly, and I know that it's followed faithfully by a lot of fans. I'd just like to thank TV3 for your coverage of the Eircom League. It's a real joy to be able to catch all of the highlights. The viewing figures of the show are reportedly quite impressive, so I feel justified in asking for an increase in the level of professionalism of the coverage shown.

Firstly, there is the issue of the cameras at the games. There seems to be typically only one camera, which looks very poor. The coverage is unreliable, with one goal in the first show this year being missed altogether because a fan's head got in the way. Is it too much to ask to brink two cameras to two or three games a week? I'm told that a lot of clubs as it stands are forced to hire someone to tape the match for them, and send in their own footage. This is a digraceful situation, and shouldn't continue.

Secondly, there is the time slot. The show is on very late, and surely could benefit from being moved to a more sociable hour. The league depens heavily on the show for publicity, and a prime time slot would be of enourmous help. Providing, that is, that the camera-work doesn't look amateurish.

Finally could a few more live matches be shown. Even if it meant moving a game to a Sunday afternoon, it would be worth it. A lot of the better games, like Bohemians versus Cork or Shelbourne would attract a decent audience. Surely it's at least worth a try.

Yours faithfully,
John ******
UCD fan.

And to RTE

Dear Sir/Madam,

I'm writing to complain about the skewed coverage accorded to association football in this country. Every week, I can watch the Champions League, a commendable thing to cover, and quite regularly I can watch Celtic play live, which is not to my taste, but worthy of coverage nonetheless. I can also watch the Premiership on Saturday evenings, which is a brilliantly presented package.

However, I can't watch League of Ireland football at all. Why, given that viewing figures for your fantastic Eircom League highlights show matched those of the Premiership, despite it being on at an unnaturally late hour, was it cancelled? Why are so few live Eircom league matches.

RTE is supposedly a public service broadcaster, and yet it's willing to spend money on nothing but imported shows and foreign football. Please redress the balance.

Yours faithfully,
John ******
UCD fanWhich got a response, but I apparently can't reveal it!!

************************************************** ****************************
The information in this e-mail is confidential and may be legally privileged.
It is intended solely for the addressee. Access to this e-mail by anyone else
is unauthorised. If you are not the intended recipient, any disclosure,
copying, distribution, or any action taken or omitted to be taken in reliance
on it, is prohibited and may be unlawful.
Please note that emails to, from and within RTÉ may be subject to the Freedom
of Information Act 1997 and may be liable to disclosure.
************************************************** ****************************

Essentially it said that comments about their programmes are recorded in a weekly Audience Reaction Log, which is discussed at the weekly editorial meetings.

[John83]

Finally, my letter to TG4:


A chairde,
I wish my Gaeilge was good enough to write this letter in that language, but it's not, so please bear with me.
I've enjoyed the varied and in general excellent sports coverage on TG4, and I'd very much like to see you take up a gap in the market - Eircom League football.
At present, the only coverage on television is the apaulingly amateurish "Eircom League Weekly" on TV3, which they put on at an ungodly hour, and the occasional live European match or FAI Cup (semi-)final.
The audience is there - RTE's eircom league highlights package of a couple of years ago matched "The Premiership" in audience figures, and Eircom League fans are very unhappy with the situation as it stands.
Is mise le meas,
Seán *******
Baile Átha Cliath

[Aberdonian Stu]

Do mba rud é go chuir tú ceist orm faoi scríobhfainn é as gaeilge agus gheobhadh me cabhair ón roinn gaeilge chun an gramadach a cheartú.

[max power]

yeah whatever....

[John83]

Do mba rud é go chuir tú ceist orm faoi scríobhfainn é as gaeilge agus gheobhadh me cabhair ón roinn gaeilge chun an gramadach a cheartú.:D I would have caused the premature death of said grammer department by collective massive heart attack when they saw just how one can mangle the language. Besides, I didn't have the time.

[paudie]

I think the league should target TG4 as a possible source of improved coverage.

They set a very high standard with their coverage of National league(GAA) and celtic league (rugby).

During the summer they have no live sport and I'd say they might show 8-10 live league games and a live game from each round of the cup.

TV3 only produce the weekly show because they have to as part of the deal with the FAI that allows them delayed coverage of Ireland friendlies.

TG4 might put more effort into their coverage.

[Robinski]

I think the league should target TG4 as a possible source of improved coverage.

TG4 might put more effort into their coverage.

Agree totally - TG4 would be our best bet. At the moment they have some sort of deal with Celtic for their European matches but I'm sure they'd love more viewers on Monday and Friday evenings and we'd be offering ourselves on a plate to them.

[addnsouth]

Hi John83

You wrote a letter to TV3 and as a fan of Eircom League you must be gratefull that there is any football on at all. RTE only show goals on their News of the Glamor games, they jump on the bandwagon and show the FAI Cup semis. However TV3, althought it may not be the best show EL every week.

With Regards to the camera situation, It costs alot of money to get a camera man to a game, let alone 2 cameras or even 3. EL is a low budget show hense just the one camera, TV3 do rely on Clubs providing footage. Clubs would not have a professional cameraman or equipment so thats why some of the quality and shooting is not the best.

With regards to the time slot its all down to advertising and viewership. If EL was pulling in massive figures week in week out it would be put at a more social time slot. I know its a pain but ITV show Premiership on a Monday night at 11.30pm while last week BBC show highlights of England Swedan with the programme starting at 11.50pm, did you email them complaining.

The last thing I will say is.......how much do you pay to watch TV3.......thats right, nothing and you are getting a weekly football show.

Now how much do you pay to watch RTE.....thats right 140 Euro licence fee a year or something like that and you get no EL show.

TV3 is only on air 5 1/2 years so is still trying to find its feet, while RTE have been going for over 40 years and its finances are up its arse. It tool CH 4 10 years to brake even.

Be Patient.

[max power]

here is a reply i recieved from rte re showing live games this season :


Mark,
I am in receipt of your email re Eircom League matches.
I have checked with our Sports Department and have been informed that RTE plans
to cover four or five matches in the forthcoming Eircom League season - three
of these matches will include two SEMI-Finals and the Final and one or two
other matches. Dates have yet to be decided.
I trust this information is of interest to you.
Regards.

RTE Information Office

[Robinski]

Be Patient.

You have go to be joking.

If you look at the letter it started off thanking TV3 for the coverage they do show, all John83 asked of TV3 was for a little more coverage and perhaps a more reasonable timeslot.

No harm in asking.

[pineapple stu]

Be Patient.

Do you work for TV3 or something addnsouth??

Obviously it's great that the coverage is there as opposed to RTÉ's efforts of old, but the fact remains that the programme is poorly presented and has been getting worse. That's what most of the complaints are about. There's no point putting on a poor show just to shut up the whingey eL fans - there should be some semblance of improvement too.

[John83]

here is a reply i recieved from rte re showing live games this season :

Mark,
I am in receipt of your email re Eircom League matches.
I have checked with our Sports Department and have been informed that RTE plans
to cover four or five matches in the forthcoming Eircom League season - three
of these matches will include two SEMI-Finals and the Final and one or two
other matches.I got a similar one. Hopefully they'll have enough emails that they'll actually discuss it at that that weekly meeting - it mentioned something about them in the one I got, I think.

One or two other matches? Come on - that's pathetic over a whole season, exactly our problem.


Do you work for TV3 or something addnsouth??My thoughts exactly.

[max power]

i know a lot of staff in tv3 and they don't give a damn about el weekly, it just fills half on hour for them on a monday night....

tg4 is the future, thats if there is a future for irish soccer to be seen on irish tv ??

[Slash/ED]

Hi John83

You wrote a letter to TV3 and as a fan of Eircom League you must be gratefull that there is any football on at all. RTE only show goals on their News of the Glamor games, they jump on the bandwagon and show the FAI Cup semis. However TV3, althought it may not be the best show EL every week.

With Regards to the camera situation, It costs alot of money to get a camera man to a game, let alone 2 cameras or even 3. EL is a low budget show hense just the one camera, TV3 do rely on Clubs providing footage. Clubs would not have a professional cameraman or equipment so thats why some of the quality and shooting is not the best.

With regards to the time slot its all down to advertising and viewership. If EL was pulling in massive figures week in week out it would be put at a more social time slot. I know its a pain but ITV show Premiership on a Monday night at 11.30pm while last week BBC show highlights of England Swedan with the programme starting at 11.50pm, did you email them complaining.

The last thing I will say is.......how much do you pay to watch TV3.......thats right, nothing and you are getting a weekly football show.

Now how much do you pay to watch RTE.....thats right 140 Euro licence fee a year or something like that and you get no EL show.

TV3 is only on air 5 1/2 years so is still trying to find its feet, while RTE have been going for over 40 years and its finances are up its arse. It tool CH 4 10 years to brake even.

Be Patient.

coverage of Bohs v Pats last year on RTE, I believe, beat their coverage of the champions league and their premiership highlights in the ratings department, Bohs V Shels and the cup final also got very decent ratings as far as I know. That proves there's a market there for the Eircom League and if the highlights programme was shown at a decent hour it might start pulling in decent ratings itself. It also proves there's a market for live matches yet very little is shown.

I'm very grateful for TV3 and the coverage they do show, as you're very right in saying it's more then RTE show, but that doesn't alot more can't be done. Regular live matches would not only get decent ratings but also build a following of both the Eircom League and TV3 itself through fans of live football, which would in turn boost the highlights programmes ratings. TV3 could crate a niche for itself with the Eircom League and turn it into a success for the channel very easily with a bit more coverage, imo anyway.

[tiktok]

while i wish it was the answer i can't see TG4 turning their backs on the friday night rugby now that they've turned it into a winner for themselves.

as for addnsouth asking did we email ITV to complain about their monday night premiership show, the majority of people on here couldn't care less, but for the record get viewing figures for the EL show that was on at the same time, there's not a doubt in my mind that TV3 outdid ITV, so don't go telling me that the 11.30 start time is justified because of a lack of audience, it's hold it's own easily on a 10.30 timeslot before the nightly news.

[A face]

TV3 could crate a niche for itself with the Eircom League and turn it into a success for the channel very easily with a bit more coverage, imo anyway.


I would be thinking along the same lines, the figures seem to prove it (and thats with little or no effort to show the league in its best light) so it is not like it is a leap of faith or anything. All the signs seem to point in the right direction ..... it is just up to one of the channels to run with it. (RTÉ, TV3 or TnaG)

I know it is not a great comparison but sky sports made the english league and the english league made sky sports. They both have done very well out of it. The same thing could be done here, admittly on a smaller scale but the product that RTÉ are showing now wont get any better where as the eircom League can only get better.

I suppose none of the stations above are known for their innovation and ingenious thinking or leading the way in their market. There are no visionaries with revolutionary ground breaking ideas working within those companies so we cant really expect much more from them. They are stations who will always sit on the fence. They will always go for the safe bet and will always fear the unchartered territory. They will never question the existence of any woods, when there are just far too many trees for them to contend with.

[Macy]

IMO Friday wouldn't be the night for live games anyway - Monday night for the live games... However, we can rant about the TV stations all we like - if such a deal was on the table, it would be the clubs that scupper it.

[Slash/ED]

We don't need TG4 to cover games on fridays, we can simply move the televised games forward to another day like they do in England, this means every EL fan could watch the live games too.

[Schumi]

There's only 4 or 5 Celtic League rugby games left anyway so that shouldn't be a major obstacle. I agree that live games should be on a different day to the rest of the games but Mondays would be a bit awkward for travelling fans.

[max power]

monday is the only night really left apart from thursday ??

[A face]

I agree that live games should be on a different day to the rest of the games but Mondays would be a bit awkward for travelling fans.

I think Saturday wouldn't be too bad or even Sunday. It needs ot be a different day alright though.

[tiktok]

We don't need TG4 to cover games on fridays, we can simply move the televised games forward to another day like they do in England, this means every EL fan could watch the live games too.

Good point, it would boost audience figures too i guess seeing as the rest of us wouldn't be at games, not sure about monday nights though, as was mentioned, it'd be tough on away fans.

[max power]

in the summer there are always gaa games on on a sat and sunday, all day and all the pubs will show the gaa first.....we need people to know that x night is the night for live el soccer on tv, if that is a monday so be it,but the same night the whole time to build up an audience....

[A face]

if such a deal was on the table, it would be the clubs that scupper it.


How could we prevent that happening ??

[Macy]

How could we prevent that happening ??
shoot ollie?

[A face]

shoot ollie?

Now that sounds like a plan !! :D

[max power]

shoot ollie?


you said it, we all thought it........

[A face]

Wuold there be anyway of excluding him from the equation .... leave him to set up his own deal kinda thing, that way no one could disagree with him and everyone is happy ....... What do you reckon, could it work ?? ;)

[Macy]

in the summer there are always gaa games on on a sat and sunday, all day and all the pubs will show the gaa first.....we need people to know that x night is the night for live el soccer on tv, if that is a monday so be it,but the same night the whole time to build up an audience....
I agree :eek: That does bring it down to Network 2 and TG4 - TV3 ain't going to drop the soaps for it.

On the travelling thing, it would be a pain in the arse, but the league needs the exposure more than an extra 75 people through the gate. If clubs were garanteed TV coverage, the increased sponsorship should cover it over a season.

[pete]

TV3 are useless & have gone as far as they gonna go. the only way they'd show eL liove is if ITV covered it & they could buy from then.

I'd agree with Monday as live football night as is pointless showing live eL game while everyone at their own clubs game.

Do TG4 show much sport in the summer? I seem to remember a GAA championship highlights show on Mondays but don't think they actually show any live games?

[max power]

macy maybe we bumped heads yesterday and thats causing this strange agreeing between us............btw you started it ;)

[addnsouth]

while i wish it was the answer i can't see TG4 turning their backs on the friday night rugby now that they've turned it into a winner for themselves.

as for addnsouth asking did we email ITV to complain about their monday night premiership show, the majority of people on here couldn't care less, but for the record get viewing figures for the EL show that was on at the same time, there's not a doubt in my mind that TV3 outdid ITV, so don't go telling me that the 11.30 start time is justified because of a lack of audience, it's hold it's own easily on a 10.30 timeslot before the nightly news.

Do you honest think EL gets more viewers then the Premiership?

If EL could hold down a 10.30pm slot,it would be shown at 10.30pm. Do you think the schedulers of TV3 or putting EL on at 11.30 out of spite, if it made more money been on at 9pm or 10pm it would. If last nights show went out at 10.30 you would not of seen action from Dalymount, and if you did not see action from Dalymount I bet there would be another post on this website saying cant believe TV3 did not go to Dalymount. There has to be a balance.

[Macy]

Do you honest think EL gets more viewers then the Premiership?

If EL could hold down a 10.30pm slot,it would be shown at 10.30pm. Do you think the schedulers of TV3 or putting EL on at 11.30 out of spite, if it made more money been on at 9pm or 10pm it would. If last nights show went out at 10.30 you would not of seen action from Dalymount, and if you did not see action from Dalymount I bet there would be another post on this website saying cant believe TV3 did not go to Dalymount. There has to be a balance.
The viewing figures for the live games would suggest so - better than the champions league. A properly produced program (not the pathertic efforts that TV3 puts out), yes I think it would beat the premiership on RTE. Whether it would beat (net) the imported stuff TV3 gets for sod all from ITV on Monday 9pm slot is a different arguement. Network 2 had "against the head", extended highlights of last years stick fighting league final, and a repeat of friends on last night. Are you saying a live eL match wouldn't beat that? I think it would, particularly if it was everyweek.

On the Dalymount action, well other broadcasters don't need that long to produce highlights of games. That just highlights the (lack of) quality of the production team.

[max power]

St Noell was back on el weekly last night and the tie was up to standard and he was right when he said about not having games on a tuesday as you'll miss out on the floating fans because of the champions league...

the highlights from de town game were a disgrace, an embaressment reallly...

[tiktok]

Do you honest think EL gets more viewers then the Premiership?

I never mentioned Net2's show. I said EL weekly will get a better Irish audience share than ITV's Monday night show in the same timeslot. Without question.

You say EL weekly couldn't hold down a 10.30 slot, rubbish! Your viewing figures argument is daft, because there's no way that TV3's re-runs of 'Cracker' on mondays at 9.00pm would get a better audience than a well produced EL weekly show.

[pete]

Tv3 WEAKly was fairly poor once more.

They couldn't even get someone to proof read the league tables :rolleyes: Think i noticed Drogs had played 3 won 0 drawn 0 lost 1 0pts, also mistakes in the middle of the 1st division table.

Its like good quality community tv. :eek:

[Schumi]

They had the wrong crests on two or three of the 1st division teams in the table too.

[Slash/ED]

yeah it looked to me like Cobh had the Cork City crest

[max power]

lads the head of graphics was on the beer for the whole weekend so his head was in bits yesterday so thats the reason i'd say :D

[pete]

Is it true they use 4th year transition students to produce el WEAKly?

[max power]

no, no pete thats not true.......your reading the news of the world too much :rolleyes:

[adamcarr]

I got a reply from TG4 today after I asked were they planning on showing any league games this season. This is what it said:

Adam a chara,

Gurbh maith agat as ucht an ríomhphost.
Thank you very much for your e-mail.

TG4 won't be showing any live matches from this season's Eircom League.
The reason for this is that TV3 and RTE have the rights to this league and TG4
don't have any rights to show Eircom League.

regards

SPORT TG4
www.tg4.ie

[John83]

TV3 and RTE have the rights to this league and TG4
don't have any rights to show Eircom League.They do? I thought that they weren't exclusive rights. :(

[Macy]

They do? I thought that they weren't exclusive rights. :(
They're not exclusive rights, that's a cop out...