Contractually obliged means contractually obliged, it's not just a phrase thrown about. Similar for Premier Sports who will be contractually obliged to show Rovers games in EL/ECL League stage - in fact they will be host broadcasters.
I see the contractually obligated to show a playoff game bit a lot. Do they actually have to show one, or are they just saying they have to show one because they've paid for it?
Contractually obliged means contractually obliged, it's not just a phrase thrown about. Similar for Premier Sports who will be contractually obliged to show Rovers games in EL/ECL League stage - in fact they will be host broadcasters.
No One Likes Us, We Don't Care
If I was a in charge I'd sell LOI as a package with the National Team coverage (at least 1 game per week) And I'd put a high enough price on it so that the clubs get decent tv money in the income statement.
Take it or leave it. Leave it and we use LOI tv exclusively for league and National Team.
But this time they have the leverage of LOI tv in that they can show the games anyway. Wait until there is uproar from the public that a big Ireland game is not on tv because RTE won't pay for the package which is a fraction of champions league etc.
Irelands games in euros and World Cup qualifiers and finals are protected events that have to be shown on free to air TV. There is talk about nations league being added to that list
Everyone here is talking like the LOI is suddenly making game changing money via LOITV. Does anyone actually know the breakdown of subscribers and viewership figures? Yes the league is in a better place than when the rights were valued at 0 but it's still a niche market. In my group of friends there's a handful of us that are regular LOI goers and I'm the only one that has a season pass for LOITV. Ironically enough more people I know would watch a parochial football or hurling match on RTE or GAA Go than a league of Ireland game outside of maybe a Bohs v Rovers game. Even then it'd be the lads who wanted to put a few quid on the game.
Agreed, I love it but it's not a cash cow and kind of shows how niche the LOI actually is. Yes there's an argument to be made that by being on terrestrial TV there will be more of an audience but you'll have a hard time convincing RTE, Virgin media, sky sports or whoever that full control of rights to LOI games is worth anything based on the LOITV numbers.
LOITV revenue and numbers would be a hell of a lot higher if it weren't for IPTV. There's thousands of people watching games live on LOITV, but not through the LOITV website.
If LOITV were a bit more accessible, easily added to smart TV or android box, or phones and tablets through an app, I'd wager it would cut down at least a portion of the people using IPTV to watch the games.
https://kesslereffect.bandcamp.com/album/kepler - New music. It's not that bad.
I disagree. Netflix, Disney+, prime video etc lose plenty of subscribers to IPTV. They are some of the easiest services to use, come pre installed on many smart TV's are available in all app stores and work well across most devices. People who have IPTV aren't going to buy another subscription for LOI games regardless of how easy it is to use.
Both points are true
If every dodgybox were shut down tomorrow, I'd say a very small proportion would take up LOI TV subscriptions.
But there's no doubt that the current service is very user-unfriendly, and needs to be upgrated to a proper app / Smart TV service. Not being able to cast from an Apple device is woetious
I cast from an Apple phone to a Samsung tv
At the time I think it was a little of both. Wasn't this during the height of the recession and when Delaney was King or patron saint or whatever he labeled himself as of the FAI. So Delaney certainly didn't care for the league but there was also less money floating around to buy rights to a league with small viewership.
The best success LOI had in the media was getting things online.
Having the goals/incidents on Twitter quickly has done far more for the league than RTE has ever done.
LOI needs to use alternative means to promote itself, rather than the traditional methods. Having a free game every week on LOI TV or YouTube is something that can be easily done. Or be more experimental with its promotional material.
LOI, as a league entity, have done great work rebranding, and there is fantastic media out there regarding things like podcasts and vlogs.
The League has grown massively because of these things, and it is more important to keep fostering this, rather than just asking RTE to actually follow their remit.
As an institution, RTE sees itself above anything outside themselves, wholly arrogant, and has insulated themselves into their a world where they see themselves alone set the importance of things in Ireland.
Asking them to change, no matter how justified, is a losing battle.
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