RTE‘s decision to choose Dublin v Laois over Donegal v Kerry this weekend made the mind boggle, but perhaps it’s not as surprising as it looked on the face of things.
Ulster champions Donegal will feature on TV3 today, something which surprised many within the GAA.
The ‘national’ broadcaster has a notorious history of operating within the pale and the decision this week to choose the Dublin game highlighted that feeling again.
As they have the first choice of television rights RTE chose the Dublin Laois game on Saturday evening, considering it to be the biggest game of the weekend.
Dublin are All Ireland champions and deserve exposure, but the Kerry and Donegal game was the one most would have considered the plum tie of the round; a game involving last year’s semi-finalist and runner up.
Dublin overcame a tenacious challenge from Laois last night, winning in Croke Park on a scoreline of 1-12 to 0-12 but many followers in the country believe the big game is today at 4pm and TV3 will be delighted to have secured it.
Despite last night’s game being tight, if you had viewed it on paper when the games were chosen it was a no-brainer which was the tie of the round.
Bosses within TV3 and Croke Park were said to be astonished at RTE’s decision to shun the game involving two of the best four teams in the country last season.
However, RTE have become increasingly ‘Dublinized’ in recent years and if there was less coverage outside the capital before there is even less now.
It is no surprise that the county of Donegal are on the receiving end of discrimination; this is blatantly what it is. Donegal is known as the forgotten county for good reason.
Lain adrift of the Republic, far north, Donegal has had to contend with the recession by itself, with those inside the capital seeing it as a lost land, beyond hope, whilst Northern Ireland are reluctant to offer people from ‘another country’ too much financial help.
RTE’s decision not to screen the clash reeks of Dublin politics and it is clear to see that if travelling too far north is on the agenda to cover a sports event it is out of the question, just ask Derry City.
This year RTE announced they would be showing more Airtricity League fixtures than ever before, but something which soured even the most passive followers of the league was the fact that from the first four games the capital was supremely represented.
Dublin club Shamrock Rovers featured in four of the first five games, something which bordered on RTE becoming that club’s official channel almost; from the other games Bohemians featured twice as did St.Patrick’s Athletic – both capital clubs.
The self proclaimed patron saint of Irish football broadcasting had a chance to display the league from top to bottom, for better for worse. But it didn’t happen.
RTE had the chance to show ten of the twelve clubs involved in the national soccer league, yet what we did get was five games involving five teams, Dublin clubs featured eight times out of the ten possible clubs who could have featured in live games.
It was a sad indictment for the league of Ireland, even more so when you consider last season’s second and third placed teams didn’t feature in those fixtures at all. Any coincidence that Sligo Rovers and Derry City might be a bit too far north for Radio Telefis Dublin?
The national broadcaster has an unhealthy affiliation with the capital when it comes to sport and perhaps choosing Dublin’s game over Kerry and Donegal’s is yet another indicator that it is a capital broadcaster, not a national one.
RTE’s obsession with the capital is becoming detrimental to their status as national broadcaster.
But, for RTE’s apparent bad decision-making there are winners to come out of this. For the first time in a long time it seems as if TV3 have the biggest matches in the GAA year so far, and both on the same day.
TV3 will be hoping RTE’s short-sighted approach will gain them good viewing figures this afternoon with the currently ongoing Cork and Kildare game to be followed by the attractive north v south clash between the Kingdom and the Tir Conaill men.
RTE’s obsession with all things Dublin could come back to haunt them in the future, but for now the Irish broadcasting giant seems content to get away with some ludicrous decisions involving sporting teams outside the capital.
On the other side of the coin TV3 will bask in the glory of having what most people consider the two better quarter finals today. They will be hoping to use today as a springboard to show the GAA they are capable of producing consistent and quality coverage on the big days.
TV3 could pose RTE a huge threat to the monopoly they hold on GAA in the current climate; successful figures and a cleanly presented broadcast could offer TV3 huge clout in the future for choosing games. Today is their chance and the eyes of a nation will be on them.
The Irish Eye 