THERE MAY HAVE been some skepticism about the idea of an Irish language channel amid its launch on Halloween night 20 years ago, but since then,\u00a0TG4 has garnered plenty of acclaim for its innovative programming and efforts to keep the Irish language relevant.<\/p>\n
One of the channel\u2019s biggest successes over the past two decades has been its sports coverage, with a diverse range of programming, from the short-lived but fondly remembered Spanish football show \u2018Ol\u00e9 Ol\u00e9\u2019 (which has been written about comprehensively\u00a0here) to its extensive coverage of county GAA clashes and Pro12 rugby over the years.<\/p>\n
R\u00f3n\u00e1n \u00d3 Coisdealbha has been there since the early days to experience all the highs and lows, first with the aforementioned\u00a0\u2019Ol\u00e9 Ol\u00e9\u2019 and subsequently as Head of Sport since the summer of 1999.<\/p>\n
But with the arrival of TV3 and eir Sport (formerly Setanta Sports) not long after TG4 started up, the channel has had to compete in an increasingly competitive market with a considerably smaller budget than its main rivals.<\/p>\n
\n GAA Beo Presenter M\u00edche\u00e1l \u00d3 Domhnaill and Mickey Harte.\n<\/p>\n
Consequently, TG4\u2032s aim has always been to look for sports and competitions that weren\u2019t being shown elsewhere but which still had the potential to attract viewers.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Allianz Leagues and the national football and hurling leagues were never covered live except the finals by RT\u00c9, so we saw a gap in the market,\u201d \u00d3 Coisdealbha tells The42<\/em>.\u00a0\u201dIt was the same with county GAA hurling and football finals, and AIB club and all that.<\/p>\n \u201cStuff like schools rugby wasn\u2019t being shown, the inter-provincial rugby championship wasn\u2019t shown. So just to pick up on rights that nobody else was showing was the challenge.\u201d<\/p>\n \n M\u00edche\u00e1l \u00d3 Domhnaill , Gr\u00e1inne McElwain and Brian Tyers.<\/p>\n Source: Cody Glenn\/SPORTSFILE<\/p>\n And while the channel suffered a loss of\u00a0\u20ac44,000 according to its annual report last year, \u00d3 Coisdealbha\u00a0says its sports coverage has seen a \u201csteady growth\u201d in ratings in recent times, with combination of live sport and innovative programming helping to attract viewers.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you wanted to see old GAA footage in any county in Ireland, it wasn\u2019t there. It was hidden away in the RT\u00c9 archives. We showed all the old hurling and football finals back to the 1960s, and that was really good for us.\u201d<\/p>\n \n TG4 broadcast both legs of Celtic’s win over Barcelona in a famous 2004 Uefa Cup clash.<\/p>\n Source: PA Archive\/PA Images<\/p>\n Other big ratings winners from down through the years include the 2004 Uefa Cup clash over two legs between Celtic and Barcelona, when the Martin O\u2019Neill-managed team stunned the Catalan giants, whose star-studded side featured Ronaldinho and Xavi among others.<\/p>\n TG4 also showed the Irish Women\u2019s Rugby team\u2019s historic victory over New Zealand at the 2014 World Cup \u2014 a competition that no other Irish station expressed an interest in showing, according to\u00a0\u00d3 Coisdealbha.<\/p>\n \n TG4 broadcast Ireland’s historic victory over New Zealand at the 2014 Rugby World Cup.<\/p>\n Source: Dan Sheridan\/INPHO<\/p>\n Women\u2019s sport, in general, is something that the channel say they are keen to promote and cover more comprehensively than their rivals.<\/p>\n \u201cIn 2001, we had a meeting with the Ladies Gaelic Football Association (LGFA) in Croke Park. They didn\u2019t have a sponsor at the time and only their senior final was being covered by RT\u00c9.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a great success story, ladies football on TG4, because it\u2019s worked really well for us. And it\u2019s also helped the LGFA get other sponsors such as Lidl on board.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd I\u2019m not just saying this to pay lip service, it is a policy of ours to show as much female sports as possible. It doesn\u2019t get enough recognition and it doesn\u2019t get enough TV coverage from other stations.<\/p>\n \u00d3 Coisdealbha also expresses disappointment that next year\u2019s Women\u2019s Rugby World Cup, which will be hosted by Ireland, won\u2019t be shown on free-to-air television, with eir Sport having acquired the rights, meaning the majority of households will be unable to watch games.<\/p>\n Failing to secure high-profile events is a frustrating but ultimately inevitable aspect of the business, while another potential problem is the rise of the internet and its increasing grip on the public\u2019s attention spans at the expense of TV.<\/p>\n \n TG4 Peil na mBan.<\/p>\n Source: Brendan Moran\/SPORTSFILE<\/p>\n It was recently revealed that viewership figures for both the Premier League and the NFL have decreased markedly of late. TG4 may have the advantage of being free-to-air but when it sees a channel with the endless resources of Sky Sports finding it difficult to persuade viewers to tune in, there must be some concern.<\/p>\n \u201cEven with my own kids, everything now is iPads, YouTube, Netflix,\u201d \u00d3 Coisdealbha says.\u00a0\u201dThey\u2019re not watching linear television, they\u2019re not going to sit down at six or seven o\u2019clock. It\u2019s more on-demand now.<\/p>\n \u201cSky Sports are in a different boat to us because we\u2019re a free-to-air terrestrial broadcaster. We have a 100% reach in households in Ireland and a huge advantage over the likes of EirSport, who\u2019ve fallen off Virgin Media now.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen Sky say that their Premier League ratings are down, I don\u2019t know is it because people are watching Match of the Day more or a lot of people will see goals on Twitter, or they\u2019re available online and maybe (with) illegal streams of games, so things are changing.\u201d<\/p>\n \n GAA Beo.<\/p>\n Source: Piaras \u00d3 M\u00eddheach\/SPORTSFILE<\/p>\n But while technology and unique initiatives may be altering people\u2019s viewing habits to an extent and prompting a degree of uncertainty about the future of TV in the process,\u00a0\u00d3 Coisdealbha\u00a0remains confident TG4 can continue to engage sports fans for another 20 years and beyond.<\/p>\n \u201cBut also, the other sports \u2014 we do live basketball, we were doing the national finals in January, we work very closely with the IABA in boxing, the Tour de France we have the rights of until the end of 2019.<\/p>\n The42 is on Snapchat! 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