When people say that a managers sole responsibility is to ensure success for his team then these figures should be brought out. I believe everyones first responsibility in the GAA is to ensure the growth and development of our games, to ensure a unique part of our culture and heritage is maintained. Personal glory should come second to this. Unfortunately we are now in an era in our games where everything is sacrificed in the pursuit of glory, including entertainment, and the public are clearly becoming turned off by it. People expected a negative, dull All-Ireland football final and that is what was delivered, it is hard to blame the public for not watching. Having said that, I wonder how much of the drop in viewership is due to Sky also broadcasting the games? There doesn't seem to be any real reason why this years hurling final would attract 100k less viewers than last years, maybe this is the Sky share?

Soma (UK) - Posts: 2630 - 11/12/2014 13:19:43    1678033

Soma, this is from the Irish Independent: More than 1.5m people across Ireland and the UK tuned into Sunday's epic All-Ireland final, with some 427,000 viewers in Britain enjoying the action on Sky Sports for the first time.

lilywhite1 (Kildare) - Posts: 3051 - 11/12/2014 15:37:14    1678066

Soma less people tuned in to the replay between Kerry and Mayo than tuned in to the Kerry Donegal game. Less people tuned in to both Tipp Kilkenny finals despite those teams having a recent history of serving up classic matches than tuned in to Kerry and Donegal. What you have to say does not stand up to scrutiny.

Greengrass (Louth) - Posts: 6193 - 11/12/2014 16:28:01    1678078

I don't understand fully what you are saying Greengrass. Yes less people tuned into the Saturday afternoon semi-final replay game than the final, but the final is the showpiece and is usually the most watched sports game of the year on RTE - this year it has slipped to 3rd. Less people watched every single GAA game this year than the football final, but that doesn't mean what I am saying is incorrect. 960,500 was the average audience in 2012 between Donegal and Mayo, 2 years later and that has dropped to 826,000. I am sure some of this can be explained by Sky also broadcasting the game, but I expect the poor quality of the game and negative tactics of both teams also had an impact. It would be interesting to see the total viewing figures rather than the average, to see if more people turned off as the game progressed - I couldn't blame them if they did considering the approach of both sides.

Soma (UK) - Posts: 2630 - 11/12/2014 16:53:17    1678083

Your hypothesis is based on what you believe people expected of the game . I for one wasn't sure what to expect . I did expect a humdinger of a game between Mayo and Kerry. So did most others. It didn't make the top ten . The hurling final was a nailed on humdinger . It came in tenth . The replay is not in the top ten . Sky showed the football . That made a difference . Sky also showed the last days play of The Ryder Cup when Europe just happened to be captained by an Irishman . That was going on at the same time as the football . It might just have made a wee difference too .

Greengrass (Louth) - Posts: 6193 - 11/12/2014 19:04:59    1678104

i only brought it up as an interesting topic
the fact of the matter is ratings are very unsure and inaccurate
take myself for example i watched the hurling final,but in a hospital ward so therefore im not counted
along with thousands of others who watched in a pub or club for example.
also the average i take it means people who watched it in its entirety
but if like most people you turn off at half time to another channell you are not counted in the average ratings.
so its kind of like the scenario in town the other day where they marched for the water tax
you had gardai saying 30 thousand turned up and organisers saying 100 thousand
how can anybody be accurate with that ? its impossible to count them in a city centre haha.
there was one clearly astonishing fact in rtes top 10 list
love hate which has only 6 shows clocked 5 of the top 8 on the list
with 4 of them in the top 5
yet amazingly rte will not be screening love hate next year
people like ormand say rte give the viewers what they want and no more than people like us when it comes to programming
well clearly they are not that clued in its now been proved.

hill16no1man (Dublin) - Posts: 12665 - 11/12/2014 21:51:02    1678149

Greengrass the Ryder Cup was the week after the football final, you will remember both Murphy and McGuinness pictured at it, so that is not a reason for the reduced viewership. I think you are being disingenuous on this by saying that because the game had more viewers than a semi final the style of football was not a contributing factor. You, I and most on here will watch most games, but there is a large group who will only watch occasionally, but will always watch the final. It appears many of these didn't this year, and I don't think it's a coincidence that there was such a drop off in the year that saw one of the most negative finals in living memory.

Soma (UK) - Posts: 2630 - 12/12/2014 10:15:56    1678170

Fair point on The Ryder Cup Soma and I stand corrected. On the issue of the All-Ireland Final I disagree with your hypothesis. Both finalists had participated in outstanding semi finals. Donegal had played tremendous defensive football allied to devastating counter attacking football to beat Dublin. Kerry had played three matches prior to the final in all of which they played all out attacking football. We all knew what Donegal would do in the final. Nobody could say for certain what Kerry would do. On that basis your hypothesis falls.

Greengrass (Louth) - Posts: 6193 - 12/12/2014 11:29:56    1678198

It's hard to make any firm conclusions without first knowing what the total viewership figures were, are they available anywhere? Did the same number of people tune in but the average figures drop due to the negative football on display I wonder? In any case I think it's too much of a coincidence that the viewing figures would drop quite dramatically the same year as we had one of the most dour finals, and it not be partly due to the negative tactics of both sides. I accept that I can't give you the proof you require, but I'd suggest the head in the sand approach taken by defenders of negative managers is bad for the future of our games and culture.

Soma (UK) - Posts: 2630 - 12/12/2014 11:55:36    1678208

11/12/2014 21:51:02 hill16no1man
i only brought it up as an interesting topic the fact of the matter is ratings are very unsure and inaccurate take myself for example i watched the hurling final,but in a hospital ward so therefore im not counted along with thousands of others who watched in a pub or club for example. also the average i take it means people who watched it in its entirety but if like most people you turn off at half time to another channell you are not counted in the average ratings.
so its kind of like the scenario in town the other day where they marched for the water tax you had gardai saying 30 thousand turned up and organisers saying 100 thousand how can anybody be accurate with that ? its impossible to count them in a city centre haha.
there was one clearly astonishing fact in rtes top 10 list love hate which has only 6 shows clocked 5 of the top 8 on the list
with 4 of them in the top 5 yet amazingly rte will not be screening love hate next year
people like ormand say rte give the viewers what they want and no more than people like us when it comes to programming well clearly they are not that clued in its now been proved.Holl, The ratings are not that inaccurate and I will take the thoughts of those who work in the industry who agree with them over you...
It actually isn't that difficult at all to be accurate enough with counting numbers at a protest/march etc due to space limitations/amount of people can be counted,,,
RTE aren't showing Love Hate next year as the directors/producers/stars say they wanted to take a year off and do other things and will go back to it in the future. RTE knew that and know if they give it a break they will still get the viewers when they bring the show back

ormondbannerman (Clare) - Posts: 13473 - 12/12/2014 12:22:20    1678219

Nothing to do with head in the sand defending negative managers Soma. Nobody knew prior to the game what tactics Kerry would employ. Your point about the number of people tuning out during the game is valid . I would like to see the numbers in relation to it.

Greengrass (Louth) - Posts: 6193 - 12/12/2014 12:24:53    1678220

well last years all ireland footbal final had 74% of the market share
which means 74% of all tv's turned on during that time where watching the football final in its entirety.
over 1.54 million tuned in at its peak stage and 1.06 million watched it from start to finish.
in 2011 when dublin beat kerry 1.08 million watched it from start to finish.
in 2010 when cork beat down 1.06 million tuned in at its peak stage and 900 thousand watched it from start to finish.
last years all ireland football final would have come in at second place on the overall top 10 list this year
only being topped by the toy show
where as this years all ireland football final comes in at number nine on the list
yet on last years list it would have ironically come in at number seven.
last year the toy show pulled in 1.54 million viewers and this year dropped to 1.35 million
last year love hate season finale pulled in 1.11 million viewers and this year dropped to 1.00 million

hill16no1man (Dublin) - Posts: 12665 - 12/12/2014 12:58:21    1678229

ormond
.Holl, The ratings are not that inaccurate and I will take the thoughts of those who work in the industry who agree with them over you...
It actually isn't that difficult at all to be accurate enough with counting numbers at a protest/march etc due to space limitations/amount of people can be counted,,,
RTE aren't showing Love Hate next year as the directors/producers/stars say they wanted to take a year off and do other things and will go back to it in the future. RTE knew that and know if they give it a break they will still get the viewers when they bring the show back

so not counting people who watch an event in a hospital,pub,club or anywhere other than a tv in a house is accurate to you????
also how on earth can they tell how many people are watching the tv thats turned on in somebodys house?
take the eurovision for example a lot of people have a party watching it, so there could be 10 people watching that one telly
where as only two people may actually live in the house and only get counted.
well it obviously is massively difficult to count numbers at a protest
when one area says 30 thousand and the other area says 100 thousand
70 thousand is a biggap in an estimation would you not agree?
that aint true about love hate, as the day after the finale was screened the writer was quoted as saying
he is already half way through writing the next series and as long as rte are happy to go ahead with screening it
they will defo be on board, it was in most newspapers as a quote.
anyway seen as it pulled in only one episode in the top 10 last year
and this year went up to 5 of its 6 epsidoes featuring in the top 8
surely if rte took any notice of what people want they would be going all out to get back for next year
as this year proved how much of a success the programme is across the nation.

hill16no1man (Dublin) - Posts: 12665 - 12/12/2014 13:07:41    1678232

1pm. Friday. With only 1 football/hurling story in the RTE Sport Top 50 stories still no mention of the Sunday's Leinster Club SFC Final. The game was given excellent coverage on this morning's Radio 1 Sports news so why is it being ignored by those in RTE responsible for the website.

mediaman (Antrim) - Posts: 355 - 12/12/2014 13:34:04    1678243

That is true about nobody being certain beforehand of Kerrys tactics Gg, but there is a perception among the public that Donegal play negative, dour football (regardless of the semi) and some people no longer bother watching for this reason. There are numerous interviews with ex-footballers confirming this, but supporters of this brand of football continue to ignore the warnings.

Soma (UK) - Posts: 2630 - 12/12/2014 13:43:02    1678247

12/12/2014 13:34:04
mediaman
1pm. Friday. With only 1 football/hurling story in the RTE Sport Top 50 stories still no mention of the Sunday's Leinster Club SFC Final. The game was given excellent coverage on this morning's Radio 1 Sports news so why is it being ignored by those in RTE responsible for the website.Contact them and find out as you have 92 posts here nearly all complaining about RTE but what are you doing about it?
Create a blog highlighting your grievances with RTE, email them, write to them, start protesting outside RTE HQ in Donnybrook...

ormondbannerman (Clare) - Posts: 13473 - 12/12/2014 13:46:45    1678249

I Have been involved with teams who played against Donegal Soma . They are an outstanding group and are very difficult to beat. The word you use is perception and whilst the perception of Donegal is unfair to them "perception is reality ."

Greengrass (Louth) - Posts: 6193 - 12/12/2014 16:43:05    1678293

i presume lot of people turned off due to the poor game that it was plus sky were also showing the game...pretty sure there was also a big soccer match on sky at the same time so that would take away a lot of casuals....semi finals were hugely impressive games so i dont buy into the game having any less of a buzz or people thinking it was going to be poor..would like to see better sources than the independent...obviously the rugby viewership was heavily effected by the game going to the wire plus the fact that we were expected to win something which we did which greatly brings in the casual observers

fabio8 (USA) - Posts: 2182 - 12/12/2014 17:10:09    1678303

The All ireland football was still the 3 most watched sporting event. 5 (4 of them football) out of the 10 most watched shows on Rte 2 were gaa matches and a gaa game is the only sporting show in the top 10 programmes on Rte 1. 82,000 more people watched the Kerry Mayo replay then the first day.

ros1 (Roscommon) - Posts: 1211 - 12/12/2014 20:22:21    1678332

The France/Ireland rugby game in Paris and the world cup soccer final were the 2 most watched events but if you consider the amount of Irish people who were at all 3 events the All Ireland final was probably watched by most people.

ros1 (Roscommon) - Posts: 1211 - 12/12/2014 20:26:31    1678334