TG4 Spring Sports coverage 2006 ends on the up

League and Under 21 Matches show major audience increase Spring
certainly brought growth for the TG4 sports audience, as the Irish
language channel reports at the end of its acclaimed GAA coverage
of the AIB Club Championships, the Allianz National League hurling
and football campaigns, the Cadbury’s Under 21 Football Championship
and the Suzuki Ladies Gaelic Football League. The channel’s
live and deferred coverage of these competitions February-May 2006
was on a bigger scale than ever.

GAA Beo featured full match coverage of 40 matches. Audience data
provided by AGB Nielsen, the official measure for television viewing
in Ireland, shows that GAA coverage on TG4 in Spring 2006 was viewed
by over 2 million people in total. The data also reveals that 875,000
people viewed a full Gaelic match on TG4 at some stage in the Spring
2006 season. The average audience per match on TG4 February – May
2006 reported a 15% increase on the same period last season and
live coverage of the Allianz Division One Hurling Final (Kilkenny
v Limerick on 30 April) gave the channel its highest ever audience
figure for a Gaelic games match with 223,000 viewing the entire
match. Ceannasaí TG4, Pól Ó Gallchóir,
says that the channel’s increased audience for Gaelic games
in Spring 2006 is very gratifying and comes as no great surprise.

“As we approach our 10th on-air birthday next Halloween, it
is clear to us that the our public service is appreciated throughout
the island of Ireland. TG4’s prime-time free to air coverage
of major Gaelic games competitions is a central part of our success
and of the special place we have achieved in the hearts of Irish
sports fans.”

Mr Ó Gallchóir also pointed out that TG4’s Monday
night GAA highlights programme GAA 2006 will continue throughout
the Summer and that the channel will once again provide live coverage
of the finals at the annual Comórtas Peile na Gaeltachta
being held this year in An Spidéal in the Galway Gaeltacht
over the June Bank Holiday.