RTÉ has confirmed it will end its coverage of English Premier League football amid cost-cutting measures at the Irish public-service broadcaster.
The broadcaster will not engage in negotiations over a new three-year contract for the exclusive rights in Ireland to show highlights of the Premier League. As a result, the 2012-13 season marked the end of RTÉ’s Premier Soccer Saturday and Sunday programmes, which have been broadcast since 1998.
RTÉ Sport said: “In a period of significant financial pressure RTÉ Sport, along with all other areas of the organisation, has been required to deliver significant production and personnel efficiencies. As part of an organisation-wide cost cutting initiative RTÉ’s director general has publicly stated that the cost of sports rights must be reduced by 25 per cent from 2011 levels by 2015. Many efficiencies have already been delivered while continuing to deliver quality programming with significantly less resources. However, it has not been possible to manage the financial deficit without an impact on output.”
The Irish Independent newspaper said that the decision would save RTÉ up to €1.3m ($1.69m) per year. RTÉ’s group head of sport, Ryle Nugent, said that national teams and games will remain the priority of the broadcaster.
He said: “This is a hard choice to make. The relationship with the Premier League has provided us with programming that has been the backbone of our output for many years and there is a real affinity with the output. However, RTÉ TV Sport has had to adjust its commitments in line with every other area of the organisation. My strategy has been, and will continue to be, the protection of our national teams and national games programming such as GAA (Gaelic Athletic Association), horse racing, the Airtricity League and so on. Despite the difficult news today, we are still in an extremely good place with regard to our TV sports output by comparison to any public service broadcaster in Europe."
Nugent added that he hopes to have “definitive news” on the rights to the 2016 summer Olympic Games in the coming weeks.