Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 8 July 2025

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Arts, Media, Communications, Culture and Sport

General Scheme of the Broadcasting (Amendment) Bill: Discussion (Resumed)

2:00 am

Mr. Mark Scanlon:

From a LOITV perspective, as we mentioned in our opening statement, any potential levy should be judged against subscriber, income and profit levels. A distinction should be made in recognition of the public service element we have.

I mentioned earlier in the opening statement that 63% of our games cover 9% of the revenue. That shows how important it is for us to ensure every single game is shown, particularly across women's football. That is a key area for us. If we go back to 2021, we had one live game per year on television in women's football. Clearly, whether it is on television, a commercial broadcast will take precedent over that. It has been difficult for us to be able to get television broadcasting revenue from there. Due to LOITV and because we have been able to showcase the game to a greater audience, it has meant a massive increase in our television levels. With TG4 coming on board, we now have 17 live games across women's football on an annual basis. I put a lot of that down to the fact that we started showcasing the women's game with LOITV. It is important. The attention received by some famous moments in Irish football, such as Stephanie Zambra’s goal, was only possible because there was an analyst covering the game at that moment before our streaming service began. For the next goal at that level or the next showcase of talent in Irish football, be that in our women's Premier Division, our academy structures or in our men's First Division, it is crucial to have the LOITV service available in order that every moment is captured. Hopefully, that will be taken into consideration.

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