SKY not the limit for RTÉ

RTÉ have defended their decision to broadcast advertisements showcasing sports events on British satellite giant SKY.

A number of ads were shown during the station’s coverage of the World Cup Group Four qualifier between the Republic of Ireland and Cyprus.

The campaign features images promoting SKY’s exclusive coverage of the Ryder Cup later this month along with their Champions League package.

RTÉ also have rights to the latter competition.

However, Donnybrook bosses last night defended their policy and insist that there is no conflict of interest on the matter of European Cup coverage.

“There is no rule against other broadcasters advertising on RTÉ,” said station spokesman Richie Ryan yesterday.

“Other channel do it like Channel 4 and UTV.

“The fact that we are partly publicly funded means that if we did not accept such ads we could be accused of being anti competitive.

“SKY have exclusive rights to the Ryder Cup so that issue does not matter while it is a generic campaign for the Champions League.”

However, he added that a number of regulations are in place before such ad campaigns will be aired by RTÉ.

“The ads cannot be programme specific or time specific,” he explained. “They can talk about overall coverage plans but they cannot highlight specific items or times.

“In addition the ads cannot make the suggestion that viewers should switch channel for the product.”