With only a few hours to go until the kick off to the Rugby World Cup 2015, the most anticipated sporting tournament of the year from an Irish perspective, all eyes will be focused on TV3 as it broadcasts its first major global tournament, having elbowed out RTÉ in the battle to win the TV rights.
While the Ballymount broadcaster has been promoting its coverage for the past few months, this week the campaign cranked up a gear following a deal it inked with Independent News & Media to show exclusive in-match clips, full access to official match highlights and post-match press conferences.
Independent.ie readers will be able to watch official video highlights after each match and in-match clips as the action unfolds. According to Geoff Lyons, marketing director at INM, “we are delighted to partner with TV3 and offer our readers the ultimate experience in news and analysis for this exciting tournament. Across our titles we will be providing the very best pre and post-match analysis, and thanks to this partnership we can offer online readers in-match video action as it happens and post-match video analysis. This takes what we can give our readers for Rugby World Cup to a new level which we hope they enjoy.”
Pat Kiely, TV3 Group Commercial Director adds: “Rugby World Cup 2015 will be the biggest television event of the year and as the official Irish broadcaster we are delighted to partner with INM to provide this additional content for their online readers. With coverage of all 48 matches live and exclusive on TV3, these clips and highlights will further feed the nation’s insatiable rugby appetite over the next six weeks.”
TV3 will also unveil its new HD offering for the first time tonight in the run up to the first match of the tournament between hosts England and Fiji. The station has assembled a team of well-known rugby pundits, anchored by Matt Cooper, as part of its line-up for the duration of the tournament. These include Peter Stringer, Keith Wood, Matt Williams, Stuart Barnes, Hugo McNeill, Malcolm O’Kelly, Neil Back and Shane Byrne.
