TV3 HD Arrives with rwc

TV3 and the IRB have announced that TV3 will be the Irish broadcaster for all 43 Rugby World Cup Matches in 2015, which take place in England. TV3 also announced its plans to provide a HD service across all platforms by mid-2015, in time for the RWC which takes place from 18 September to 31 October 2015. The news comes as a welcome relief to TV3 who had lost major programming right to UTV Ireland and Sky Sports in recent months. TV3 had previously provided free coverage to the 2007 RWC, with the majority of games on Setanta Sports. Setanta Sports have now lost the rights to the RWC, in 2011 RTÉ carried free coverage. This is the third time that RTÉ won't have exclusive rights to the RWC. TG4 had deferred rights in 2011.

TV3 will also deliver mobile, online and TV highlights of each of the matches. The rights deal is a major boost to TV3 as Ireland goes into the RWC as 6 Nations winners 2014.

RWCL Managing Director Brett Gosper said: "Ireland has traditionally been a strong and passionate Rugby market and we are delighted to be appointing a broadcaster that shares our enthusiasm for Rugby and for our showcase event." 

RWCL Head of Commercial, Broadcast and Marketing Murray Barnett said: "We are excited about our broadcast offering for England 2015, which is on track to deliver a record number of broadcasters, live hours and digital coverage that will maximise exposure and engagement."

TV3 Group CEO David McRedmond said: "This is tremendous news for TV3. We are quite sure that Rugby World Cup will be the stand out sporting event for Irish people in 2015 and we can hardly wait to follow the progress of the Irish team." 

According to TV3 20 of the games will air on TV3, while the remaining 23 games will broadcast on their sister channel 3e. This is the second time that TV3 have broadcast the RWC, the last time was in 2007 when it broadcast the games with Setanta Sports.