For further information:
Louise Zayed
Senior Press Officer
Tel: +353 1 419 3428
louise.zayed@tv3.ie
Kevin Shore
Press Officer
Tel: +353 1 419 3387
kevin.shore@virginmedia.ie
publicity@tv3.ie
TV3 GROUP RELEASE
IMMEDIATE: Thursday 18th September, 2014
One Year to Go....Ireland legend Keith Wood joins TV3 team.
Rugby World Cup Countdown Begins across TV3.
Former Ireland captain Keith Wood will join Matt Cooper on TV3’s Rugby World Cup panel of experts
TV3 officially launches www.tv3.ie/RWC2015
With 365 days to go until the opening ceremony of the Rugby World Cup 2015, TV3 is delighted to announce former Ireland captain Keith Wood will join its panel of experts for coverage of the tournament in 2015.
Keith played 58 times for Ireland, scoring 15 tries, a record for a hooker. He also represented the British and Irish Lions and was named as ‘World Player of the Year’ in 2001.
Keith is the first panellist to be confirmed by TV3 and will join presenter Matt Cooper for extensive coverage of the tournament, which starts on 18th September 2015.
Rugby fans will be able to keep up to date with the latest broadcast news around the Rugby World Cup by visiting www.tv3.ie/RWC2015
TV3 announced in April that it had won the Irish rights to broadcast next year’s Rugby World Cup. That announcement was made by both TV3 and Rugby World Cup Limited at a press conference in Dublin.
Under the terms of the deal, TV3 will manage the broadcast of live coverage of all 48 matches and will also deliver a TV, digital and mobile highlights offering.All of the Ireland matches and final stages of the tournament will be broadcast free to air. TV3, as the broadcaster with the most advanced HD infrastructure in Ireland, is currently in discussion with platform operators to carry TV3 HD from mid-2015.
Speaking at today’s announcement, former Ireland Rugby captain, Keith Wood, said: “I’m delighted to be joining the TV3 Rugby World Cup team and I’m really looking forward to working with them on the stand-out TV event of 2015.
“It’s very exciting. I got the chance to play at three World Cups but I haven’t ever had a chance to commentate on one. It’s a lovely idea that a year out from a World Cup that you can get all of your preparations in place, just like the team have to do. TV3 haven’t done rugby for quite a while. We need to put a lot of effort in to make certain bits right on the day.”
Niall Cogley, TV3 Group Director of Broadcasting, said: “We are delighted to have Keith Wood on board. Keith is uniquely placed to bring critical analysis and rugby experience to the panel. Rugby following in Ireland is at an all-time high following the recent success of Joe Schmidt’s Ireland team in the Six Nations.
“With exactly one year to go, the countdown is officially underway. In the coming months we’ll have further announcements in relation to our coverage of the tournament and of course our plans to roll out HD in time for the event.”
Detailed plans for TV3’s coverage are now advancing. It is expected that the broadcaster will broadcast about 20 matches on TV3 and the remainder on 3e although TV3 has not ruled out some sub-licenses to other Irish broadcasters. TV3 also confirms it is in discussions with respective platforms regarding the launch of TV3 HD in the first half of 2015.
A PDF of the full match schedule is available on request
Images from today’s photo shoot at Lansdowne Rugby Club are available on request and have been sent to your picture desks.
For more information contact Sportsfile
See Notes to Editor for more about the RWC
ENDS
For further information
Ciara Byrne – Press Officer – 01 419 3329/087 319 9732
Sharon McHugh – Head of Press & Publicity – 087 922 4143
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NOTES TO EDITOR:
A PDF of the full match schedule is available on request
About Rugby World Cup: Rugby World Cup is the financial engine behind unprecedented investment and growth in Rugby worldwide. The net Rugby World Cup surplus from the commercial success of France 2007 and New Zealand 2011 has enabled the International Rugby Board to invest more than £150 million in the Game between 2009 and 2012 and commit an anticipated injection of more than £180 million between 2013 and 2016 to underwrite a large range of major funding initiatives including annual national Union grants and strategic investments focusing on growing participation and increasing competition across all 119 national Member Unions affiliated to the IRB.
About England 2015: Rugby World Cup 2015, hosted in England between September 18 and October 31, will be a celebration of Rugby and its unique character-building values, exciting and inspiring the nation and the world to play and support the Game. England Rugby 2015 are the organising committee for Rugby World Cup 2015 and will deliver the six-week tournament, hosted in 10 English cities and in Cardiff, Wales. Thirteen match venues will play host to the 48 games that will celebrate and engage 2.5 million spectators, including more than 400,000 international travelling fans.
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