Ten, if not all 11, Munster senior hurling championship games are in line to be televised live across May and June.
After the success of the new format and the competitiveness of last year’s series, RTÉ are strongly considering increasing their coverage of the competition from six round robin matches and the final in 2018.
Sky Sports are set to retain the only Saturday evening game, the Round 4 clash between Cork and Waterford in Páirc Uí Chaoimh on June 8, which is also the Déise’s final round fixture.
Last year, seven of the 10 round fixtures were televised, six on RTÉ and the Cork-Limerick game on Sky Sports. As the two games in both Round 4 and 5 took place at the same time, it was only possible for RTÉ to show one each time. The only match not broadcasted live on TV prior to Round 4 in 2018 was the Clare-Waterford Round 2 game in Cusack Park.
This year all but the Round 5 games — Clare-Cork and Tipperary-Limerick on June 16 (both 2pm throw-ins) — have staggered start times meaning the TV companies have access to showing more matches. Considering the appeal of the championship, both Round 5 matches could be shown on different channels or one could be streamed on the RTÉ website.
Including the final on June 30, it means the Munster SHC will again be the most televised of the six provincial championships. Six of the 11 Leinster SHC fixtures were broadcast live last year and that number is expected to be more or less the same this season.
Similar to 2018, the Munster SFC final on Saturday, June 22 is expected to be the only live TV match in that competition this summer.
Just two matches including the final in the Connacht, Leinster and Ulster championships were shown last year, all of them being televised by RTÉ.
