The Sunday Game
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The Sunday Game is Radio Telefís Éireann's principal Gaelic Games television programme. It is shown on RTÉ Two every summer during the Football Championship and Hurling Championship seasons, showing live Gaelic football and hurling matches.
The original Sunday Game programme, aired on Sunday nights, began in 1978 and contained coverage of one or more main championship matches, followed by extended highlights of the others. This programme continues, but since the mid-1990s, RTÉ also airs live coverage of GAA matches under "The Sunday Game Live" banner. Previously, only the All-Ireland Semi-Finals and Finals had been shown live by RTÉ. On the night of the respective All-Ireland Finals, the programme is broadcast from the hotel of the winning team.
The Sunday Game programme only covers the championship season from May to September. During the GAA National League season, Sunday Sport is screened instead.
Michael Lyster has been the presenter of the programme since the early days. He now presents the live games, with the Sunday night highlights slot now presented by the former Kerry Gaelic footballer, Pat Spillane. The shows commentary team consists of the lead commentator, Ger Canning, as well as Marty Morrissey, Darragh Maloney and Micheál Ó Sé. Regular panellists on the show include Colm O'Rourke, Joe Brolly, Tony Davis, Paul Curran, Ger Loughnane and Tomás Mulcahy.
When a game is shown on Saturday or Monday (the latter becoming more common during Summer Bank Holiday weekends), the appropriately customised title The Saturday Game or The Monday Game is used. Previously The Game on Monday, a second selection of highlights, had also been aired.
For the 2004 season of the programme, RTÉ replaced the long-standing theme tune of the Sunday Game, composed by James Last, with a completely different composition. This was met with much comment (RTÉ had previously re-arranged the theme, then reverted back to the original), and likened to the famous Match of the Day or Grandstand themes being replaced. Many GAA followers hope to see the original theme restored but for now this new theme continues to be used in 2006.
