Newstalk Megathread

brettmirl

mike65 wrote: »

Have to agree 3 hours of Jerry O'Sullivan on Saturday and Sunday rabbiting on 20 to the dozen would do your head in, they have no rights to anything after the Prem footie ends as far as I can tell which is a bit of a flaw.

Mike.

It's 4 hours on a Saturday and 5 hours on a Sunday...followed by Oisin "folks" Langan for an hour, pleading "folks" to call in.

mike65

Its worse than I thought! :eek: and Langan is the worst. Ever.

Christ, Newstalk. Its crap really isn't it? :pac:

Mike.

Big Tone

mike65 wrote: »

Its worse than I thought! :eek: and Langan is the worst. Ever.

Christ, Newstalk. Its crap really isn't it? :pac:

Mike.

Yes it is.

Correct me if I'm wrong but wasn't NewsTalk a lot better BEFORE they went national?

They seemed to lose some key people like McWilliams, Dunphy and that Sunday Business Post fella (cant think of his name offhand).

ronbyrne2005

Big Tone wrote: »

Yes it is.

Correct me if I'm wrong but wasn't NewsTalk a lot better BEFORE they went national?

They seemed to lose some key people like McWilliams, Dunphy and that Sunday Business Post fella (cant think of his name offhand).

As i said before. They made it really good at start so they could win critical acclaim and get a national licence then they dumbed it down and made it more tabloid and more commercial (30cent text , sponsorship, adverts etc).

Drag00n79

mike65 wrote: »

... and Langan is the worst. Ever.

I have to agree. His smarmy, smart ass comments after someone texts in a point gets on my nerves. He never lets the facts get in the way of what he's saying, that's for sure!

berliner

Orla Barry and Brenda Power are so passive in their interviewing.Really dull radio from these two people pleasers.

Benster

Right, I've had it with Newstalk.

Listening to the stunning story about Ingrid Betancourt's rescue from FARC today on the Breakfast show, and that gimp cut Laura Marlow short before she had finished the story! IDIOTS! That programme is a joke now, a shadow of it's former Dunphy-led self...

Táck

yeah i use to be a major fan of the station as a whole. now its strictly the sports show every night, particularly the soccer show

nkay1985

Táck wrote: »

now its strictly the sports show every night, particularly the soccer show

In fairness, the soccer show and sports show in general are the business.

Big Tone

Eamon Keane seems to be a particularly poor interviewer overall, heard him interview Vincent O Shea from Met Eireann and it was a terrible interview, Vincent couldn't really understand Keane's confusing and convoluted questions!

mike65

Missed that, he managed to make a mess of a weather chat?

Mike.

GhostInTheRuins

The best show on Newstalk by far is Karen Coleman on sunday morning. IMO she should be doing the lunchtime show instead of that gob****e.

Imhof Tank

Brenda Power's "Get It Sorted" slot in toruble with the Broadcasting Complaints Commission -article in today's Irish Times

Complaints against Newstalk upheld
ALISON HEALY
THE BROADCASTING Complaints Commission (BCC) has upheld six complaints against the Newstalk radio station for a campaign which involved phoning civil servants live on air.
Brenda Power’s Your Call programme called the offices of Ministers and State bodies such as the Health Service Executive (HSE) to get a response to listeners’ problems.
However, in these six cases, the BCC found civil servants had a reasonable expectation of privacy “and that the actions of the broadcaster amounted to an intrusion which the ordinary person would find objectionable, and some also distressing”.
Two complaints were made by Gerard Bowe, who works in the office of Minister for Health Mary Harney. He was asked, live on air, for information on the Minister’s whereabouts and details of her diary. He said he did not give consent to be interviewed live and regarded the call “as designed to intimidate staff”.
The BCC found both sides of the issues were not given a fair hearing, and Power “clearly sided with the callers”. It found the broadcaster had placed Mr Bowe in an inferior position to the presenter, and could have placed him in a precarious position with his employer.
Another Department of Health employee, Sinéad Dooley, said the on-air interview with her was “entirely inappropriate, unfair and unprofessional”. She was asked for Ms Harney’s mobile number.
Department of Education press officer Keith McMullen said the station had “invaded his privacy and acted very irresponsibly” by calling him live on air without his prior knowledge or consent.
Dublin City Council employee Angela Allen was put live on air to answer a complaint about a tenant’s gates. She said she had “suffered great personal upset” and was “deeply humiliated”. The council’s press officer, Alan Breen, said this was “entirely unacceptable”. He was also put live on air.
The BCC upheld these complaints. Newstalk said it began the “Get it Sorted” slot due to listeners’ difficulties with State agencies.
The broadcaster said the HSE had pulled advertising because of the campaign. It no longer makes these calls live on air.

Claire Byrne tomorrow: "Text in for 30c to 53106 and let us know what you think of the BCC?"

GhostInTheRuins

Imhof Tank wrote: »

Claire Byrne tomorrow: "Text in for 30c to 53106 and let us know what you think of the BCC?"

lol

I wouldn't be surprised

mike65

A stunt, which was noted by some here at the time I think.

Mike.

The Black Oil

Senor Keane is on TV3 with Vincent Browne...

giftgrub

I've probably said it before but i'm saying it again dammit

Eamo Keane REALLY F***S ME OFF.

If he tells me why this is an important story and i should listen one more time i swear to god i'll go postal

If he overexplain a story, like telling me what the Mahon tribunal does i will go postal

Badabing

giftgrub wrote: »

I've probably said it before but i'm saying it again dammit

Eamo Keane REALLY F***S ME OFF.

If he tells me why this is an important story and i should listen one more time i swear to god i'll go postal

If he overexplain a story, like telling me what the Mahon tribunal does i will go postal

'Bear with me on this' :mad:

themont85

Was listening to Keane this week about the whole Cork waste. Whilst it was decent journalism investigating the thing I couldn't stand the way the show dealt with it. They were saying they would have more revelations the next day and today he said next week, really hate that-if you have a story tell it when you have it rather than the whole publicity seeking manner they've done it. And once again he got his personality all over the story, really can't stand the guy or his show.

And you'll all be happy to know that the guy Langen is doing the Friday Off the Ball(now OTB extra?), obviousely Eoin McDevitt wants his Friday off which is a pitty but have to say I don't mind Langen as much as other posters do. OTB recent documentry on the boxer was excellent I thought, a standard I wish other aspects of the station would keep up to.

Actually did Brenda Power have anything to say about the complaints since they were upheld?

Imhof Tank

themont85 wrote: »

And you'll all be happy to know that the guy Langen is doing the Friday Off the Ball(now OTB extra?), obviousely Eoin McDevitt wants his Friday off which is a pitty but have to say I don't mind Langen as much as other posters do. OTB recent documentry on the boxer was excellent I thought, a standard I wish other aspects of the station would keep up to.

:mad:Can someone please confirm that this OTB EXTRA is just a summer trial thing

On the Sunday phone in show I find Oisin Langan basically:

1. is a worse text pimp than any other newstalk presenter
2. bitterly dismisses any "radical" text comments
3. supports the establishment (for example he didnt want Stan or Eddie O'Sullivan out)

Cant see how his presenting style could fit into the OTB format

vincenzo1975

apart from the guests they get on, off the ball is pure crap. They try to be on the edge and controversial, instead they come across like a bunch of plonkers.

I switch on to OTB, if there is no guest on, I just switch over to dave fanning every eveining in the car. I find the chat between the lads pure drivel and anti-entertainment.

That show has suffered terribly since gilroy left it.

flogen

vincenzo1975 wrote: »

apart from the guests they get on, off the ball is pure crap. They try to be on the edge and controversial, instead they come across like a bunch of plonkers.

I switch on to OTB, if there is no guest on, I just switch over to dave fanning every eveining in the car. I find the chat between the lads pure drivel and anti-entertainment.

That show has suffered terribly since gilroy left it.

On the few times I have listened to OTB I found it to be the radio equivalent of a pissing contest between the two presenters, both trying to get one up on the other in terms of their sporting knowledge.

They're not actually looking to have a good discussion on a topic or issue, they're just looking to catch the other out on how much they know (which basically means they both go out of their way to reference historic sporting events and then correct each other when they get the references wrong in any way.)

If I want to hear that kind of competitive, passive aggressive discussion on sport I'll go and earwig down at the local, thanks... but maybe that's the point.

giftgrub

Heres a little experiment for everyone at home...

Count the amount of people involved in the average Newstalk "production"

Seriously, tune in at the end of a show and see how many people the presenter thanks.

I counted 8 on Orla Barry one day, including herself, there were 2 producers, three researchers and 2 sound ops

Today with Pat Kenny has a producer and a researcher.

berliner

giftgrub wrote: »

Heres a little experiment for everyone at home...

Count the amount of people involved in the average Newstalk "production"

Seriously, tune in at the end of a show and see how many people the presenter thanks.

I counted 8 on Orla Barry one day, including herself, there were 2 producers, three researchers and 2 sound ops

Today with Pat Kenny has a producer and a researcher.

Kenny has way more resourses than Newstalk.Just look at the huge wage he gets,600k a year.Newstalk are paupers compared to those wasters in Donnybrook.

Imhof Tank

vincenzo1975 wrote: »

apart from the guests they get on, off the ball is pure crap

I switch on to OTB, if there is no guest on, I just switch over to dave fanning

I like the banter, but in any event the show's format is basically all guest interviews anyway so whats the problem?

Imhof Tank

flogen wrote: »

On the few times I have listened to OTB I found it to be the radio equivalent of a pissing contest between the two presenters, both trying to get one up on the other in terms of their sporting knowledge.

They're not actually looking to have a good discussion on a topic or issue, they're just looking to catch the other out on how much they know (which basically means they both go out of their way to reference historic sporting events and then correct each other when they get the references wrong in any way.)

If I want to hear that kind of competitive, passive aggressive discussion on sport I'll go and earwig down at the local, thanks... but maybe that's the point.

Quite surprising to read such authoritative opinions from someone who admits to having listened to the show only a "few times".

There are many good discussions on topics/ issues every night on OTB - between presenter and guest. Are you saying that the guests are competitive, passive aggressive etc.

Big Tone

You'd have to wonder what Denis o' Brien's modus operandi is with regard to NT, it seems to be a station without identity, it cannot decide whether its to the left or to the right or maybe its in the middle ground?

What is DoB's politics, is it FF or FG, to the casual onlooker its seems to be the former rather than the latter. DoB's arguments against going on DAB seems to run contrary to his use of digital technology in his very profitable various mobile phone companies.

Stephen

I absolutely despise newstalk when they do outside broadcasts, because they always end up sounding like absolute sh1te. Seriously, if you can't make it work outside the studio, don't bother

Case in point - last week's Cork-fest where George Hook was doing his show from what sounded like a flatbed trailer, Paddy's day parade style. When he had people on the phone you could hear them echoing in the background (as if he was hearing them via loudspeakers, not headphones - wtf?) and the volume level kept bouncing up and down. Then he missed out on half of Michael Graham's slot (which I do enjoy) because of some technical cockup where both the listeners and Graham could hear both Hook and himself, but Hook couldn't hear anyone. The solution: Another ad break!

berliner

Yeah,sometimes they sound like an old pirate station from the 80s.The Sound engineering leaves a lot to be desired.

Ekels

My synopsis of Newstalk:

Claire & Ger: Claire is unbelievably lacking in good debating skills and continuously shouts her guests down (especially if they're government ministers) and fails to make intelligent or cohesive points. On the other hand, Gilroy is far more witty and tuned in. I feel Byrne is the weak link in the show and should be dropped.

Brenda Power: Joe Duffy-lite. *Snore*

Orla Barry: Firstly, she has a lovely voice. Secondly, she's a very charming presenter and a warm interviewer. She makes light radio enjoyable.

Eamon Keane: Superb! A really intelligent and well-versed presenter. Far more subtle than Claire Byrne in his questioning as he puts his points to his guests in an understated manner, yet the questions are always challenging. He is reminiscent of a barrister. I really feel he should be one for television.

Moncrieff: The wonderful and witty chap he is. The show is just good fun but Sean always implements more serious historic issues into his shows, to great effect. Henry's vox-pops are marvellous.

Hook: Evening radio is a little dull, I feel. I tend not to listen to Hooky that much, but I find him a good alternative to the dreary Wilson and snide Cooper.

Off The Ball: Magnificent! I can't get enough of this show. The hosts are knowledgable and likeable in equal measures. There's rarely any filler, which is a pleasant surprise. Murph is an absolute legend, and Earley puts together a fantastic hour, with genuinely interesting contributions from a wide variety of journalists from all over the globe. McDevitt is the perfect foil.

I enjoy the vast majority of programming on Newstalk. It's a great alternative to the humdrum and conservatism of RTE's tired old faces. The only let down is the weekend filler. Jerry O'Sullivan's sport show is fine, but the rest is below par. Particularly this new host on Weekend Blend, she really grates on me.