Sky News in Public Places

asahi

I was in one of our bailed-out banks the other day in Dublin, and noticed that they SKY news on blaring out in the corner, with some reporter wearing a poppy telling me about the "our fallen heroes" in Afghanistan.

Later I had a cup of coffee in town and they had SKY on as well, with speakers around the cafe so we had to listen to it no matter how far from the TV we were.

I don't see why I should have to watch British SKY Broadcasting when I go to the bank or have a cup of coffee, but it seems to be becoming normal to have it on in all sorts of places.

Am I being too sensitive?

astrofool

Far too sensitive.

MagicMarker

asahi wrote: »

I was in one of our bailed-out banks the other day in Dublin, and noticed that they SKY news on blaring out in the corner, with some reporter wearing a poppy telling me about the "our fallen heroes" in Afghanistan.

Later I had a cup of coffee in town and they had SKY on as well, with speakers around the cafe so we had to listen to it no matter how far from the TV we were.

I don't see why I should have to watch British SKY Broadcasting when I go to the bank or have a cup of coffee, but it seems to be becoming normal to have it on in all sorts of places.

Am I being too sensitive?

You may as well just kill yourself.

asahi

They had SKY news on in Busarus as well. Maybe soon they'll have it on the buses.

amacachi

Then the Dáil shall be theirs.

drkpower

asahi wrote: »

Am I being too sensitive?

What do you suggest be on as an alternative?

There is no Irish news channel and little snippets of news is what people want when they are waing for a few minutes here and there.

Rippy

Sky News used to have an Irish version (Sky news Ireland). Only had limited Irish content.
Alas, they gave this the chop a couple of years ago.
As there is no Irish 24 hour rolling news service (and never likely to be in our small bankrupt country)what would you like them to show as an alternative?

BBC News? :eek:
CNN?
Al Jazerra ?

mike65

Fox!

asahi

Why not BBC or Al Jazeera?

Would they be any better or worse?

At least the BBC is in some sort of public ownership, so they are supposed to be balanced.

I think if they have to tv's on in public places they should have an Irish channel. This is Ireland after all. Can you imagine another country where they it would be normal to show foreign television news in the banks?

But I would prefer no televisions blaring at me. Personally I am a fan of being able to think without a shouting box in the corner, but I realise that puts me in a minority.

drkpower

asahi wrote: »

I think if they have to tv's on in public places they should have an Irish channel. This is Ireland after all. Can you imagine another country where they it would be normal to show foreign television news in the banks?

What channel do you suggest?
RTE1, 2, TV3, TG4?
Do you really think people want the Afternoon Show or the Den on when they are waiting around in a bank, hairdresser, wherever?

A News Channel is the best to keep people entertained/informed for a few minutes here or there. If there was an Irish one, sure, it should be on.
But there isnt.

asahi

drkpower wrote: »

A News Channel is the best to keep people entertained/informed for a few minutes here or there. If there was an Irish one, sure, it should be on.
But there isnt.

Why SKY though? Why is it always SKY?

drkpower

asahi wrote: »

Why SKY though? Why is it always SKY?

Fair point.
Realistically, English news, after Irish news, is of most interest to Irish people so it should be one of the English news channels. So I suppose it could be BBC News 24. Id be perfectly happy with that.

asahi

Why do we need TV in a bank at all though?

A few moments of silence while your filling in banking slips seems like a reasonable thing to me.

Doesn't it drive the poor people who work there crazy?

drkpower

It is there for the customers. Apparently they are always right....:D

A lot of customers, like myself, when I am waiting around, do like to have something to draw their attention to, keep informed etc.

Mossy Monk

Rippy wrote: »

what would you like them to show as an alternative?

BBC News? :eek:

I feel BBC News would be better.

bob123456

How about Euronews?

icdg

asahi wrote: »

Why SKY though? Why is it always SKY?

Because it was the only news channel available on cable here for nearly thirteen years, and cable in the 1990s had an extremely high take-up rate in areas passed as Sky didn't offer the terrestrial channels.

Its still the only news channel on analogue which a substantial portion of customers still have, and while Sky and Chorus NTL both have a number of other news channels on them, Sky News is quite simply the most familar 24 news channel to Irish people - neither the BBC News Channel nor CNN would have the same level of recognition and I imagine there would be a very low level of name recognition for Al-Jazeera...

drkpower

bob123456 wrote: »

How about Euronews?

Possibly but English news is generally of more interest to Irish people.

xp90

I know of a few cafés that show CNN, much better!

Elmo

I also think that Sky news has taken over the country. It is a dreadful channel. I wouldn't sit in a cafe with a TV blaring.

If quick news is what people want they could provide RTÉ News Now.

Possibly but English news is generally of more interest to Irish people.

Really why? What about Welsh, Scottish and NI news, oh wait Sky ignore those "countries".

drkpower

Elmo wrote: »

Really why? What about Welsh, Scottish and NI news, oh wait Sky ignore those "countries".

Why we Irish are especially interested in English news and affairs is the subject of another long, heated and ultimately pointless thread, Im sure....! But it is undoubtedly true.

Linku

Regarding the Train Stations, I'm pretty sure I read a while ago that this was put up for public tender, and RTÉ didn't bother submitting a proposal, and Sky ended up winning the contract.

Elmo

Linku wrote: »

Regarding the Train Stations, I'm pretty sure I read a while ago that this was put up for public tender, and RTÉ didn't bother submitting a proposal, and Sky ended up winning the contract.

Did TV3? I have seen RTÉ in spar/centra, scrolling across the screen.

Elmo

drkpower wrote: »

A lot of customers, like myself, when I am waiting around, do like to have something to draw their attention to, keep informed etc.

What about what the bank is doing? Perhaps that is why sky is on in Irish banks.

drkpower

Elmo wrote: »

What about what the bank is doing? Perhaps that is why sky is on in Irish banks.

What?
Are you suggesting banks have Sky on to hide their indiscretions.....?!
Off to CT with you!

L1011

Sky seek absolutely no royalties for showing Sky News in public places and its on every cable package in existance as well as FTA on two satellites. The only other English language news channel freely usable not likely to get very askance looks (as Al Jazeera, France24, Russia Today, etc would) is BBC News which is not on analogue cable, and not on Sky Ireland or ex-sub Irish boxes that haven't been crashed back to a UK EPG.

Hence Sky News is used.

Elmo

MYOB wrote: »

Sky seek absolutely no royalties for showing Sky News in public places and its on every cable package in existance as well as FTA on two satellites. The only other English language news channel freely usable not likely to get very askance looks (as Al Jazeera, France24, Russia Today, etc would) is BBC News which is not on analogue cable, and not on Sky Ireland or ex-sub Irish boxes that haven't been crashed back to a UK EPG.

Hence Sky News is used.

Train stations may be a different story since different news is show from sky.

Cabaal

Mossy Monk wrote: »

I feel BBC News would be better.

Agreed,
Either BBC or Euronews, sky news is awful and is just the UK version of Fox News

dublincelt

drkpower wrote: »

It is there for the customers. Apparently they are always right....:D

A lot of customers, like myself, when I am waiting around, do like to have something to draw their attention to, keep informed etc.

Ha ha, you are a comedian. Sky news to "keep informed"

God help us!

drkpower

dublincelt wrote: »

Ha ha, you are a comedian. Sky news to "keep informed"

God help us!

Hahaha, hehehe, hohoho.....
Yes, to keep informed.
It wouldnt be my first choice but Sky News does keep one informed.

Brian CivilEng

After spending 20 minutes waiting in a train station yesterday the Sky News screen really began to P*** me off. I mean why do people in Ireland care what the exchange rate is between the pound sterling and Japanese Yen? The only mention of the euro was what £1 would buy you. Would it be so difficult to generate an Irish version of the sidebar?

lord lucan

At least Sky News show what the weather here will be like,the ROI doesn't exist on BBC weather!! We're not part of the empire any more!!

drkpower

abitofacomedian wrote: »

After spending 20 minutes waiting in a train station yesterday the Sky News screen really began to P*** me off. I mean why do people in Ireland care what the exchange rate is between the pound sterling and Japanese Yen? The only mention of the euro was what £1 would buy you. Would it be so difficult to generate an Irish version of the sidebar?

Why should they?
Should they generate a French version for those who access SKY News in France etc etc.....
It is a UK channel.

Mossy Monk

drkpower wrote: »

but Sky News does keep one informed.

Yeah. That yellow ticker informing me of David Beckhams new hair cut is just what is needed.

Lump

Should be the BBC, unless SKY are paying the bank to have them on. Think of all the advert breaks on SKY that are watched by people waiting in the bank, or having a coffee. At least the BBC is just a new channel with no adverts.

icdg

Elmo wrote: »

I also think that Sky news has taken over the country. It is a dreadful channel. I wouldn't sit in a cafe with a TV blaring.

If quick news is what people want they could provide RTÉ News Now.

RTÉ News Now is not available on any broadcast platform, and exists only as streaming video. Which makes it more difficult to show full screen an an actual TV as opposed to in a window on a computer monitor.

Cabaal wrote:

Either BBC or Euronews, sky news is awful and is just the UK version of Fox News

A charge very often and very unfairly aimed at Sky News - it rarely engages in the sort of editorialising that Fox News presenters do on routine occassions (though it tried at least three times in the past with Richard Littlejohn) and its presenters generally maintain the kind of impartiality that Fox News would shirk - Fox News is generally identifiable as a "Republican" or "Conservative" TV channel wheras you wouldn't find such as identifiable bias for one single political party on Sky News.

Elmo

icdg wrote: »

RTÉ News Now is not available on any broadcast platform, and exists only as streaming video. Which makes it more difficult to show full screen an an actual TV as opposed to in a window on a computer monitor..

The sky news at the train stations seems to be different to normal sky news, more like a stream, and it doesn't look all that good.

TonyD79

BBC World news isnt easy accesible for free here?? I would rather Sky news than having to watch a Chicago Hope repeat on RTE while waiting in the doctors waiting room!. Also TV3 morning shows are awful.

As for the Sterling well most Irish people are interested in it cause of the economy and shopping trips up to Newry!!

Hopefully when digital takes over in Ireland a 24 hour news service will be avialable from RTE all be it repeats

irishconvert

asahi wrote: »

At least the BBC is in some sort of public ownership, so they are supposed to be balanced.

BBC, the Blair and Bush Corporation, balanced?!! As bad as Sky are, they are not as bad as the BBC.

ronnie3585

irishconvert wrote: »

BBC, the Blair and Bush Corporation, balanced?!! As bad as Sky are, they are not as bad as the BBC.

I disagree.

Sky News is not a news channel. It broadcasts bleeding heart human interest stories, celebrity gossip and opinion. Bad and all as the BBC is, it has a lot more substantive news content than Sky.

As news channels go Euronews and France 24 are very good. I only wish Channel4 news would have its own channel.

Liam Byrne

Mossy Monk wrote: »

Yeah. That yellow ticker informing me of David Beckhams new hair cut is just what is needed.

They do a cracking pisstake of the abysmal Sky "News" on "No Signal" on FX.......

"We go live now to XXXX street where we're waiting for something to happen, and it should happen any minute"

"Thanks. I'm here on XXXX street where as you can see we're waiting for something to happen, and although nothing of interest has happened yet, we're expecting it any moment now, or within the next few hours.......[loads of filling waffle]....and now, back to studio"

"Thanks for that, and we'll keep you updated with live reports. Now here in studio we have our 'expert'; can you tell us what's likely to happen....?"

Absolute genius!

amacachi

Top sports story on RTÉ SixOne today was about the ENGLISH Premiership. How dare they!?

Elmo

amacachi wrote: »

Top sports story on RTÉ SixOne today was about the ENGLISH Premiership. How dare they!?

I know your being sarcastic but why didn't they lead with Eircom League action from the weekend? They should support home teams. Of course those matches are played to avoided conflicts with the English teams not that it makes much difference to the sports reports.

lostexpectation

rte news now

rte "watch that broadcast of the news from a few hours ago" now

gnxx

I suspect that this is becoming more popular since Sky News don't play any music.

This avoids IMRO charges.

legendal

I agree that BBC News is the better channel, although part of the whole point of Sky's graphics is that you can watch the thing for about three minutes and have found out everything you need to know (along with the latest about Victoria Beckham's arse). So when I'm standing in a queue, I'd rather find out a little bit about everything than only see an in-depth package about one particular item.

However, I doubt shops and businesses give it that much thought. Their most likely reason for showing it is because it's the news channel we all know. It's eight years older than BBC News (24) and even then that channel wasn't available in the Republic for quite awhile.

Liam Byrne

gnxx wrote: »

I suspect that this is becoming more popular since Sky News don't play any music.

This avoids IMRO charges.

And BBC news does ?

Jam-Fly

I'd rather watch Sky Sports News

Elmo

lostexpectation wrote: »

rte news now

rte "watch that broadcast of the news from a few hours ago" now

Sky "Don't worry you can wait around with us" News.

Mitch Connor

Elmo wrote: »

I also think that Sky news has taken over the country. It is a dreadful channel. I wouldn't sit in a cafe with a TV blaring.

If quick news is what people want they could provide RTÉ News Now.



Really why? What about Welsh, Scottish and NI news, oh wait Sky ignore those "countries".

What Welsh/Schottis/NI station is 24hr news?

Elmo

Mitch Connor wrote: »

What Welsh/Schottis/NI station is 24hr news?

Funny I thought Sky News was a 24 UK service but there you go, it is an English service.