Newstalk Megathread 22/08/16 to date

Conservative

Have found myself listening to less and less radio since these changes took affect.

I was never a regular breakfast listener as I can't stand Chris Donoghue (more about him later). Ivan was terrific and in fairness they worked well together, certainly in hindsight.

The new breakfast is exactly what everybody expected it to be. Awful! Absolutely no chemistry or wit between any of them.

I'm sure he is a lovely fella but seriously who thought Alan Quinlan was a good fit for breakfast radio? Chris Donoghue is more convincing as a sports fan in the evening and I'm sure most of his knowledge comes from reading the headlines or opinions of others on the way in to work. Quinlan must be dirt cheap. I can't think of anything else that explains his gloomy presence.

Collette and Coleman are two absolute drips but at least competent broadcasters. To his credit SC at least tries to insert a bit of humour into things.

Williams - it's all been said already. I'd love to see Ian O'Doherty in his place, perhaps just him and Coleman. Stop the ****ing merry go round.

Pat is an absolute treasure in the mornings. I hope he never retires.

Loved the Right Hook but this new slot is a mess. I loved the bombastic George on drivetime wrapping up the days news and giving his opinions. Some of these lunch segments are painful. A food tasting slot where he won't try any of the food?? Seriously who's idea was that?

Crappy book shop visits where he clearly has no interest in the material. Ciara Kelly and the Joe Duffy-esque callers. Not to mention vaccines! Get rid now please.

Moncrieff is terrific as always. I thought condensing the show might be better but give him 4 hours if necessary!!

Never thought I'd be praising Chris Donoghue but he is by far the more likeable one in the evenings. Co host is rubbish, they are both too nicey nice about everything or feigning outrage it is hard to stomach. Car insurance again?? Like 12 days in a row at one point!!

Still listen to OTB. Gilroy still a twit. Sad to hear Cian has left. Hope it's onto better things.

Tom Dunne still the man at night.

Tldr, load of ****e.

Tell me how

Conservative wrote: »

Have found myself listening to less and less radio since these changes took affect.

I was never a regular breakfast listener as I can't stand Chris Donoghue (more about him later). Ivan was terrific and in fairness they worked well together, certainly in hindsight.

The new breakfast is exactly what everybody expected it to be. Awful! Absolutely no chemistry or wit between any of them.

I'm sure he is a lovely fella but seriously who thought Alan Quinlan was a good fit for breakfast radio? Chris Donoghue is more convincing as a sports fan in the evening and I'm sure most of his knowledge comes from reading the headlines or opinions of others on the way in to work. Quinlan must be dirt cheap. I can't think of anything else that explains his gloomy presence.

Collette and Coleman are two absolute drips but at least competent broadcasters. To his credit SC at least tries to insert a bit of humour into things.

Williams - it's all been said already. I'd love to see Ian O'Doherty in his place, perhaps just him and Coleman. Stop the ****ing merry go round.

Pat is an absolute treasure in the mornings. I hope he never retires.

Loved the Right Hook but this new slot is a mess. I loved the bombastic George on drivetime wrapping up the days news and giving his opinions. Some of these lunch segments are painful. A food tasting slot where he won't try any of the food?? Seriously who's idea was that?

Crappy book shop visits where he clearly has no interest in the material. Ciara Kelly and the Joe Duffy-esque callers. Not to mention vaccines! Get rid now please.

Moncrieff is terrific as always. I thought condensing the show might be better but give him 4 hours if necessary!!

Never thought I'd be praising Chris Donoghue but he is by far the more likeable one in the evenings. Co host is rubbish, they are both too nicey nice about everything or feigning outrage it is hard to stomach. Car insurance again?? Like 12 days in a row at one point!!

Still listen to OTB. Gilroy still a twit. Sad to hear Cian has left. Hope it's onto better things.

Tom Dunne still the man at night.

Tldr, load of ****e.

So, Pat is a treasure, Moncrieff is terrific, you have praise for Chris Donoghue, you still listen to OTB and Tom Dunne is the man but your overall assessment is ****e.

Can I ask you, what the **** are you looking for in a radio station?

ThisRegard

Consistency?

wnolan1992

Decent drivetime shows?

SarahMollie

I think we can all agree that Breakfast is the biggest problem.

Paul Williams is really grating on me. This morning they came back after an ad break and he just coughed and spluttered and said something like "where are we now" and Collette had to rescue him - he had no idea what he was supposed to be doing and was cought totally on the hop. It was extremely amateurish.

Chris was always a drip but his "straightman persona" at least worked against the rather ridiculous Ivan Yates, who whether you liked him or not, was no wallflower.

I guess Williams is supposed to be that now, but he's just too tabloid, too populist and too cringey. Its like listening to an audio version of the Herald first thing in the morning.

I guess Quinlan is a bit boring but the show isnt going to live/die on its sports updates, so he's not the big problem IMO.

tommyboy2222

SarahMollie wrote: »

I think we can all agree that Breakfast is the biggest problem.

Paul Williams is really grating on me. This morning they came back after an ad break and he just coughed and spluttered and said something like "where are we now" and Collette had to rescue him - he had no idea what he was supposed to be doing and was cought totally on the hop. It was extremely amateurish.

Chris was always a drip but his "straightman persona" at least worked against the rather ridiculous Ivan Yates, who whether you liked him or not, was no wallflower.

I guess Williams is supposed to be that now, but he's just too tabloid, too populist and too cringey. Its like listening to an audio version of the Herald first thing in the morning.

I guess Quinlan is a bit boring but the show isnt going to live/die on its sports updates, so he's not the big problem IMO.

"ridiculous Ivan Yates" ?

Ivan was a breath of fresh air compared to the pc drones they have on now.

Williams is awful . Newstalk must be hoping for a wave of gangland murders to get some use out of him.

Collette needs to lighten up. No one likes listening to a narky aul one in the mornings.

Conservative

Tell me how wrote: »

Conservative wrote: »

Have found myself listening to less and less radio since these changes took affect.

I was never a regular breakfast listener as I can't stand Chris Donoghue (more about him later). Ivan was terrific and in fairness they worked well together, certainly in hindsight.

The new breakfast is exactly what everybody expected it to be. Awful! Absolutely no chemistry or wit between any of them.

I'm sure he is a lovely fella but seriously who thought Alan Quinlan was a good fit for breakfast radio? Chris Donoghue is more convincing as a sports fan in the evening and I'm sure most of his knowledge comes from reading the headlines or opinions of others on the way in to work. Quinlan must be dirt cheap. I can't think of anything else that explains his gloomy presence.

Collette and Coleman are two absolute drips but at least competent broadcasters. To his credit SC at least tries to insert a bit of humour into things.

Williams - it's all been said already. I'd love to see Ian O'Doherty in his place, perhaps just him and Coleman. Stop the ****ing merry go round.

Pat is an absolute treasure in the mornings. I hope he never retires.

Loved the Right Hook but this new slot is a mess. I loved the bombastic George on drivetime wrapping up the days news and giving his opinions. Some of these lunch segments are painful. A food tasting slot where he won't try any of the food?? Seriously who's idea was that?

Crappy book shop visits where he clearly has no interest in the material. Ciara Kelly and the Joe Duffy-esque callers. Not to mention vaccines! Get rid now please.

Moncrieff is terrific as always. I thought condensing the show might be better but give him 4 hours if necessary!!

Never thought I'd be praising Chris Donoghue but he is by far the more likeable one in the evenings. Co host is rubbish, they are both too nicey nice about everything or feigning outrage it is hard to stomach. Car insurance again?? Like 12 days in a row at one point!!

Still listen to OTB. Gilroy still a twit. Sad to hear Cian has left. Hope it's onto better things.

Tom Dunne still the man at night.

Tldr, load of ****e.

So, Pat is a treasure, Moncrieff is terrific, you have praise for Chris Donoghue, you still listen to OTB and Tom Dunne is the man but your overall assessment is ****e.

Can I ask you, what the **** are you looking for in a radio station?

It's not that difficult to figure out, really.

Everything I have praised was in place before the new schedule.... The only NT show I actively avoided was anything Jonathan Healy was presenting. My count has 7 hours which are practically unlistenable for me now.

Due to the nature of my work I have often listened to NT from 8am to 12am with few breaks inbetween.. It's even more abysmal for people who tune in for drive or breakfast only.

For Forks Sake

ThisRegard wrote: »

I think Ciara Kelly is quite good, but pretty much agree with the rest.

If she was made of chocolate, she'd eat herself. Never in the history of newstalk has someone as fond of the sound of their own voice gotten so much unwarranted airtime. Apart possibly from Hook.

SarahMollie

tommyboy2222 wrote: »

"ridiculous Ivan Yates" ?

Ivan was a breath of fresh air compared to the pc drones they have on now.

Williams is awful . Newstalk must be hoping for a wave of gangland murders to get some use out of him.

Collette needs to lighten up. No one likes listening to a narky aul one in the mornings.

Yes, he was ridiculous, but calm yourself, I never said I didn't like him. I was saying that at least there was a contrast in style between himself and Chris, and his ramblings actually were entertaining especially when winding Chris up, slagging him for being from Drimnagh, or the long running imaginary cat etc, his turn of phrase ("Scat out of there with your hairy paw" was a personal favorite).

Not always hard hitting stuff, but there was some humour there, some chemistry between them. Ivan was a bit of a Marmite character, but at least that means people had strong opinions on him. The current set up is just boring.

constitutionus

chris donoghue covering the election in new york is the LOLfest you'd think it'd be.

tommyboy2222

Could be an epic day of radio today :pac:

They have been consistent in their Trump bashing while ignoring the issues around Clinton.

I'm predicting tears from Moncreiff and O'Donoghue !

PeterTheNinth

tommyboy2222 wrote: »

Could be an epic day of radio today :pac:

I'm just hoping that Pat Kenny has his Democratic Party representative from DCU back on again.

I guess everybody underestimated just how unpopular and unliked Hilary Clinton is.

Donal55

tommyboy2222 wrote: »

Could be an epic day of radio today :pac:

They have been consistent in their Trump bashing while ignoring the issues around Clinton.

I'm predicting tears from Moncreiff and O'Donoghue !

Already started with them. They returned fairly quick to form however. No pay increases for the PS now that Trump is Commander on Chief.

Hooky giving himself a hernia right now. Spitting piss and vinegar about Enda & co. lack of careful diplomacy earlier this year.

delaad

PeterTheNinth wrote: »

I'm just hoping that Pat Kenny has his Democratic Party representative from DCU back on again.

I guess everybody underestimated just how unpopular and unliked Hilary Clinton is.

Clinton is winning the popular vote

Harry Angstrom

Chris sounds crestfallen......

wnolan1992

Harry Angstrom wrote: »

Chris sounds crestfallen......

Pretty common feeling going by everyone I met today tbh.

PeterTheNinth

Fair play to Newstalk all the same. I didnt think it would be possible to broadcast a consistent whinge the whole way from Paul Williams to Chris Donoghue, but they've managed it.

PeterTheNinth

PeterTheNinth wrote: »

Fair play to Newstalk all the same. I didnt think it would be possible to broadcast a consistent whinge the whole way from Paul Williams to Chris Donoghue, but they've managed it.

Peter I thought you'd be delighted, you never stopped complaining about the coverage.

He's won now. Aren't you happy? What does Newstalk coverage matter at this stage?

griffin100

Not a fan of Chris Donoghue but his stuff from the US has been good this week and he's getting better as a broadcaster if still too much of a Mother Teresa. Sarah Mc on the other hand is just dire. She's out of her depth and manages to fluff even her scripted lines. Tonight on the traffic report she told us that there was outbound traffic on the Long Mile and Naas Roads - is that news??

buckfasterer

Good god, Newstalk are still playing the Trump is the devil card. Fed up of these comparisons to Hitler and pulling the soundbites of all these people at protests that are so hard done by.

snubbleste

buckfasterer wrote: »

Good god, Newstalk are still playing the Trump is the devil card. Fed up of these comparisons to Hitler and pulling the soundbites of all these people at protests that are so hard done by.

They are insulting the American people.
Do they not get that?

terrydel

griffin100 wrote: »

Not a fan of Chris Donoghue but his stuff from the US has been good this week and he's getting better as a broadcaster if still too much of a Mother Teresa. Sarah Mc on the other hand is just dire. She's out of her depth and manages to fluff even her scripted lines. Tonight on the traffic report she told us that there was outbound traffic on the Long Mile and Naas Roads - is that news??

She is very possibly the dullest woman on the planet.
Add to that her co-host being a complete wet blanket, and you've the most boring show ever put out on radio.
DOB radio is going downhill, didn't think that was possible after getting rid of blowhard hook from the drivetime slot.

wnolan1992

snubbleste wrote: »

They are insulting the American people.
Do they not get that?

The American people elected Trump as their leader.

They deserve what they get tbh. :P



Plus, NT are just playing to the gallery. Willing to bet that the number of their listeners who support Trump is minimal compared to those that find him abhorrent.

Tell me how

buckfasterer wrote:

Good god, Newstalk are still playing the Trump is the devil card. Fed up of these comparisons to Hitler and pulling the soundbites of all these people at protests that are so hard done by.

wnolan1992 wrote:

Plus, NT are just playing to the gallery. Willing to bet that the number of their listeners who support Trump is minimal compared to those that find him abhorrent.

If they changed their opinions people would be on here accusing them of being hypocritical.

Tell me how

buckfasterer wrote:

Good god, Newstalk are still playing the Trump is the devil card. Fed up of these comparisons to Hitler and pulling the soundbites of all these people at protests that are so hard done by.

wnolan1992 wrote:

Plus, NT are just playing to the gallery. Willing to bet that the number of their listeners who support Trump is minimal compared to those that find him abhorrent.

If they changed their opinions people would be on here accusing them of being hypocritical.

terrydel

As for Alan Quinlan, jesus hes an in articulate fecker.
Dreadful, only sport he has any knowledge of is his own. And even then he is no wordsmith!

barryegan

I just think of this whenever he's on.

PeterTheNinth

Great stuff from Sarah here. Really sticking it to this mumbling champagne socialist. Another one of our much lauded >100K a year socialists.

buckfasterer

PeterTheNinth wrote: »

Great stuff from Sarah here. Really sticking it to this mumbling champagne socialist. Another one of our much lauded >100K a year socialists.

Just came on to post about this. She might not be the best on the radio but the way Jack O Conner treated her there was an absolute disgrace. Thought he could just bully her.