Is it time for Bowman's Sunday to finish?

bobbyss

The same introduction. The same music. The same monotone. This has been on for ages. It is such a wet blanket on a Sunday morning.

I get the feeling that as Bowman has been such a stalwart for RTE over the years that it was decided to give him a program that he is interested in making and let him off to do that. To keep him in a job.

RTE needs to freshen itself up. Has there ever been an evaluation of this programme by RTE? It must be pulling in the numbers to sustain itself for so long.

'Continuing our four part series on Brendan Corishs' journey into politics: The empty years'. Something like that hardly inspires.

Dick Tation

I thought that an interesting voice would be a requirement for working on radio, particularly our national radio station. I have heard more interesting voices on text to voice apps. How Bowman gets away with this is another sign of the tail wagging the dog at our national broadcaster. As for his signature tune............... it makes my dog howl.

foxtrot101

I like it. Topics can be a bit and hit and miss, but mostly it's interesting.

Arthur Daley

So depressing on a dark auld wet winters sunday morning if the radio alarm comes on while this show is aired. It's a serious show and probably has some merit but lose the death march music and lighten the air a little man.

Cannon_fodder

Yeah, between 8.30 and 10 is a real borefeast. Perhaps the "World report" should an hour long as it is more entertaining. The 9 to 10 segment should be 12 hours later.

zoobizoo

I like it on in the background and when a topic is of interest, I turn up the volume.

Oops69

It's marginally better than Ciaran Mc mathura on 'mo cheol thu ' which preceded it , reminds me of how depressing ireland was back in the eighties on a Sunday with everything closed .

la ultima guagua

Give it up or die with his headphones on ?

Give it up !

( so long as Cathal whathisname does not replace him )

bobbyss

Oops69 wrote:

It's marginally better than Ciaran Mc mathura on 'mo cheol thu ' which preceded it , reminds me of how depressing ireland was back in the eighties on a Sunday with everything closed .

Yeah there was such a drearyness to him now that you mention it. It would make you wonder how on earth he became a broadcaster at all. In fact how DO you become a ' broadcaster'. And what is a broadcaster anyway? How do they differ from DJs and ' presenters'?

Oops69

bobbyss wrote: »

Yeah there was such a drearyness to him now that you mention it. It would make you wonder how on earth he became a broadcaster at all. In fact how DO you become a ' broadcaster'. And what is a broadcaster anyway? How do they differ from DJs and ' presenters'?

Joe Duffy is one so there's definitely no rules /career path/ learning re professional ethics etc. etc. , the most useful attribute for a potential broadcaster is probably ' neck '.

Ursus Horribilis

Perhaps it's ticking some sort of public service remit box?

BarryD2

Oops69 wrote: »

It's marginally better than Ciaran Mc mathura on 'mo cheol thu ' which preceded it , reminds me of how depressing ireland was back in the eighties on a Sunday with everything closed .

Liked Ciaran myself, though he did tend to have a bit of a playlist.

Bowman? It's OK but the show takes itself too seriously IMO. Not helped by the ritual list of credits at the end - 'this show was based on original interviews by bla, bla, bla..'

speak_easy

bowman is an old school civil servant type ( though the best kind ) broadcaster of the kind RTE bred down the years , always liked his sunday show but i love nostalgia of any kind and the man knows his history

he is unashamedly an academic but i have always found him interesting

mrsdewinter

I feel like I should weigh in here and say, John Bowman is an excellent broadcaster, and brings academic rigour to whatever subject he is addressing. But the truth is I haven't heard this show in aaages. But the last time I heard it, I remember thinking, he needs a producer, or somebody to bounce ideas off. From memory, he'll start a series on something pretty interesting that is relevant to an anniversary or a recent death. But the series will run for so long that I'll have forgotten why I'm supposed to care. I also find it frustrating that a podcast of the programme is not available, so if I hear part 1 of, em, Brendan Corish, I guess, and miss part 2, I'll never be able to track it down. I'm sure it's down to copyright issues in relation to the interviews but it's a great pity.

bobbyss

mrsdewinter wrote:

I feel like I should weigh in here and say, John Bowman is an excellent broadcaster, and brings academic rigour to whatever subject he is addressing. But the truth is I haven't heard this show in aaages. But the last time I heard it, I remember thinking, he needs a producer, or somebody to bounce ideas off. From memory, he'll start a series on something pretty interesting that is relevant to an anniversary or a recent death. But the series will run for so long that I'll have forgotten why I'm supposed to care. I also find it frustrating that a podcast of the programme is not available, so if I hear part 1 of, em, Brendan Corish, I guess, and miss part 2, I'll never be able to track it down. I'm sure it's down to copyright issues in relation to the interviews but it's a great pity.

mrsdewinter wrote:

I feel like I should weigh in here and say, John Bowman is an excellent broadcaster, and brings academic rigour to whatever subject he is addressing. But the truth is I haven't heard this show in aaages. But the last time I heard it, I remember thinking, he needs a producer, or somebody to bounce ideas off. From memory, he'll start a series on something pretty interesting that is relevant to an anniversary or a recent death. But the series will run for so long that I'll have forgotten why I'm supposed to care. I also find it frustrating that a podcast of the programme is not available, so if I hear part 1 of, em, Brendan Corish, I guess, and miss part 2, I'll never be able to track it down. I'm sure it's down to copyright issues in relation to the interviews but it's a great pity.

Yeah I like him too. A real pro. Modest too. Always knows much more than interviewee and he never displays that. You may be right re producer. Endless episodes about stuff that go on and on. Maybe a rejigging is needed. Maybe sharing the programme with someone whose qualities he lacks. But at the moment it's dull fare and tedious radio. I always wonder why some programmes and presenters are chipped and changed e.g. Mooney and Late Date presenters while others are untouched like Bowman.

feargale

bobbyss wrote: »

Yeah there was such a drearyness to him now that you mention it. It would make you wonder how on earth he became a broadcaster at all. In fact how DO you become a ' broadcaster'. And what is a broadcaster anyway? How do they differ from DJs and ' presenters'?

How do you become a broadcaster? I would think that knowing what you're talking about is a help. Ciarán Mac Mathúna did and so does Bowman. Better to listen to what they are saying than to analyse and parse it like a schoolteacher. Maybe those who disliked Ciarán's voice simply disliked his subject.

bobbyss

feargale wrote:

How do you become a broadcaster? I would think that knowing what you're talking about is a help. Ciarán Mac Mathúna did and so does Bowman. Better to listen to what they are saying than to analyse and parse it like a schoolteacher. Maybe those who disliked Ciarán's voice simply disliked his subject.

Of course you are right. You do need to know what you are talking about. Ciaran was on RTE so long he clearly did. But knowing what you are talking about isn't really enough to make you an interesting person or have an interesting programme. He lacked so many other qualities. I just think he was dull and boring. Listening to what they are saying is difficult when you are listening to a monotonous voice which is what I think both of them have. Am very interested in current affairs.

strewelpeter

Its now the best quality program on Radio 1's weekend morning schedule IMO. There was a time it wouldn't have made the top 5 and it isn't that it has improved, its just as good as it always was.

bobbyss

bobbyss wrote: »

Yeah there was such a drearyness to him now that you mention it. It would make you wonder how on earth he became a broadcaster at all. In fact how DO you become a ' broadcaster'. And what is a broadcaster anyway? How do they differ from DJs and ' presenters'?

Well being a DJ, i.e. a disc jockey, obviously pertains to presenting music-based content.

The terms presenter and broadcaster can be interchangeable, but as a rule of thumb, I would suggest a broadcaster to be a person who has in the past, and maybe over a long period, presented an assortment of individual shows, often on different subject topics.

Therefore Cathal Murray, who presents Late Date, would be someone I'd describe as a radio presenter.

But someone like Terry Wogan, Mike Murphy, Gay Byrne, Marian Finucane, and Joe Duffy, who have/ had built up careers presenting content across various topics and programmes, are more accurately described as broadcasters.

All of the above are presenters in reference to one particular programme, but broadcasters in terms of their career output.

That's not a fixed rule, but it would seem to me to be a roughly appropriate rule of thumb.

Ursus Horribilis

I think the suggestions of him having a new producer or a sidekick are good ones. He's one of RTE's longest serving presenters (think he might be one of the few still broadcasting who were there on Day 1 of RTE TV) and he has an enormous depth of knowledge. I've always found him a bit dry but he is a throwback to another era when presenters didn't let their personality come through.

dxhound2005

If only the archives were full of really interesting stuff from the old days. But it is not possible to reinvent the past, so Bowman is stuck with what is on record. It may as well continue in the present vein, and it wouldn't matter who did the presentation.

One thing is for sure. Whatever replaced it would be condemned left right and centre on this forum.

bobbyss

Ursus Horribilis wrote:

I think the suggestions of him having a new producer or a sidekick are good ones. He's one of RTE's longest serving presenters (think he might be one of the few still broadcasting who were there on Day 1 of RTE TV) and he has an enormous depth of knowledge. I've always found him a bit dry but he is a throwback to another era when presenters didn't let their personality come through.

The number of people who claim to have been there on opening night ... 1916 proportions!

bobbyss

Conor Cruise O'Brien droning on and on about Ireland being united by consent. This seems like his fourth week on Bowman but I think it's actually his second. Some anniversary or other. How out of touch the programme is. How tedious.

seamusk84

I don't know I sort of enjoy it. Then again I enjoy archive programmes and aside from the much repeated Reeling in the years, this is the only other one RTE air on TV or Radio.

Some of the episodes can be a bit boring though.....Like this mornings.

MikeyTaylor

I think it should be moved to 11am-1pm.

bobbyss

This morning he featured Tommy O'Brien. Yet it only seemed like yesterday O'Brien was featured. And no doubt when it comes to his 35th anniversary we will again have the same set.

How many times have we heard John McCormack on this programme? Todd Andrews?