Newstalk: Off The Ball

And even if they did, they can't exactly offer the content for free today if I just signed up for a years subscription yesterday. Nobody knows how well or badly it is doing and anyone who says they know its doing badly is talking through their hole.

They could have huge overseas subscriber numbers where people can't listen to the radio 7-10pm or AM but like their content. Or the subscribers to Golf Weekly kept their subscription (a typically wealthy demograph of society these people are, so maybe they said "Grand, €8.33 a month, €3.33 extra a month - sign me up for the year"). That podcast had a lot of subscribers on Patreon I think it was when I tried it for a month……I think they had something like 8k subscribers @ €5 a month - retain even 1k of these = 100k per year.

Tack on advertising revenue on the show, and the numbers might not be as bad as the misery porn merchants on here wish it to be……Bauer Media might be just happy it is ticking along nicely.

I like some of the interviews and loved The Sunday Paper Review and the new defunct Slight Tangent but 75% of the content is just not sports I am overly interested in, partly because I have enough free content available if I do want to hear something.

But if I was a big rugby and soccer fan and wanted it all, then maybe I would sign up. But I'm passing interest levels in both so there's just not enough there for me in the rest.

And if they are making a good go of it, then best of luck to them.

He'll always be the man who pushed John Giles out of RTE to me.

I don't want to hear a single word he has to say about anything.

As bad as he is, I'd rather listen to the meanderings of an all time legend that the jumped-up assertions of an obnoxious prck like Nugent.

But what do you really think?

I don't get the hate for Nugent. He was a grand commentator. And commentators can occasionally bring insight as a pundit (if it's a rare event) - George Hamilton is very good too the odd time.

And with regards to Giles, he should have stepped down from TV before he did, he should have stepped down from radio long ago too, it's quite sad.

You would think James Tracy was a top international. Only 8 decent teams in the world and all our players world class until they get found out.

Its absolutely mental, they had both ROG and Quinlan on this morning in back-to-back slots talking about the exactly same stuff they have been they've been covering every single day for the past month at this stage.

I like rugby and all, but I find myself turning it off now as its just painfully repetitive. Discussing the various outhalf combinations every single day for the bones of a month is just too much.

Edit: ROG is always an interesting listen to be fair, he gives a unique insight into the dressing room and the mind of a coach.

Sport analysis needs to be clicks, hits and likes or people won't bother with it. The latter - proper analysis - is for the real geeks of a sport.

I'd love to see Roy Keane or Eamonn Dunphy break down what went on in a move that lead to a goal like the guys on Match Of The Day do for example. It hasn't gone down the soundbite route and is sticking to its traditional roots - the show is better for it.

So I'm with the OTB lads here - do proper analysis rather than stuff for the clicks.

Producer, and Screen Time host, John Fardy also deployed.

The reason for rugby's disproportionate coverage is similar to why they went subscription on Golf Weekly a long time ago. Revenue.

Rugby, like Golf is traditionally followed by higher net worth demographics and so presumably OTB can get greater advertisement revenue from brands that want to be associated with it. Bank Of Ireland etc.

I noticed they're running a rugby road show soon pre 6 Nations. 23 euros. These demographics tend to have more disposable income and again this is why OTB try to cater to them.

When did they start to charge for the roadshows?

I thought they used to say tickets were free but you had to register on the website or something like that

so rugby is not the “team of us” then! Who’d have guessed.

Roadshows were never free I don't think, at least not in the last few years. "Register" = give your name and cough up if I remember the last time, albeit my friend booked the tickets.

Fair play

Thanks for sharing

Or even better, spend time listening to people who you actively dislike so you have stuff to complain on a website about!