Second Captains Part II

I wonder will Dion Fanning be in the doghouse for the next while, after his silent performance during Joe Brolly’s latest disgrace

These are users who feel that Gavin has been harshly treated in this affair, I'm not sure there's much utility trying to invoke logic here.

podcast is now just a money making exercise for McDevitt and Murph

Turning into corporate shills.

I’m sorry but what billionaires do you know that both travel up the day before match and can afford a completely optional night in a Dublin hotel? There’s no way this could have been their logic.

Some speculation today in the Indo that Second Captains could be taking on the new RTE sports slot at 6pm.

Hopefully that's nonsense like much of the Indo's reporting usually is.

Now the biggest question mark in the new schedule line-up centres on the sports show that Monahan promised would be announced for weekday evenings.

This weekend, a source told the Sunday Independent there is intense interest in what RTÉ will unveil for that slot.

“Speculation is rife that Second Captains are in talks with RTÉ,” said the insider. The team specialises in podcasts and radio and already has a weekend show, Second Captains Saturday, on Radio 1.

But money could prove to be a major sticking point in any negotiations, given that RTÉ has a pay cap in place. According to 2023 accounts for Second Captains Ltd, the directors that year shared a pay pot of €817,000.

The company’s accounts showed that Eoin McDevitt, Ken Early, Ciarán Murphy, Simon Hick and Mark Horgan were each paid €149,000 for work carried out in 2023. The five also shared an additional €72,000 in pay to directors in the same year, an average of €14,400 each.

When contacted by the Sunday Inde­pendent this weekend and asked if Second Captains was in line to take over in the sports slot, two members of the team said: “No comment.”

One media insider said there are ways RTÉ could get around the money issue.

“Doing the show as an independent production would mean they could get access to all the Second Captains team without having to do individual staff contracts,” they said. “It’s like buying a pre-agreed package of presenters and production for an agreed fee. It is a great way to avoid the scrutiny of the published pay reports.”

In 2013, the same team, who produced Off The Ball, left Newstalk and set up Second Captains.

The 'No comment' from two of them would suggest they are in talks at the very least.

who’s this four eyed gimp on Sunday supplement? His voice is familiar from the show.

it would probably result in a lot more content which is a good thing. I would assume the podcasts then ends or merges with RTE ?

ah yes, thanks

Ugh, really hope they don't move. There's no chance I'd listen to the radio in the evening. I'm sure they'd have some sort of listen back feature, but I love the way it is now. They've created something special.

personally I thought their off the ball was a superior product to second captains.

Had better audience interaction and could react to live sport.