Newstalk Megathread

mike65

My breakdown of the hour between 8 and 9 am takes place in the following important context - Ger Gilroy was away so Clair Byrne did the show solo. This meant no bandinage and also reduced the oppotunites for random plugging and pleas for "txts at 30c"

8 News Bulletin Headline -Cancer Diagnosis, Murder Trail Impact Statement, EU Treaty of Lisbon Bill

Stories - Cancer, Ambulence Service Strike Threat, Impact Statement

8.03 News in brief

8.04 Eu treaty Bill (why was this after News briefs?)

8.06 Business Heads - Oil prices /McInerny statement

8.07 Sport headlines/Weather

8.07 Clair Byrne ramble about forthcoming attactions, plea for texts, e-mail and calls

8.08 Brian Kearney Story Audio of family statement outside court FG spokesperson for Justice on phone (off tape) Legal discssion between Byrne and University chappie who is often on Newstalk ends with text plea.

8.16 Cancer story, interview with Niall O'Higgins who formulated cancer action plan in late 90s.

8.23 Ad break

8.25 Buisness news - opening prices, oil price, Forbes rich list, McInerny statement, ECB interest rates

8.28 Pleas for texts, texts read out

8.30 News heads/weather/traffic/sport

8.35 Coming attractions ramble

8.36 Paddy Power sponsered competition

8.38 Ad break

8.41 Bray firefighters widow interviewed (Bertie Ahern to visit Bray today)

8.48 Brenda Power in-studio promo.

8.48 Rugby - George Hook off tape followed by JJ Williams on phone regarding Ireland-Wales match

8.51 Ad Break

8.53 Buisness update - repeats earlier stories only with added chat.

8.56 Fire fighters rep message read out by Byrne.

8.57 Paddy Power competition winner announced

8.58 Wind up and exit.

Looking through that list its fair to say there are only two items of any substance - the impact statement discussion and cancer plan chat with Niall O'Higgins.

Had Gilroy been in studio the previous nights Champions League results would have been gone into and more on rugby too no doubt.

Mike.

brettmirl

Oh one more thing I noticed from Tuesday's show was they kept refering to the fact it was "a specially extended breakfast show"....as they "had been on air since 6am."

Not quite sure why they had to keep telling me that they had been on air since 6am, when I tuned in after 7.30.

Dub13

mick_irl wrote: »

Not quite sure why they had to keep telling me that they had been on air since 6am, when I tuned in after 7.30.

:D...

dublinmadyoke

mick_irl wrote: »

Oh one more thing I noticed from Tuesday's show was they kept refering to the fact it was "a specially extended breakfast show"....as they "had been on air since 6am."

Not quite sure why they had to keep telling me that they had been on air since 6am, when I tuned in after 7.30.

Who bleeding cares if they were there at 6am build a bridge!!!!

radiofeed

mike65 wrote: »

My breakdown of the hour between 8 and 9 am takes place in the following important context - Ger Gilroy was away so Clair Byrne did the show solo. This meant no bandinage and also reduced the oppotunites for random plugging and pleas for "txts at 30c"

8 News Bulletin Headline -Cancer Diagnosis, Murder Trail Impact Statement, EU Treaty of Lisbon Bill

Stories - Cancer, Ambulence Service Strike Threat, Impact Statement

8.03 News in brief

8.04 Eu treaty Bill (why was this after News briefs?)

8.06 Business Heads - Oil prices /McInerny statement

8.07 Sport headlines/Weather

8.07 Clair Byrne ramble about forthcoming attactions, plea for texts, e-mail and calls

8.08 Brian Kearney Story Audio of family statement outside court FG spokesperson for Justice on phone (off tape) Legal discssion between Byrne and University chappie who is often on Newstalk ends with text plea.

8.16 Cancer story, interview with Niall O'Higgins who formulated cancer action plan in late 90s.

8.23 Ad break

8.25 Buisness news - opening prices, oil price, Forbes rich list, McInerny statement, ECB interest rates

8.28 Pleas for texts, texts read out

8.30 News heads/weather/traffic/sport

8.35 Coming attractions ramble

8.36 Paddy Power sponsered competition

8.38 Ad break

8.41 Bray firefighters widow interviewed (Bertie Ahern to visit Bray today)

8.48 Brenda Power in-studio promo.

8.48 Rugby - George Hook off tape followed by JJ Williams on phone regarding Ireland-Wales match

8.51 Ad Break

8.53 Buisness update - repeats earlier stories only with added chat.

8.56 Fire fighters rep message read out by Byrne.

8.57 Paddy Power competition winner announced

8.58 Wind up and exit.

Looking through that list its fair to say there are only two items of any substance - the impact statement discussion and cancer plan chat with Niall O'Higgins.

Had Gilroy been in studio the previous nights Champions League results would have been gone into and more on rugby too no doubt.

Mike.

Thanks for the detail and the running order of the programme.

Why do you think there are only 2 items of any substance ? Define 'substance'.

Why do you think the absence of Gilroy meant less opportunity for text interaction ? Byrne had the same opportunities surely ?

You are clearly disparaging in your use of language, e.g. 'plea' for texts (call for texts perhaps ?) and 'rambling' for forward selling - so you're not a fan - but what point are you making ? What did you think of that hour ? Did it work ? Was it good / bad ?

I think the show sounds better with Byrne on her own, although Gilroy has his moments.

I like that there's a lot of items in an hour and for anyone who commutes in to Dublin from outside the pale, like I do - I feel informed by the time I get to the city. It ain't perfect, but it's now a credible option as a talk station.

It's easy to slag - but informed debate it better.

mike65

Ah a bumptious newbie! Welcome!

No-one here has any time for the 30c texting marlarky, and the relentless pimping of same across the schedule is one of Newstalks less endearing traits.

As for the programme, its better without Gilroy in my view. I find him pretty self-satisfied.

Substance is in the eye/ear of the beholder I guess but only two items could be considered hard news. The rest being bite-sized factiods, Gilroys absence meant there was one less person to make a "request" for texts, had Byrne made up his deficit it would have been embarrassing. Curiously none of the texts was related to the road conditions so maybe that's Gilroys "baby" and Byrne is not a fan. Anyone know who the shows producer is?

Mike.

GhostInTheRuins

Interesting break down mike.

I used to listen to newstalk all the time but about 6 months ago it started to go downhill. The constant "Text us now for 30c, we'd love to hear from you", ad break-news-ad break and the non stop repetition has really got to me now.

Brenda Power's crusade to become the saviour of the health service is irritating. Her and Orla Barry should be taken off the air.

The only show worth listening to is Moncreif and I've realised that the only part that I really enjoy anymore is when he has the etymologist on on mondays.

Stephen

Terry Dolan ftw

Got to agree with everyone else here, the constant pimping of the poxy 30c texts pisses me off big time. I find myself switching over to my MP3 player more and more.

Badabing

I listened in one day last week and i couldn't bear the constant reference to 'text us at a cost of 30 cent' etc.. found it very annoying, also very rushed no time to debate anything, the fact that it only gets 50,000 lisenters might suggest that a radical overhaul is needed.

uRbaN

the fact that it only gets 50,000 lisenters might suggest that a radical overhaul is needed.

Yes, maybe include prank phone calls in the style of an old granny....thats still funny these days right?

brettmirl

Perhaps it wouldn't grate as much if they didn't keep mentioning it cost 30c.

Unfortunately, they have to mention the cost of the text under Regtel rules...so maybe a change to free text or a standard text rate number would be the better option?

Agree with Mike65, the show does sound better with Byrne on her own. As I've said before, Ger only seems to light up when he is doing sports-related interviews. Listen to him when he is doing something he has no interest in...he 'sings' his links.

CrowdedHouse

Stephen wrote: »

Got to agree with everyone else here, the constant pimping of the poxy 30c texts pisses me off big time. I find myself switching over to my MP3 player more and more.

Same here it's really irritating,it's really miserly,they're like the chuggers you meet in the street.

I don't know how many texts they get but even say 100 an hour would hardly net them 20 quid once the telecos take their cut...are they going to spoil it for that much ?


Well done Mike on the breakdown.


Nice to see a Newstalk employee join the thread too

Big Tone

spank_inferno wrote: »

The morning show being in radio peak time is probably one of their advertising cash cows. They need to keep dragging in the money to keep denis o'brien rich.

DOB is not making money with NT, in fact he's sunk millions into it and its still a "loss leader". Just how far he is prepared to go with that fiscal disaster is anyones quess.

seamus

Big Tone wrote: »

DOB is not making money with NT, in fact he's sunk millions into it and its still a "loss leader". Just how far he is prepared to go with that fiscal disaster is anyones quess.

If he can turn it into tabloid talk radio, he could be onto a winner. Think about the Adrian Kennedy phone show, 14 hours a day.

berliner

Imagine working with a babe like claire byrne every morning.Jammy git gilroy!

Dub13

seamus wrote: »

If he can turn it into tabloid talk radio, he could be onto a winner. Think about the Adrian Kennedy phone show, 14 hours a day.

Dear god no.....would they go for that kind of stuff outside 'the big smoke'...?

GhostInTheRuins

Dub13 wrote: »

Dear god no.....would they go for that kind of stuff outside 'the big smoke'...?

Of course they would, there are idiots everywhere.

Greenman

D.T. Jesus wrote: »

The only show worth listening to is Moncreif .

I like Down to business with Damien Kiberd, thats a very interesting show.

Grinderman

I am also a little annoyed about the texts, the price and frequency of pimping. I used to listen about 3 years ago and would send about 3-4 FREE emails per morning, pretty much everyone of them was read out, also won 2 prizes.
Then i guess about a year ago absolutely no emails were read out but my texts were, recently i might send 3 texts a day, somedays none get read out (some of them are hilarious messages that dont get shared). Think i will stop and tighten the financial belt for the storm ahead.

Will still listen to Brendas show, she is really fecking with the HSE press guy Alex Connely (apparently earning over 100,000 euro) who is hiding like a 4year old under his expensive HSE desk.
Garry

Grinderman

Greenman wrote: »

I like Down to business with Damien Kiberd, thats a very interesting show.

love that show, pity he is no longer on mon-fri, he has an excellent radio voice. Not my type by the way

mike65

Damien Kiberd is the unsung hero of Newstalk, whenever someone is off on holliers, he will stand in and improve the slot - his stint on breakfast last August/Sept was exellent as he is on Lunchtime when called for while doing his own Saturday business digest which is the best of the three such progs on the radio (RTEs comes last).

Mike.

ps he is not my dad.

DMC

Good stuff on the breakdown there as well Mike.

mike65 wrote: »

Damien Kiberd is the unsung hero of Newstalk,

QFT.

He was outstanding as a regular presenter at lunchtime, when I used to listen to Newstalk quite a lot. But not any more. Off The Ball might be listened to on occasion, yet everything else is a shed.

Amz

I like Down to Business with Kiberd, but when he was doing Lunchtime he could get quite irritating. His attempted lame jokes were a bit tedious, particularly when he tried to make one without knowing what he was on about. Made for a cringefest at times.

I used to enjoy Eamonn Keane, but find his "sketches" and "re-enactments" a little tedious and have to switch off, his attempted accents are dire.

Love Off the Ball and the Saturday and Sunday sports show.

Nordwind

I love the station. Granted there are bits that annoy me at times and that I try and avoid but you can't have it all good. Favourites would be the morning show, off the ball, monchrief, talking history and all the sport at the weekend.

ronbyrne2005

What annoys me is the updates on the business on breakfast show and Right Hook. Claire "Conor, whats the latest from the ISEQ" Conor " Up 3points or .05%". Anyone who needs to know the latest movements from any stock market or business news will have access to such data on a computer or mobile device. They should only have in depth original business stories/analysis, its good when the have good economic commentators like Alan Ahern, Jim Power etc on doing a longish piece.

RTE radio one do business much better anyway so I dont see point filling limited time with unneccssary updates and short uninformitive interviews with CEOs etc

GhostInTheRuins

Forget what I said about the only thing worth listening to is Moncreif. I don't know how I forgot this but newstalk on the weekend is much, much better than weekdays. And, perhaps it's just my imagination, but there are less 'text us for 30c' pleas.

DeVore

RadioFeed was a Newstalk shill.

The following are also people who have posted from the same location...

120_Minutes
Andrew 83
bango1
bill_haverchuk
blairgar
bonkers
Butros
Cats111
Cookpasbabtridg
daisyplant
diego
Dudess
HelenRadio
MissyC
mittens
newstalk
Phelim 3:16
radiofeed
RadioGirl
silvine
thefuturehead
YourCall
Zipper

DeV.

GhostInTheRuins

That's an awful lot of shills (Except Dudess of course )

Time Magazine

DeVore wrote: »

RadioFeed was a Newstalk shill.

The following are also people who have posted from the same location...

Andrew 83
Dudess

Boyfriend of Showbiz mod and AH mod in Newstalk shill shocker??!

Stargal

Ibid wrote: »

Boyfriend of Showbiz mod and AH mod in Newstalk shill shocker??!

Omg, my man is a shill? He was just using me to get to boards?

/cries

Time Magazine

Well he certainly isn't with you for your personality.

Stargal

It must be my wit, my brains and legs that go all the way down to the floor, my friend.

Dudess

I can explain!

I did freelance work on and off in NewsTalk last year. Stargal, presume your bloke works/worked there too?

mike65

Radiofeed a Newstalk shill? Well knock me down with a feather duster.

Ohhhhhhhhhh! Dudess, naughty naughty

Well done on 6000 posts btw

Mike.

Dudess

Why thank you! Coming from you, Mike (second only to Victor in the post count stakes) that is indeed a compliment .

No shill, no shill! I only posted from that computer...

Stargal

Dudess wrote: »

I can explain!

I did freelance work on and off in NewsTalk last year. Stargal, presume your bloke works/worked there too?

Yep, exactly the same thing, he was a freelance researcher there for a while last year.

tSubh Dearg

And we're done.

Could we all please go back to discussing Newstalk as a station as opposed to who is and who is not a Newstalk shill.

Thank you.

FlutterinBantam

Why is there a "t" in front of your nick??

Should it not be Subh Dearg ...IMO the t only goes in when it's "An tSubh Dearg"

Just wondering??

meanwhile back on topic....

Yes... keep the discussion to newstalk and stay away from accusations of shills.

DeVore

To conclude. I named RadioFeed as a shill, the others I pointed out posted from that location. Not necessaraily shills, everyone has to work somewhere and will probably be interested in the topic their job involves. The difference is pretending you DONT work there. I felt this conversation would benefit from that list and the information about Radiofeed.
Lets not get off on a shill-hunt, back on topic pls.


DeV.

cuckoo

jumping in on the topic/

As annoying as the '30c pleas' are, Newstalk is still the insomniac's friend. But....the constant 'different station/different nation...' ads that they repeat all night are annoying. So, any Newstalk staff reading this - could you do up a few new ads? Thks.

I wonder if the producer for the Eamonn Keane lunch time show have a tight hold over him or he really is all over the place when interviewing politicans. He seems to be going in for the kill, really pressing the politico on whatever issue....then out of nowhere it's all 'ah, yes, minister, sure we've talked about this in the past with all the hard work you've done on it' and whooosh, move on to chit chat about the minister's holiday plans.

mike65

Eamon Keane suffers from Dunphy Syndome - you appear to be a bad bastard but are in fact a contrary pussy cat when push comes to shove. No-one is willing to take a real stand as they inhabit the same watering holes.

Mike.

FlutterinBantam

Excellent post... spot on

Firetrap

Full marks to the Einstein in Newstalk who thought up the idea of broadcasting Extra Time from a pub in Cork. Maybe they do this a lot but it was my first time listening in. And boy did it make for some Alan Partridge moments Between drunks declaring live on air that Eddie O'Sullivan was a bøllocks and the crowd failing to give Will Carling a cheer after a telephone interview, it was good fun.

brettmirl

You mean Extra Time - The Sports Fans Phone In Show?

The only show on Newstalk that plugs the 30c text line more than the Breakfast Show?

betonit

i was listening to that show in the car yesterday. I said they cant be serious they're not going to interview guys live in a pub after the match. I was waiting for alot worse than "b%llocks". The worst part of it was, when after the first guy said b&llocks he asked his buddy the same question and quess what the buddy said....

mike65

If you woke up and forgot it was a public holliday Newstalk helpfully reminded you by not even bothering with a cutdown version of the Breakfast Show. RTE managed to get thier lazy asses out of bed for 8 am.

Mike.

connundrum

seamus wrote: »

Ger Gilroy reads boards. Hi Ger!

The show used to be much more serious but it's starting to get tabloid now - bringing up relative non-issues and just giving tasters of them without any serious discussion.

They've also started having the hosts doing the ads now, "Yeah Carlton Hotels are fab" aswell as the standard "Sponsored by" jingle. I think they're trying to figure how many ways they can possible generate cash.

They may have taken a leaf out of M O'Leary's book in this regard.. every available space is an advertising opportunity! Unfortunately they are a privately owned company, and must be allowed advertise when they want and in whatever manner they want. That said, it doesn't bode well for the station when the listener feels like they are listening to advertorials all day.

I remember when I was in control of advertising for my previous employer. I met with one of their sales staff and was basicically promised editorial time on two or more programmes should I choose to spend with them... this didn't shock me as we were already courting many Sunday Papers in the same manner. The news you think you're hearing is carefully scripted, but then again, we all knew that.

Mossy Monk

I am really fed up of that woman who announces the sponsor of each individual program. Her voice and over prononciation of everything goes through my head.

Ginny

What annoys me about Newstalk(other then the calls for texts) is the way each program ends 5 minutes before its scheduled to, moncreiff regularly ends at 4:25 these days to fit more ads in, only a small issue but bloody annoying.
Also, I really hope theres noone in Dublin texting in about the traffic in the mornings waste of 30c, just tune over to DCFM.
Oh and was it DK who orginally did the lunch show with hidden history etc?

betonit

are they over doing it for a "commercial" radio station??