Newstalk Megathread

Rubik.

Dub13 wrote: »

How come she is back...?were the other 2 that bad..?

Apparently, they were signed up to do the whole week, but (the source is the Daily Mail so may or may not be true) were dropped after 2 days because "alarmed" producers feared a ratings disaster. So Sile Seoige, "who had impressed", station bosses was reinstated.

The station said the reaction to Seoige from the listeners had been fantastic because she is "down to earth, genuine and energetic".

I thought her shows were deadly dull myself and didn't think she was really suited to radio.

delaad

Rubik. wrote: »

Apparently, they were signed up to do the whole week, but (the source is the Daily Mail so may or may not be true) were dropped after 2 days because "alarmed" producers feared a ratings disaster. So Sile Seoige, "who had impressed", station bosses was reinstated.

The station said the reaction to Seoige from the listeners had been fantastic because she is "down to earth, genuine and energetic".

I thought her shows were deadly dull myself and didn't think she was really suited to radio.

Grand girl Sile, but if it wasn't for "the songs about the weather", "songs with girls' names in", etc, there could have been a lot of dead air.

Having said that, have to admire her enthusiasm, energy and good nature, nonetheless, and the way she kept the show on the road!

DEFTLEFTHAND

I think Ger Gilroy would be more suited to reading the sports bulletins or working behind the scenes in some capacity. 5 hours of live broadcasting from him every saturday and sunday is just too much for me to take.

Rubik.

He's a big improvement on his predecessor.

el diablo

Rubik. wrote: »

He's a big improvement on his predecessor.

Jurry O'Sullivan? :rolleyes:

robo

According to tomorrows Sunday Tribune, Conor Brophy (Business Editor) is working out his notice before leaving for RTE also! And another unnamed high-profile presenter at Newstalk has made quiet queries about leaving Newstalk for RTE.
No link to the article online til tomorrow evening at 6pm!

themont85

robo wrote: »

According to tomorrows Sunday Tribune, Conor Brophy (Business Editor) is working out his notice before leaving for RTE also! And another unnamed high-profile presenter at Newstalk has made quiet queries about leaving Newstalk for RTE.
No link to the article online til tomorrow evening at 6pm!

Rats fleeing from a sinking ship.

NT need to do something drastic in my opinion. The Last Word is a brand which is recognisable the country over. Currently Communicorp have Hook and Cooper against one another, not to mention Mary Wilson, McGuirk and various local stations having current news at the drivetime slot. Bringing the Last Word over to NT would allow them to move Hook to Breakfast and maybe push Yates to lunchtime. It would obviousely weaken Today FM but maybe they could play music at the drive couple of hours and look to another slot to fufill their speech requirments.

robo

I always wondered why 2 stations under the same management or company would have 2 similiar programmes (Last Word & Hook) broadcast at the same time, fighting for listeners, having the same topics on(sometimes with the same contributors). It would make sense to have one Current Affairs show. Preferably with Cooper!

themont85

robo wrote: »

I always wondered why 2 stations under the same management or company would have 2 similiar programmes (Last Word & Hook) broadcast at the same time, fighting for listeners, having the same topics on(sometimes with the same contributors). It would make sense to have one Current Affairs show. Preferably with Cooper!

In fairness to Hook he has held his own in that slot, one of the most competative in Irish radio with so much like for like going round. the 4.30 through to 10 o'clock slot is IIRC the only slot that has pretty much remained unchanged since its inception, barring of course Gilroy moving and making way for McDevitt. Moncrieff has been there for a while but I'm pretty sure that there was a culture/arts show back in 2003/2004 days.

Cooper is definately stronger though and he would carry listeners over, exactly the type NT needs to attract more of who probably never bother to switch from between RTÉ 1/The Last Word to anywhere else. Mary Wilson is there for the taking and I'm sure combining the Hook/Cooper audience would clean up at that hour. Hook could carry a two to three hour breakfast show. Morning Ireland is a giant but NT just needs a solid stable audience, something they have never had at that slot, Hook IMO would increase their audience at that time and whilst I doubt anyone would get near their figures he would deliver a better audience than what is there currentlly. NT currently has no competative advantage over RTÉ head to head, the Last Word could imo get them that particularly with one less mouth at that time.

Badabing

Newstalk are in big trouble despite Cronin putting a spin on it today, before Yates starts new look breakfast show their main buisness guy is leaving. Have they fillred the Lunchtime gig yet? Tom Dunne losing an hour is a admission of failure on his part to attract listeners.

mike65

Maybe they could get George Lee in

It'll be interesting to see who RTE have nicked and what the terms and conditions are (ie wage hike). Moncreiff or Tom Dunne seems most likely over to 2FM.

Lenny Lovett

mike65 wrote: »

Maybe they could get George Lee in

It'll be interesting to see who RTE have nicked and what the terms and conditions are (ie wage hike). Moncreiff or Tom Dunne seems most likely over to 2FM.

Who would RTE be after? As you say Moncrieff or Dunne, I reckon Ivan Yates as he's been called on by them quite often during the year for political analysis on Pat Kenny's show and Drivetime but if it's the others, for what role? RTE have several experienced broadcasters sitting around with no definite job for them (George Lee, Charlie Bird, Philip Boucher Hayes etc etc)

Rubik.

Where would RTE put Yates though. Possibly presenting a late Debate-type programme, but as you said they already have the likes of Bird and Boucher-Hayes not doing very much. I heard him doing a promo for the new breakfast show earlier on, so his departure doesn't look to be imminent.

If Moncrieff was to leave on top of all the other coming and goings, they might as well take the station off air and give up.

littlefriend

I thought Hook was meant to be going to the morning show? How come they advertising it so much for Ivan Yates then?

I think somebody else's idea of
Hook on breakfast
Yates on lunch
Moncrief as is
Cooper on drivetime
is a good one.
I don't know if Yates would be interested in a lunch time show though ego wise.

I like Tom Dunne as he seems like a nice person and he is actually quite funny but he struggles with that show. I don't think it is solely his fault though as he isn't given much to work with in terms of guests or content etc.

Just struck me how male dominated it is there.

Rubik.

robo wrote: »

According to tomorrows Sunday Tribune, Conor Brophy (Business Editor) is working out his notice before leaving for RTE also! And another unnamed high-profile presenter at Newstalk has made quiet queries about leaving Newstalk for RTE.
No link to the article online til tomorrow evening at 6pm!

http://www.tribune.ie/article/2010/aug/29/newstalk-loses-yet-another-host-to-rte/?q=newstalk

In any interview of Frank Cronins that I have read, he always comes out with these weird managent-speak phrases. Which, to me, makes him sound like a bit of a spoofer.

Poly

"And another unnamed high-profile presenter at Newstalk has made quiet queries about leaving Newstalk for RTE."

I hope it's not Moncreiff, I'm sure NT realise he’s a valuable asset. My fear is he would just be “collected” by RTE and used to fill gaps in the schedule and not given the prime time he deserves.

It would be terrible to see him playing second fiddle to twits like Tubs, Mooney,Hayes etc.

Dub13

It goes to show you how hypocritical most of them are as I have heard most of the Newstalk presenters giving out about the RTE salaries at some stage,yet given half the chance off they go.

Lenny Lovett

Dub13 wrote: »

It goes to show you how hypocritical most of them are as I have heard most of the Newstalk presenters giving out about the RTE salaries at some stage,yet given half the chance off they go.

Ah, c'mon. Do you mean you wouldn't go to work for a competitor if they were paying a lot more money? Of course you would. You'd me nuts if you didn't...

Poly

Ivan's new format is pretty good, it's refresing to have some meaningful discussion in the 9-10 slot

Dub13

Lenny Lovett wrote: »

Ah, c'mon. Do you mean you wouldn't go to work for a competitor if they were paying a lot more money? Of course you would. You'd me nuts if you didn't...

Its not about me or you as we are not preaching to tens of thousand's of people on a daily basses about how ridiculous the RTE wage bill is.I just think they lose a bit of credibility if they pop up on RTE after giving it loads while at NT.

Lenny Lovett

Dub13 wrote: »

I just think they lose a bit of credibility if they pop up on RTE after giving it loads while at NT.

Sure. Point taken, but you must also accept that every (or almost every) Radio and possibly TV worker in Ireland strives to work at RTE one day. One of the main reasons being the kudos attached to working for the state broadcaster with it's variety, resources and facilities but also because it is well known that it is one of the best payers for on air talent in Europe.

Poly

Lenny Lovett wrote: »

but also because it is well known that it is one of the best payers for on air talent in Europe.

best payers for talentless twits and absent presenters too.

Dub13

Lenny Lovett wrote: »

Sure. Point taken, but you must also accept that every (or almost every) Radio and possibly TV worker in Ireland strives to work at RTE one day. One of the main reasons being the kudos attached to working for the state broadcaster with it's variety, resources and facilities but also because it is well known that it is one of the best payers for on air talent in Europe.

Yea I am sure they are in a catch 22 type of situation.

Lenny Lovett

Just listening to Ivan Yates now (forgot about his new slot) and he sounds good. He'll be better off without Claire chucking in here silly comments from time to time. Not much of the much hyped phone ins though...

quarryman

Poly wrote: »

Ivan's new format is pretty good, it's refresing to have some meaningful discussion in the 9-10 slot

+1

constitutionus

i thought it was alright up to the last half hour which seems to be in the main sport orientated which i fecking LOATH.

theres enough bloody sports coverage as it is without more in the morning.

but that said its nice to have something to listen to all the way up to pat kenny which is what i think the whole aim of this move is.

i can see him potentially getting aload of listeners switching over to him to escape the fluff.

Lenny Lovett

I fear that when the Dail reopens, and with Ivan's extensive political contacts, it will be totally politics orientated which may become a ball ache as well? Their promo said they'd have listeners calls on air but I didn't hear any today - I only caught it during the last hour though so may have had some earlier?.

elvis jones

el diablo wrote: »

Jurry O'Sullivan? :rolleyes:

And where is he these days ?

Badabing

elvis jones wrote: »

And where is he these days ?

Radio Kerry

Skid

Bit odd that Ivan Yates is covering Vincent Browne's show on TV3 this week.

You would think that in the week that they relaunched the Breakfast Show he would want to give it his full attention.

He doesn't finish on TV3 until midnight every night, it'll be a long week for Ivan.

Poly

7.30am still no sign of Ivan.

bernardo mac

Tuned in briefly to Tom Dunne.The voice of the unctuous,lightweight narcissus turned my stomach and I had a mental gawk:eek:

soc160

In my opinion NT have been piggy backing on the back of Celebrities even though home grown talents work, look at George Hook and Eamon Dunphy, they are terrible presenters in theroy, the have no real cohesion and make frequent mistakes, Tom Dunne who i do like seems to be taking a beating on this, Sean Moncrieff is an exception really who is a good presenter but has been around for a long time.

Off The Ball should be the stations flagship show at this stage, its well run, interesting and beats off competition and it is hosted by a person who has worked his way up through the company and is a talented presenter who can communicate with listeners and multi task on air, Hook struggles to read texts without shouting about them, if they sign sile seoige up its another cop-out, they need to start producing people who are actual radio presenters and not celebs, they need capable people who understand the subjects but who are preseters and have talent but more importantly training!

The breakfast show can stay as it is now, give it some time.
Tom Dunne should be kept on his 2 hour slot.
Johnaton Healy was ideal for the lunchtime slot because he knew what he was talking about and had a good on air persona.
Moncrieff is a must to keep.
Hook should think about giving it up now, he does pull in massive listnership but is dull, yates looks likely to replace him when he does leave meaning they should be training someone new in for breakfast.
Off the ball should be installed as the stations most valueable asset ahead of the right hook.

Nighttime shows are fine as they are, Coleman's show is a good idea but i dont think he should be on the radio, Culture shock is a good idea aswell, Fionn has show promise as a presenter and could be moved to a day time slot instead of tom dunne or moncrieff if he leaves. Motormouth and splanc are fine too.

Rant over!

JonathanAnon

soc160 wrote: »

Nighttime shows are fine as they are, Coleman's show is a good idea but i dont think he should be on the radio, Culture shock is a good idea aswell, Fionn has show promise as a presenter and could be moved to a day time slot instead of tom dunne or moncrieff if he leaves. Motormouth and splanc are fine too.

Agree with most of what you said... Coleman is THE worst presenter on any channel, god only knows why they persist with him.. And it could be a good show like you said... Why isnt Motormouth podcasted..?

soc160

JonathanAnon wrote: »

Agree with most of what you said... Coleman is THE worst presenter on any channel, god only knows why they persist with him.. And it could be a good show like you said... Why isnt Motormouth podcasted..?

Agreed, i dont listen to him often enough but his lack of cohesion is shocking, The producer Ross o donovan or something like that is far better then him, he worked on 98fm's last night time talk show and had a large speaking roll and was good, deserves his own show, the nighttime could be exploited by hosting a regular talk show, something light hearted like Moncrieffs show bu with phone in's, featuring guests etc... its an open market with only aidrean kennedy as massive competition, although most people would listen to someone else ahead of him but theres no choice becauce stations are afraid of doing it.

Poly

Agree with most of that, I think the new breakfast show is very good, it was badly needed in the 9-10 hour.
Don't mind Dunne when I listen, he can be quite funny, I'm usually on PK at that time anyway.

Moncreiff - best show on radio.

I think Hook was better a few years ago, he seems to have mellowed since he sold out to sky/aviva etc. He still has his moments though.


I travel alot at night, any late night discussion/debate show is preferable to listening to pop or art shows.
Overall, I think Newstalk is a great station. I would like to hear less repeats though.

Dub13

JonathanAnon wrote: »

Why isnt Motormouth podcasted..?

I still think a weekly motor show is overkill.

tinkerbell

I love Ivan, Conor Brophy, Chris, Jonathan H, Claire B, Sean M and Hook.

Out of them all George is my absolute favourite - I love him!!! I think he's brill.

Actually hang on ... I have two favs, George and Michael Graham!!!! I love it when Michael's on the show properly with George - they go really good together I think on the show!

Ivan then is in third position after George and Michael!

I am not keen on Coleman, the whole "Coleman at large" name just really irritates me. Tom Dunne annoys me, I'm not a fan of the sport shows because I'm not that into sport so everything they talk about I know nothing about. However I completely understand that they are great sport shows for those who are into sports, just no interest to me.

I don't listen to Motormouth that often, maybe a few mins every Monday evening when getting ready for bed, but tell me .... all they ever talk about is "boards.ie" (quote), "and this is from boards.ie", "oh and this is from boards.ie", "oh and here we have something else from boards.ie".

What is up with that?! They talk about nothing but boards!!! lol

delaad

tinkerbell wrote: »

I love Ivan, Conor Brophy, Chris, Jonathan H, Claire B, Sean M and Hook.

Out of them all George is my absolute favourite - I love him!!! I think he's brill.

Actually hang on ... I have two favs, George and Michael Graham!!!! I love it when Michael's on the show properly with George - they go really good together I think on the show!

Ivan then is in third position after George and Michael!

I am not keen on Coleman, the whole "Coleman at large" name just really irritates me. Tom Dunne annoys me, I'm not a fan of the sport shows because I'm not that into sport so everything they talk about I know nothing about. However I completely understand that they are great sport shows for those who are into sports, just no interest to me.

I don't listen to Motormouth that often, maybe a few mins every Monday evening when getting ready for bed, but tell me .... all they ever talk about is "boards.ie" (quote), "and this is from boards.ie", "oh and this is from boards.ie", "oh and here we have something else from boards.ie".

What is up with that?! They talk about nothing but boards!!! lol

Well, there ye go! Pure untrammelled love.

soc160

tinkerbell wrote: »

I love Ivan, Conor Brophy, Chris, Jonathan H, Claire B, Sean M and Hook.

Conor Brophy and Johnaton Healy are two of the better people they have on their books, they both know alot about current affairs and are confident on air,Brophy was holding the breafast show together recently. Im suprised Ivan Yates is still there to be honest, he was signed for 6 months when Gilroy quit the show, now a year or so on hes managed to get the main role on the show.

soc160

delaad wrote: »

Well, there ye go! Pure untrammelled love.

Who doesnt love boards....There watching us.....

delaad

soc160 wrote: »

Who doesnt love boards....There watching us.....

Well I was kinda refering to Tinkerbell's love of - I take it - her favourite Newstalk presenters, but sure enough she did express amazement at how much Splonc mentioned boards alright.

Badabing

soc160 wrote: »

Conor Brophy and Johnaton Healy are two of the better people they have on their books, they both know alot about current affairs and are confident on air,Brophy was holding the breafast show together recently. Im suprised Ivan Yates is still there to be honest, he was signed for 6 months when Gilroy quit the show, now a year or so on hes managed to get the main role on the show.

Gilroy was sacked from Breakfast show no 'gravitas' apparently.

Conor Brophy is leaving Newstalk for RTE soon.

neris

Is it just me or does anyone find the ads for the Tom Dunne show really irritating. Theres 1 ad for his september thingy thats meant to be in a classroom and the teacher speaking and another about his show starting at ten. Voice overs are rubbish on them

sleepyman

neris wrote: »

Is it just me or does anyone find the ads for the Tom Dunne show really irritating. Theres 1 ad for his september thingy thats meant to be in a classroom and the teacher speaking and another about his show starting at ten. Voice overs are rubbish on them

They're a bit sh**te to be honest.I think it's his producer joe who does them.Personally three hours was a bit long for his show-2 is just about right.
Didnt rate Ivan at the start but he's really grown into that role.Hookie is just too fond of his own voice-prefer Matt Cooper on Today FM.
Off the Ball is a great show- the jewel in the crown as far as I'm concerned.Early & McDevitt are a great double act.They don't take themselves too seriously but they get interesting interviewees.
I'm surprised RTE hasn't tried to poach them.

conno16

Badabing wrote: »

Gilroy was sacked from Breakfast show no 'gravitas' apparently.

Conor Brophy is leaving Newstalk for RTE soon.

damn right gilroy was turfed out - he was a complete embarrassment on the morning show unless talking to graham hunter or some gaa correspondence.
the fact that NT gave him the gig in the first place tells you a lot about the station - its basically a tabloid station if there is such a thing
teaming up gilroy with clare byrne was just laughable - two clueless idiots who couldn't interview to save their lives

yates is actually alright in my book - fine for NT anyways
that young fella on the breakfast show sounds like he should be in school, no credibility whatsoever
brophy has improved dramatically in last few months but still would not be able to carry his own show

dunne is a gerry ryan wannabe - cringe, but he does secure the listenership amongst 40-60 year old auld wans

thankfully that kerry bogger is gone for the hills
another amateur

moncrief is well decent - still has a very entertaining show

hook is just a muppet, stopped listening to him years ago.
even those commercials drive me round the bend

usually i'm a big OTB fan but i think its going stale
needs to be freshened up
maybe a new presenter and some different features

drBill

Yeah, Hook has just lost the plot this past 6 months or so. Used to like his program, but these days he's incapable of going for more than a few minutes without reverting back to talking about himself.

Nor, and I'm not being facetious here, can anybody expect to be taken seriously as a broadcaster if they go around making statements like 'Sky care that you are getting the best televisual experience'.

constitutionus

gotta admit .

the new lad on the breakfast show is alright. in fact the whole flow of the show is much better than it was.

about the only thing i dont like is yet MORE bleeding sports coverage at 9.30 but at least now i have a tollerable option to listen to right up to pat kenny.

have to give newstalk credit for that at least.

Rubik.

constitutionus wrote: »

the new lad on the breakfast show is alright. in fact the whole flow of the show is much better than it was.

Just shows how much the show was being dragged down by Claire Byrne over the past couple of years.

Its a pity her move to RTE meant she didn't get to present Tonight with Vincent Brown, I was looking forward to watching some car crash TV.

tinkerbell

delaad wrote: »

Well, there ye go! Pure untrammelled love.

delaad wrote: »

Well I was kinda refering to Tinkerbell's love of - I take it - her favourite Newstalk presenters, but sure enough she did express amazement at how much Splonc mentioned boards alright.

Huh? I actually don't get what you're saying here!?

Badabing wrote: »

Gilroy was sacked from Breakfast show no 'gravitas' apparently.

Conor Brophy is leaving Newstalk for RTE soon.

No way!! He can't leave!!!!

Oh and the reason I liked Claire on the breakfast show was because of the banter going on between her and Ivan - Ivan was always ripping the piss into her. Other than that, she's completely clueless.