Newstalk Megathread

DB21

That's the thing. Hook used to put counter-points to Graham, now he's just given up, or agrees with him on every issue.

spank_inferno

Hook seemed very passive alright.
Perhaps he was a bit distracted where they were broadcasting from, it sounded pretty noisy.

For Forks Sake

Sudden Valley wrote: »

Was anyone listening to the Right Hook yesterday? George was in New Hampshire covering the Republican primaries and talking to Michael Graham. It was strange that George was asking all the questions but would never challenge any of Graham’s answers (which were either biased towards tea Party or Republican or his favourite candidate) I agree with some but not all of what Graham says but it was like George didn’t know anything about the topics and just moved onto the next question. Graham would go on a long rant and George would just laugh and say ok and move on. I don’t know why he went over there if he knows so little about the subject.

Given that they were at Republican primaries, I'd imagine Hook probably tempered his opinions somewhat in order to avoid provoking some of the more radical types in attendance.

europa11

For Forks Sake wrote: »

Given that they were at Republican primaries, I'd imagine Hook probably tempered his opinions somewhat in order to avoid provoking some of the more radical types in attendance.

No fool betimes, our Hookie.

DEFTLEFTHAND

Why is Hook broadcasting from the New Hampshire primaries in the first place? I know he has genuine interest and passion for US politics but is that a good enough reason to justify the trip, I mean are people here really that interested in the election at this early stage?

europa11

DEFTLEFTHAND wrote: »

Why is Hook broadcasting from the New Hampshire primaries in the first place? I know he has genuine interest and passion for US politics but is that a good enough reason to justify the trip, I mean are people here really that interested in the election at this early stage?

Freebie flights from Aer Lingus in exchange for plugs every 10 minutes might have tempted him across the pond, probably throwing in accomodation too (unless Mikey Dubya Graham is putting him up at the nearest 'Elks' Lodge :rolleyes:).

constitutionus

probably trying to get in there before chris donoghue got the gig !

constitutionus

bamboozle wrote: »

on the flip side newstalk incessantly beg listeners to text in at 30c a text, still Ivan is a breath of fresh air in the morning.

theyve seriously got to do something about their other presenters though.

shane coleman is always on with someone else in the afternoon , i THINK its healy but it may be when healy is on a break when they come in as ordinairly i can at least STAND healy.

either way they bring out the worst in each other in the political stakes and i have to turn off as i feel like im listening to a script directly being autoqued by dennis o brien.

it takes ALOT to turn me over to RTE , or even music, but these lads have acomplished it.

they make marc coleman seemed balanced by comparision.

omerin

John McCarthy - Madpride Ireland has died. Contributor to Newstalk, Today FM etc.

RIP

Thread started here -

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=76433820

Dub13

I love talking history but the last few times I have listened they have had random uninteresting people as the main subject in the first hour.Is this a trend or am I just unlucky the weeks I tune in..?

DB21

So, according to today's Right Hook, Phillip Molloy is getting his own show on Sunday evenings. Not sure if he has what it takes to be a presenter.

constitutionus

its only an hour and its bascially movie reviews and the like.

should be a doddle.

certainly i'd rather listen to that then orla barrys green room.

Lapin

constitutionus wrote: »

they make marc coleman seemed balanced by comparision.

Speaking of him, has anyone else contracted bronchitis after listening to his programme over the last two nights ?

The amount of coughing and spluttering from presenter and panel has reached new levels of audibility.

It was bloody hard to listen to at times. And thats without Coleman's constant interruptions and attempts to put his own slant on other people's opinion.

DEFTLEFTHAND

Lapin wrote: »

Speaking of him, has anyone else contracted bronchitis after listening to his programme over the last two nights ?

The amount of coughing and spluttering from presenter and panel has reached new levels of audibility.

It was bloody hard to listen to at times. And thats without Coleman's constant interruptions and attempts to put his own slant on other people's opinion.

Its very grating yes. I would suggest they use the 'cough' button but I've a feeling 95% of the show would be dead air if they did.:p

Lapin

DEFTLEFTHAND wrote: »

Its very grating yes. I would suggest they use the 'cough' button but I've a feeling 95% of the show would be dead air if they did.:p

The air in the studio must have been fairly dead after that lot left last night.

I hope the cleaner has a good face mask.

el diablo

McDave wrote: »

IMO pronunciation is a widespread problem in the broadcast media. As I see it there's no problems with accents as such and there is quite a diversity on radio. But lazy mid-Atlanticisms such as 'nooze' have become pervasive. And I actually heard someone pronounce the well-known river river that flows through London as the 'Thames' (as in rhyming with 'hames') on a NewsTalk bulletin yesterday.

It's probably too much for a private station such as NewsTalk to take a lead on standards, especially in the absence of any direction from the so-called national broadcaster (when I see Siun Ni Gearailt given such prominence, I give up all hope on proper diction and enunciation in our broadcast media in the future).

They're still vastly superior to the crew of reporters at RTÉ such as Ciaran Gilhooley, Pascal Sheehy, Joe O'Brien, Eamon Horan etc. Strong regional accents and very poor diction. I'll never understand how any of these got on national radio/TV.

dvcireland

europa11 wrote: »

Freebie flights from Aer Lingus in exchange for plugs every 10 minutes might have tempted him across the pond, probably throwing in accomodation too (unless Mikey Dubya Graham is putting him up at the nearest 'Elks' Lodge :rolleyes:).

He always stays in the local Fitzpatrick hotel and plugs it to death

dvcireland

DEFTLEFTHAND wrote: »

Why is Hook broadcasting from the New Hampshire primaries in the first place? I know he has genuine interest and passion for US politics but is that a good enough reason to justify the trip, I mean are people here really that interested in the election at this early stage?

it was the same for the previous US election, he was talking about it every day for nearly a year.

JonathanAnon

"Fortunately we have a PR expert in studio"

Terry Prone??? Did Coleman SEE what she did to Gay Mitchell's Presidential campaign.

JonathanAnon

Michael Martin on the recent education cuts

"I couldnt believe the amount of cuts that were made"..

Who does this lad think he's fooling ... It really makes me angry that Coleman isnt pointing out to him the fiscal reasons for all these cuts, and who exactly caused those problems..

Poochie05

Every time I see him (or indeed any of the FF politicians) criticizing the government and what they are doing I think they have a nerve.

In my view they have no credibility at all given we are still mopping up the results of their years of cronyism and lack of action but the interviewers always seem to let them off the hook and act as if they are lucky to have them on the show :mad:

mike65

I'll give Philip Molloys new filum programme a go this evening (6 pm).

irishh_bob

any panel with terri prone is going to suffer but todays sunday show with shane coleman was the poorest ive heard in a long time , coleman is far too politican and establishment friendly , he has no edge and is unsuited to the role

mike65

mike65 wrote: »

I'll give Philip Molloys new filum programme a go this evening (6 pm).

Hmm, not too clever so far. He might get better but there is no flow when talking to us through the speaker, he's okay when in discussion with a guest but reading a script is dodgy.

Ol' Donie

mike65 wrote: »

mike65 wrote: »

I'll give Philip Molloys new filum programme a go this evening (6 pm).

Hmm, not too clever so far. He might get better but there is no flow when talking to us through the speaker, he's okay when in discussion with a guest but reading a script is dodgy.

Might check this out on the archive in work tomorrow. Frankly im just glad they have something on in that slot instead of that henry mckean repeat yokey!

Harry Angstrom

mike65 wrote: »

Hmm, not too clever so far. He might get better but there is no flow when talking to us through the speaker, he's okay when in discussion with a guest but reading a script is dodgy.

I get the feeling that he's reading from a script half the time when he's doing the film slot on G. Hook's show as well. Makes it all seem a bit disjointed.


Where do we go to escape the Prone/Savage hegemony on Sunday mornings?? I can't stand that Prone woman - so fecking smug, she thinks she knows everything. I've got two words for her: GAY MITCHELL :mad:

And then we've got her son, Anton Savage over on Today FM!! Looks like it's back to Marian for me from next week on.

irishh_bob

mike65 wrote: »

Hmm, not too clever so far. He might get better but there is no flow when talking to us through the speaker, he's okay when in discussion with a guest but reading a script is dodgy.

hes a very dull broadcaster

telekon

irishh_bob wrote: »

hes a very dull broadcaster

A bit harsh I think... Haven't heard his movie show, and wasn't too impressed when he took over for Hook for a little while a few weeks back, but the chemistry with Hookie is pretty good and brings a bit of light hearted relief on a Wednesday evening...not dull at all.

irishh_bob

telekon wrote: »

A bit harsh I think... Haven't heard his movie show, and wasn't too impressed when he took over for Hook for a little while a few weeks back, but the chemistry with Hookie is pretty good and brings a bit of light hearted relief on a Wednesday evening...not dull at all.

hes very patient with hook who most of the time hasnt a rashers about the movies , tv shows , tv and movie stars , molloy is going on about

DEFTLEFTHAND

Does anybody find some of the newsreaders they employ poor? To me a few sound like an audio representation of the Sun newspaper with use of slang and inappropriate terms in their news reports. Their accents are usually quite contrived as well.

devilshalo

DEFTLEFTHAND wrote: »

Does anybody find some of the newsreaders they employ poor? To me a few sound like an audio representation of the Sun newspaper with use of slang and inappropriate terms in their news reports. Their accents are usually quite contrived as well.

Yeah, Tara Duggan on Lunchtime drives me nuts.

BTW, how do you manage to listen to NT? Being in Pyongyang with no internet and all..;)

DEFTLEFTHAND

devilshalo wrote: »

Yeah, Tara Duggan on Lunchtime drives me nuts.

BTW, how do you manage to listen to NT? Being in Pyongyang with no internet and all..;)

I get special privileges, Kim Jong Un and I go way back.:D

Lapin

Jesus Hookie - take the day off man and go back to bed.

td1

Ivan Yates / Chris O'Donoghue - the schtick has had its day lads and so have you!:eek:

Talking Point (with Sarah Carey) - "With our panel of experts we step away from spin and find the nuance in the news. Contrived arguments are out." ... Christ Almighty!!! :mad::mad::mad: - she's obviously a shamless charlatan and harridan but newstalk should be ashamed of keeping her in gainful employment!

hacx

I really want to punch Coleman in the face.

baldbear

td1 wrote: »

Ivan Yates / Chris O'Donoghue - the schtick has had its day lads and so have you!:eek:

Talking Point (with Sarah Carey) - "With our panel of experts we step away from spin and find the nuance in the news. Contrived arguments are out." ... Christ Almighty!!! :mad::mad::mad: - she's obviously a shamless charlatan and harridan but newstalk should be ashamed of keeping her in gainful employment!

O'Brien is looking after her well. It does my head in that shes still in a media job. Is Newstalk one big Fine Gael love fest???

coonecb1

td1 wrote: »

Ivan Yates / Chris O'Donoghue - the schtick has had its day lads and so have you!:eek:
QUOTE]

I definitely think Ivan's bullying of Chris has gone too far.

Yes, it's funny and entertaining, but not in a nice way. Chris takes it well and maybe that's the problem.

No doubt if Ivan ever gets called on it he'll fall back on the bully's standard reply of "I was only having a bit of a laugh....."

Seriously, it's not cool, and bullying is not something that should be made light of. I don't know why it's still allowed to continue. Yes, they are both adults, but I really think Chris should do something about it, finish it now before it goes too far.

ootbitb

coonecb1 wrote: »

td1 wrote: »

Ivan Yates / Chris O'Donoghue - the schtick has had its day lads and so have you!:eek:
QUOTE]

I definitely think Ivan's bullying of Chris has gone too far.

Yes, it's funny and entertaining, but not in a nice way. Chris takes it well and maybe that's the problem.

No doubt if Ivan ever gets called on it he'll fall back on the bully's standard reply of "I was only having a bit of a laugh....."

Seriously, it's not cool, and bullying is not something that should be made light of. I don't know why it's still allowed to continue. Yes, they are both adults, but I really think Chris should do something about it, finish it now before it goes too far.

obviously they are a comedy duo. Chis is the straight man. It's part of the plan to increase audience share.

Macy0161

baldbear wrote: »

Is Newstalk one big Fine Gael love fest???

Not completely while they have Shane Coleman as political correspondent. It is most definitely a right of centre lovefest though.

touts

baldbear wrote: »

Is Newstalk one big Fine Gael love fest???

Big time. Remember before the 2007 election Enda Kenny or one of his front bench would have at least 30 minutes daily on the lunchtime show to announce their latest proposal. When the election was called and rules of "balance" kicked in it was a relief not to have Kenny interrupting my lunch every day. They were a bit more tactful in the last election but they were firmly behind the opposition (hard to blame them on that one) Since then any voice critical of the government (Dunphy, Smyth etc) is taken off the air and replaced by party/O'Brien loyalists (Carey, Savage). They are little more than Fine Gael's modern day version of the Irish Press. When Fianna Failure were in power Newstalk offered a good opposition voice but now that Newstalk, Today FM and half the local stations/papers around the country are towing the "The government is great the government is good" line that RTE always follow there is a real lack of an opposition voice in the media.

jagrey

Heh, heh. Luke " Ming" Flanagan got his mike cut just as he was about to say something about "Ivan's goldplated...[cut]". What could it be, I wonder? A cigarette lighter? A gun? A car? The journos filled awkwardly, as Ming "heckled" (Ivan's words) in the background.

Macy0161

touts wrote: »

They are little more than Fine Gael's modern day version of the Irish Press. When Fianna Failure were in power Newstalk offered a good opposition voice but now that Newstalk, Today FM and half the local stations/papers around the country are towing the "The government is great the government is good" line that RTE always follow there is a real lack of an opposition voice in the media.

I still say it's more a right wing agenda. They've lead the charge attacking certain elements of Government policy and against taxes rather than cuts. I'd agree though they've spun that as Labour forcing FG to do things despite what FG said before the election and in their manifesto. For example, FG committed to Croke Park Agreement and not cutting Welfare payments in their manifesto, but if you listened to Newstalk you'd swear if it wasn't for Labour they'd be cutting pay, cutting benefits etc etc.

irishh_bob

Macy0161 wrote: »

Not completely while they have Shane Coleman as political correspondent. It is most definitely a right of centre lovefest though.

true , its common knowledge that shane coleman is a FF supporter

constitutionus

jagrey wrote: »

Heh, heh. Luke " Ming" Flanagan got his mike cut just as he was about to say something about "Ivan's goldplated...[cut]". What could it be, I wonder? A cigarette lighter? A gun? A car? The journos filled awkwardly, as Ming "heckled" (Ivan's words) in the background.

ah i love ming.

he's always a bit of a wildcard.

he was getting to closes to the lads bone when he started to bring up journos wages and why two politicians were faced with three journalists.

the cry of "thats a private organisation !" had me in tears of laughter.



waste is waste and that was his point.

cant help thinking theres alot of journos out there that wouldnt look kindly on people asking how it is they got their pay levels when so many media outlets either dont make money or are funded by the taxpayer.

telekon

Anyone listen to this RTE spokesman talking to Jonathan Healy now?

What a fcuking cretin! He barely acknowledges the existence of TV3.


No, RTE should get the vast majority of the proposed broadcasting fee and that's that. Jesus. :mad:

Harry Angstrom

telekon wrote: »

Anyone listen to this RTE spokesman talking to Jonathan Healy now?

What a fcuking cretin! He barely acknowledges the existence of TV3.


No, RTE should get the vast majority of the proposed broadcasting fee and that's that. Jesus. :mad:

To be fair to the RTE guy, there were a lot of sweeping statements made before he came on. For instance, that wally who said that RTE make programmes that nobody wants to watch. Has he taken a look at the TAM ratings recently, where RTE completely dominate? :rolleyes:

Healy brought up the issue of TV3 and the X Factor. WTF is that all about? TV3 don't contribute towards the production of The X Factor, unlike RTE who have to stump up the money for The Voice of Ireland (not necessarily my cup of tea, but there are plenty of people watching it).

Also, that 7% of the licence fee that goes to the Sound and Vision fund does help Newstalk because presumably they are getting programmes cheaper than they would have to pay if the independent producers were not being subsidised, the same goes for TV3.

I'm not an apologist for RTE but it pisses me off a bit to see this RTE bashing going on all the time, especially from Newstalk and TV3. These are commercial organistaions. Nobody held a gun to Denis O'Brien's head and told him he had to set up a radio station. Nobody twisted the arm of the TV3 investors to set up a TV channel. They did it because they thought they could make a few quid from it. They don't have the same restrictions that RTE have. I would personally be outraged if TV3 got a cut of the licence fee. They seem to think that news doesn't happen at weekends, and I'd be damned if my licence fee would be spent on trash like Xposé and Tallafornia.

telekon

Harry Angstrom wrote: »

To be fair to the RTE guy, there were a lot of sweeping statements made before he came on. For instance, that wally who said that RTE make programmes that nobody wants to watch. Has he taken a look at the TAM ratings recently, where RTE completely dominate? :rolleyes:

Healy brought up the issue of TV3 and the X Factor. WTF is that all about? TV3 don't contribute towards the production of The X Factor, unlike RTE who have to stump up the money for The Voice of Ireland (not necessarily my cup of tea, but there are plenty of people watching it).

Also, that 7% of the licence fee that goes to the Sound and Vision fund does help Newstalk because presumably they are getting programmes cheaper than they would have to pay if the independent producers were not being subsidised, the same goes for TV3.

I'm not an apologist for RTE but it pisses me off a bit to see this RTE bashing going on all the time, especially from Newstalk and TV3. These are commercial organistaions. Nobody held a gun to Denis O'Brien's head and told him he had to set up a radio station. Nobody twisted the arm of the TV3 investors to set up a TV channel. They did it because they thought they could make a few quid from it. They don't have the same restrictions that RTE have. I would personally be outraged if TV3 got a cut of the licence fee. They seem to think that news doesn't happen at weekends, and I'd be damned if my licence fee would be spent on trash like Xposé and Tallafornia.

True and that spokesman was only doing his job, I know.

However, RTE can make a decision...it should have to learn to survive on:

1. the licence fee

or

2. advertising

It is absolutely galling that for an organisation that does both can't break-even every year! :eek:

And then they vastly overpay people with mediocre talent. Its shambolically run and this act won't change a thing except to rope in people who don't even watch RTE or use their website to pay for their loss-turning enterprise. Its sick.

Macy0161

telekon wrote: »

Anyone listen to this RTE spokesman talking to Jonathan Healy now?

What a fcuking cretin! He barely acknowledges the existence of TV3.

I thought Jonathan Healy was worse. He basically made a case that people living abroad should have to pay for online content, to subsidise those at home.

The entire coverage on Newstalk between Breakfast and Lunchtime was self serving. Yates must have forgotten the cushy number he had at RTE for years as a political commentator (just like he forgets about his former cushy public sector pay packet, and resultant pension).

It's clear that people are watching TV online. There's also a fair few people who have TV cards in laptops and desktops who claim not to have a TV. If we have a licence fee, I don't see why they should be exempt through effectively a loophole that exists because of technological advances. Newstalk (and TV3) are missing this point in their race to exploit the issue of the licence fee itself. It also shows exactly why we need RTE - Morning Ireland covered it putting the commercial stations point of view to Pat Rabitte, Newstalk covered it based on how it effected them.

btw, I'm not sure of the practicalities of the proposal. I'd probably prefer the definition widened as proposed, but then let RTE do the collecting (like they've wanted for years). Evasion wouldn't be near the same level with a harsher collection regime.

Harry Angstrom

telekon wrote: »

True and that spokesman was only doing his job, I know.

However, RTE can make a decision...it should have to learn to survive on:

1. the licence fee

or

2. advertising

It is absolutely galling that for an organisation that does both can't break-even every year! :eek:

And then they vastly overpay people with mediocre talent. Its shambolically run and this act won't change a thing except to rope in people who don't even watch RTE or use their website to pay for their loss-turning enterprise. Its sick.

We've only got a population of 4 million people from which to draw the licence fee. Considering the BBC are currently finding it difficult to break even with a population in the UK of 60 million, I'm not surprised that RTE have to supplement the licence fee with advertising.

Obviously RTE has its fair share of grossly overpaid presenters but a lot of these contracts were drawn up during the "boom times", when money was sloshing around everywhere, and commercial radio stations were trying to poach the big name presenters (Newstalk were after Gerry Ryan, for instance).

These contracts will continue to be reduced when they come up for negotiation. If it was up to me, I'd offer them all about €150,000 p.a. each on a take it or leave it basis.

constitutionus

RTEs problem isnt its big stars.

its the fact it grossly overpays its average employee.

theyre on 56k a year, with one manager for every six people in the place and have FIVE orchestras !

WTF do we need five orchestras for ?

the only rational conclusion i can come to is to provide jobs for existing employees little darlings learning the chelo.

FAT doent come close to describing the state of RTE, its institutional waste of taxpayes money. particularly when you compare it to TG4.

the whole place needs a good culling to streamline it. i mean FFS what are we actually getting from it on the production front? stuff like love/hate and RAW are few and far between for the money thats going in there and there seems to be systemic problems between production and creators.

look at TG4 again.

bearly a wet week in business and they produce a quality teenage drama in aifric . if that was in english they could flog it around the world. i cant recally a SINGLE teenage drama to come out of RTE. and this is in a country with one of the youngest population in europe.

ditto for that "skunk fu" cartoon. that has been redubbed into english and flogged around the world.

RTE fails miserably on this front yet gets all the gosh.

something seriously has to change in its upper echelons as its FAR too civil servent oriented for a broadcaster.

getting back on OP.

sarah carey is fecking off on holiday next week so were getting andrea pappin in instead.

so expect a euro love in.

**** me obrein couldnt be more blatant with his political agenda if he tried.