Ger Gilroy leaves the Breakfast Show

tbh

....looks like those rumours were right - Ger's last show was today. What do you think? I was surprised at how lowkey it was, guilty conscience somewhere maybe? Any word on his replacement?

robo

I was just on their twitter page and saw that - I listened to most of the show this morning, but missed any mention of it being his last. The papers had said that he was getting married, so maybe he is off for a few weeks now for the wedding and honeymoon. But it is a shame - I just don't see what Claire brings more than he does. He is more informed and is more open minded when interviewing anyone. She is extremely single minded and let's her own views rule the interview. I will miss him in the morning. But I hope he is not gone for long.

mike65

I heard the last 10 mins of the programme (by chance) and yep twas very low key, exiting with a whimper. Still better that than some horrid false nostalgic bonhomie complete with an audio collage of Ger ('n Clairs) funniest/finest/most serious moments as well all gulp back the tears.

FlutterinBantam

jeez i'm all broke up here crying an' bawlin'.

I'll miss the staccato delivery, the poorly researched subjects, the smart assed asides, so i will

Like I said "all broke up" :cool:

deadhead13

tbh wrote: »

....looks like those rumours were right - Ger's last show was today. What do you think? I was surprised at how lowkey it was, guilty conscience somewhere maybe? Any word on his replacement?

Ivan Yates is the replacement - Ger is going to be an editor on the show.

uRbaN

Well, I like Ger Gilroy as a presenter, I don't like Claire Byrne. That partnership never worked.
Ger did alright to step in after Eamo went awol, but the breakfast show is such a poor mans Morning Ireland.

Genghis

One of the sadder realities may have been it was cheaper to shaft Ger than Claire, who no doubt is on a watertight contract. IMHO Ivan Yates is a known personality and a good guest, but is no radio presenter. I am not sure that it is really an improvement at all. 4FM seem to have done a good job unearthing a few presenters for their Breakfast, Drive / News and Sunday discussion shows - pity Newstalk haven't got the same creativity / gravity to find / attract similar profiles.

Badabing

He said at the end thanks to everyone for our new fabtabulus new listner figures and this is my last show! Why is he being sacked if their very happy with the shows performance.

tbh

well in fairness, we don't know if he has been sacked - subbed maybe, but it seems like he's staying at newstalk. Also, while the figures are up, they are still not in MI territory, so in fairness to newstalk, they needed to try a change. The real debate is whether they've gone far enough, or made the right change. Ger was great as a sports banter guy, but I never really respected him as a news guy.

Badabing

At the current rate it would take Newstalk 5 years to get even 250,000 listeners so Gilroy is not the problem, Brenda power was sacked or giving an editor role or something Newstalk are going to have alot of pi**ed off editors at this rate.

adamski8

ah brenda power, cant believe she last as long as she did, pure crap show.

FlutterinBantam

tbh wrote: »

well in fairness, we don't know if he has been sacked - subbed maybe, but it seems like he's staying at newstalk. Also, while the figures are up, they are still not in MI territory, so in fairness to newstalk, they needed to try a change. The real debate is whether they've gone far enough, or made the right change. Ger was great as a sports banter guy, but I never really respected him as a news guy.

Doesn't transfer to serious news progs. Teebs, you and I know that;)

Leaderbored

tbh wrote: »

Ger was great as a sports banter guy, but I never really respected him as a news guy.

Nobody did, sadly for him.

A massive case of misappropriation of talent. Shocking waste of a decent sports guy.

FlutterinBantam

Leaderbored wrote: »

Nobody did, sadly for him.

A massive case of misappropriation of talent. Shocking waste of a decent sports guy.

I never liked him either in sports or hard news, adolescent "humour "poor delivery, no gravitas.

In my opinion he would only appeal to the airheaded chavvie types who inhabit the red top newspapers.Probably spoke their language and pandered to their ill informed myopic view on world affairs.

No loss at all in my opinion.

Arthur Daley

But still better than Claire Byrne. I can undertand why you'd carry the blonde woman on a TV show, but this is radio.

I'm stuck listening to the morning show on newstalk, even with her and Ivan Yates. Tried to switch to morning Ireland after all the incessant rugby talk got too much for me. But that was short lived.

Will never listen to morning ireland again following their fawning over FF the weekend of their conference back in early march. It was the same day U2 released their new album, and rte interspersed soundbites of Coughlin, Lenihan and Cowan with U2's 'magnificant'. :mad::rolleyes:

I thought I was in Berlin in 1934.

Sizzler

So Ivan Yates gets the gig, but they are only pitching him for the next 3 months which I thought was strange, trial run

He got a few mins this morning and explained what way he was going to approach the show and said he was not going to take any bull**** and would challenge TD's and Fine Gael no problem, including the "elephant in the room" that is Enda Kenny being leader. I think he might be OK actually. Gilroy has had his niche on sports, was way out of it on current affairs.

The fact he left so quick eludes to a bust up or he's gone to RTE :eek:

deadhead13

Ivan Yates is only going to be there for 3 months. Claire was more or less pushing him out the door before he even started by announcing this. Bizzare. Conor Brophy's Radio 5 live style 1/2 hour Business Show would have been a good idea, if someone else was doing it. Ger is moving to a senior editorial position, whatever that means, and is taking over Off The Ball Extra on Friday nights.

Yates, Brophy and Bryne - Dull, Duller and Dullard....... and then there is Dunne.

Berti Vogts

deadhead13 wrote: »

Ivan Yates is only going to be there for 3 months. Claire was more or less pushing him out the door before he even started by announcing this. Bizzare. Conor Brophy's Radio 5 live style 1/2 hour Business Show would have been a good idea, if someone else was doing it. Ger is moving to a senior editorial position, whatever that means, and is taking over Off The Ball Extra on Friday nights.

Yates, Brophy and Bryne - Dull, Duller and Dullard....... and then there is Dunne.

Well if that means less of Oisin Langan, then that is alright by me!

raven136

FlutterinBantam wrote: »

I never liked him either in sports or hard news, adolescent "humour "poor delivery, no gravitas.

In my opinion he would only appeal to the airheaded chavvie types who inhabit the red top newspapers.Probably spoke their language and pandered to their ill informed myopic view on world affairs.

No loss at all in my opinion.

Bulls###/Whatever as a news guy,when off the ball started his quality as an interviewer was second to none.Take a listen to him back then or on Setanta's sports matters.He is/was an excellent sports guy and hopefully newstalk find a role for him there again.

FlutterinBantam

I respect your opinion but I won't be listening back.

Ger always reminds me of those smart ass dudes on the couch in the Stan James ads,same auld trite arguments,irrelevant repartee, stacato delivery.

If I want to listen to that kind of tripe I will go on an away trip with "Trapp's Army" and listen to the stuff about Andy Reid.

No thank you very much.

Sizzler

So what do people think after Ivan Yates debut this morning? I thought there was a bit of jockeying between him and Clare, mostly from her, a fractious start. She talked over him and ignored some of his comments and never entered into conversation with him when given the chance, strange. Hopefully not a sign of things to come, they might as well have been in different studios

maxwell smart

From what I've heard, Claire is less than delighted with Ger getting replaced. Not sure if its a diva moment, or if she genuinely liked the guy. But I'm sure there will be a bit of jockying between herself and Ivan to see who is the No.1 presenter

ching9000

yep, might have to switch back to Today FM for the mornings. I just counldn't listen to Yates when he filled in for Hook, full of himself and quite boring.

Who is on Today FM 6-8am nowadays anyway??

tbh

Tim Kelly till seven, Iano till 9

Stick with newstalk

connundrum

Yates' interview with Richie Boucher was strange.

Boucher wasn't giving anything away, and Yates seemed frustrated & hurried in his questioning. I think he could have made more of the interview, but it was probably nerves etc anyway.

Badabing

tbh wrote: »

Tim Kelly till seven, Iano till 9

Stick with newstalk

If you want real news and not tabloid rubbish from Claire Byrne tune to Morning Ireland.

Aidric

Badabing wrote: »

If you want real news and not tabloid rubbish from Claire Byrne tune to Morning Ireland.

I'd have to agree. I find it hard to take anything that comes out of her mouth seriously.

Ol' Donie

Possibilities wrote: »

Well if that means less of Oisin Langan, then that is alright by me!

No problem with Oisin Langan, but glad to hear Gilroy is taking this slot. It keeps changing, though - i mean it's off the ball extra till half eight, then the best of off the ball till half nine, and then a live results service sort of thing till ten? Or was this just for a couple of weeks?

Gilroy doesn't appear to be on the NT website anymore. Can anyone tell me where this news about him taking the Friday bit came from?

deadhead13

Ol' Donie wrote: »

Gilroy doesn't appear to be on the NT website anymore. Can anyone tell me where this news about him taking the Friday bit came from?

It came from Ivan Yates when he made a brief appearence yesterday morning. Ger is getting married soon, so it mightn't happen for a while.

Yates's 3 month contract is a bit strange. Is it a trial run? Or do they they have someone else lined up?

FlutterinBantam

deadhead13 wrote: »

It came from Ivan Yates when he made a brief appearence yesterday morning. Ger is getting married soon, so it mightn't happen for a while.

Yates's 3 month contract is a bit strange. Is it a trial run? Or do they they have someone else lined up?

Possibly, word is that Yates may be a little too knowledgeable for the listeners,kind of above them.
Comes from an era where you don't need Google to find out the basics is what I heard.
Could have a grain of truth in it, we'll see.

deadhead13

Until they address the Claire Byrne problem, it doesn't really matter who they bring in.

brettmirl

3 month contract...maybe Ivan is hedging his bets on a General Election once the results of the Euro/Bye/Locals are in...and 3 months is just enough time to give him a bit of a profile before he runs for FG in Wexford again?

tbh

http://newstalk.ie/newstalk/presenters/19/Ger-Gilroy.html

L_gaucho

connundrum wrote: »

Yates' interview with Richie Boucher was strange.

Boucher wasn't giving anything away, and Yates seemed frustrated & hurried in his questioning. I think he could have made more of the interview, but it was probably nerves etc anyway.

Anyone ever hear him interview Lord Henry Mount Charles ? Terrible interview, kept interrupting, asked questions, but didn't wait for the answer. (it was during the U2 bogus ticket sales fiasco)

No more newstalk for me in the morning, 4 FM is quite good (Gareth O callaghan, with Cathy Cregan). News, without opinion.

I think Claire Byrne has been reading Newstalk... shes stopped commenting on everthing.. (or I suspect she detests Master Yates as much as mysekf..)

EG77

i listen to newstalk shows all day at work, in car and home.

fairly pi$$ed off at getting rid of ger. i thought he did a great job in both sports and news (despite what others have said).

he was shafted big time. claire is decent but sometimes comes across as a bit idealist / righteous / etc. i think someone else made an interesting point that it could have come down to cash i.e. cheaper to get rid of ger than her.

having said all that, i thought the chemistry between the two was quite good.

not sure about ivan yates - always came across as a bit ditherer when standing in for george hook. cant seem to read out a bloody text properly! also his close close ties with fine gael dont exactly lend to interviewer impartiality very well

please newstalk dont ever change the format / presenters / etc for off the ball....best show on the radio

Calhoun

robo wrote: »

I was just on their twitter page and saw that - I listened to most of the show this morning, but missed any mention of it being his last. The papers had said that he was getting married, so maybe he is off for a few weeks now for the wedding and honeymoon. But it is a shame - I just don't see what Claire brings more than he does. He is more informed and is more open minded when interviewing anyone. She is extremely single minded and let's her own views rule the interview. I will miss him in the morning. But I hope he is not gone for long.

Ditto, i couldnt quite put my finger on why i didnt like her but you have it in one.

positivenote

EG77 wrote: »

please newstalk dont ever change the format / presenters / etc for off the ball....best show on the radio

sorry cant agree with that... the show has plummeted so far over the past couple of years. since gilroy left it has turned into a self back slapping love in that finds itself hilarious whilst consistently runs tired 'in-show-jokes'. If gilroy does go back to the production team and hopefully editor of the show it may start to return to the standard that it originally set.

EG77

have to disagree. excellent analysis on a huge range of sports. also, use some great analysts. quite a varied show imo e.g us sports, book review, league of ireland, etc and all the usual i.e soccer, rugby, gaa, racing

take your point about the in jokes, etc but i enjoy them but i suppose that's just my sense of humour. murph and ken very funny

tbh

positivenote wrote: »

sorry cant agree with that... the show has plummeted so far over the past couple of years. since gilroy left it has turned into a self back slapping love in that finds itself hilarious whilst consistently runs tired 'in-show-jokes'. If gilroy does go back to the production team and hopefully editor of the show it may start to return to the standard that it originally set.

have to say, I agree with that. It's suffering from Soccer AM syndrome - if they laugh at a line, repeat it every week.

EG77

tbh wrote: »

have to say, I agree with that. It's suffering from Soccer AM syndrome - if they laugh at a line, repeat it every week.

soccer am pure sh'te...wouldn't tar them with that brush

deadhead13

I quess it comes down to whether or not you find it funny. I still do, on the whole. I do think it has a shelf-life though. Can't see them running through the same rountine in, say, 5 years time. The ethernal student act has to end for us all, eventually.

It is the best thing on the radio at that time of the night. And if it wasn't for Off The Ball, what would we be left with? - Des Cahill.

FlutterinBantam

Listened to off the ball, or whatever it's called last night.

Same old tired format with that semi comatose geezer Early pontificating about managers who earn more in an hour than he does a month.

Absolutely hate that smart ass crappery they go on with,trying to catch each other out and throw in cheap shots every now and again.

reminded me why I stopped listening in the first place:mad:

connundrum

They did an interview this morning with George Lee and Shay Brennan.

Yates: George, you should really be pushing for a mininster's position, you'd hardly accept a backbencher's role would you?

George: I'm all for the country lads, whatever I can do to help etc.

Yates: Shay, you're a bit shit aren't you?

Shay: Well yes, kind of, but I do have a degree and a surname.

It was the first interview I've heard on breakfast which actually went to an ad break in the middle. I wonder if the producer simply needed to hook good aul Ivan in a bit.

I'm definitely not pro FF, and I don't know how one would have balanced that interview seeing as Brennan is fairly weak, but this morning's interview was really poor.

anndunnelim

FlutterinBantam, for someone who has stopped listening to Newstalk, how many times now?? you sure do have a whole lot to say about it......is that the sound of an axe grinding in the background I hear.

connundrum

anndunnelim wrote: »

FlutterinBantam, for someone who has stopped listening to Newstalk, how many times now?? you sure do have a whole lot to say about it......is that the sound of an axe grinding in the background I hear.

The stalker ex

anndunnelim

I hope thats not me your refering to

I was just making an observation.. Can't see that guy being my type tbh

robo

connundrum wrote: »

They did an interview this morning with George Lee and Shay Brennan.

Yates: George, you should really be pushing for a mininster's position, you'd hardly accept a backbencher's role would you?

George: I'm all for the country lads, whatever I can do to help etc.

Yates: Shay, you're a bit shit aren't you?

Shay: Well yes, kind of, but I do have a degree and a surname.

It was the first interview I've heard on breakfast which actually went to an ad break in the middle. I wonder if the producer simply needed to hook good aul Ivan in a bit.

I'm definitely not pro FF, and I don't know how one would have balanced that interview seeing as Brennan is fairly weak, but this morning's interview was really poor.

I was listening also and I thought that it was extremely 1 sided - towards Fine Gael from Yates. Can we really expect that he can interview candidates impartially? Is it always going to be that we see Yates as being impartial due to the party he was a TD for? From what I remembered, the only issue that was thrown at Lee was that his address doesn't come under Dublin South, to which he answered that Cabinteely will be coming into that area for elections.

And yes I was wondering also about that ad break!

Did anyone hear the show yesterday, around the sports news at 8:30am - Yates was saying that he would do the last part - it just sounded so unprofessional!

anndunnelim

Did any of you frequent posters consider emailing this thread to the powers that be in Newstalk, or are you just going to gripe on forever:D

connundrum

anndunnelim wrote: »

I hope thats not me your refering to

I was just making an observation.. Can't see that guy being my type tbh

Nah it was directed towards Flutt.

And on occassion I've emailed links to threads to shows in Newstalk and other stations, but I'd be very surprised if they weren't already reading this thread and many other like it already.

Sure several times boards.ie has been referenced by Newstalk shows.

tbh

anndunnelim wrote: »

Did any of you frequent posters consider emailing this thread to the powers that be in Newstalk, or are you just going to gripe on forever:D

Ann, people bitch on boards. If you've a problem with it, I suggest you don't read the vast majority of threads in the forum

robo

anndunnelim wrote: »

Did any of you frequent posters consider emailing this thread to the powers that be in Newstalk, or are you just going to gripe on forever:D

I would hardly say that it is all gripe - it is sharing opinions. And yes I too have forwarded, but I would also think that most TV and Radio programmes use the internet to get feedback on their shows and then it is up to them to use it as best they see.

I know al lot of companies other than media which use the internet to find out more about their clients thoughts on their products.