Sky News in Public Places

asahi

I was in one of our bailed-out banks the other day in Dublin, and noticed that they SKY news on blaring out in the corner, with some reporter wearing a poppy telling me about the "our fallen heroes" in Afghanistan.

Later I had a cup of coffee in town and they had SKY on as well, with speakers around the cafe so we had to listen to it no matter how far from the TV we were.

I don't see why I should have to watch British SKY Broadcasting when I go to the bank or have a cup of coffee, but it seems to be becoming normal to have it on in all sorts of places.

Am I being too sensitive?

astrofool

Far too sensitive.

MagicMarker

asahi wrote: »

I was in one of our bailed-out banks the other day in Dublin, and noticed that they SKY news on blaring out in the corner, with some reporter wearing a poppy telling me about the "our fallen heroes" in Afghanistan.

Later I had a cup of coffee in town and they had SKY on as well, with speakers around the cafe so we had to listen to it no matter how far from the TV we were.

I don't see why I should have to watch British SKY Broadcasting when I go to the bank or have a cup of coffee, but it seems to be becoming normal to have it on in all sorts of places.

Am I being too sensitive?

You may as well just kill yourself.

asahi

They had SKY news on in Busarus as well. Maybe soon they'll have it on the buses.

amacachi

Then the Dáil shall be theirs.

drkpower

asahi wrote: »

Am I being too sensitive?

What do you suggest be on as an alternative?

There is no Irish news channel and little snippets of news is what people want when they are waing for a few minutes here and there.

Rippy

Sky News used to have an Irish version (Sky news Ireland). Only had limited Irish content.
Alas, they gave this the chop a couple of years ago.
As there is no Irish 24 hour rolling news service (and never likely to be in our small bankrupt country)what would you like them to show as an alternative?

BBC News? :eek:
CNN?
Al Jazerra ?

mike65

Fox!

asahi

Why not BBC or Al Jazeera?

Would they be any better or worse?

At least the BBC is in some sort of public ownership, so they are supposed to be balanced.

I think if they have to tv's on in public places they should have an Irish channel. This is Ireland after all. Can you imagine another country where they it would be normal to show foreign television news in the banks?

But I would prefer no televisions blaring at me. Personally I am a fan of being able to think without a shouting box in the corner, but I realise that puts me in a minority.

drkpower

asahi wrote: »

I think if they have to tv's on in public places they should have an Irish channel. This is Ireland after all. Can you imagine another country where they it would be normal to show foreign television news in the banks?

What channel do you suggest?
RTE1, 2, TV3, TG4?
Do you really think people want the Afternoon Show or the Den on when they are waiting around in a bank, hairdresser, wherever?

A News Channel is the best to keep people entertained/informed for a few minutes here or there. If there was an Irish one, sure, it should be on.
But there isnt.

asahi

drkpower wrote: »

A News Channel is the best to keep people entertained/informed for a few minutes here or there. If there was an Irish one, sure, it should be on.
But there isnt.

Why SKY though? Why is it always SKY?

drkpower

asahi wrote: »

Why SKY though? Why is it always SKY?

Fair point.
Realistically, English news, after Irish news, is of most interest to Irish people so it should be one of the English news channels. So I suppose it could be BBC News 24. Id be perfectly happy with that.

asahi

Why do we need TV in a bank at all though?

A few moments of silence while your filling in banking slips seems like a reasonable thing to me.

Doesn't it drive the poor people who work there crazy?

drkpower

It is there for the customers. Apparently they are always right....:D

A lot of customers, like myself, when I am waiting around, do like to have something to draw their attention to, keep informed etc.

Mossy Monk

Rippy wrote: »

what would you like them to show as an alternative?

BBC News? :eek:

I feel BBC News would be better.

bob123456

How about Euronews?

icdg

asahi wrote: »

Why SKY though? Why is it always SKY?

Because it was the only news channel available on cable here for nearly thirteen years, and cable in the 1990s had an extremely high take-up rate in areas passed as Sky didn't offer the terrestrial channels.

Its still the only news channel on analogue which a substantial portion of customers still have, and while Sky and Chorus NTL both have a number of other news channels on them, Sky News is quite simply the most familar 24 news channel to Irish people - neither the BBC News Channel nor CNN would have the same level of recognition and I imagine there would be a very low level of name recognition for Al-Jazeera...

drkpower

bob123456 wrote: »

How about Euronews?

Possibly but English news is generally of more interest to Irish people.

xp90

I know of a few cafés that show CNN, much better!

Elmo

I also think that Sky news has taken over the country. It is a dreadful channel. I wouldn't sit in a cafe with a TV blaring.

If quick news is what people want they could provide RTÉ News Now.

Possibly but English news is generally of more interest to Irish people.

Really why? What about Welsh, Scottish and NI news, oh wait Sky ignore those "countries".

drkpower

Elmo wrote: »

Really why? What about Welsh, Scottish and NI news, oh wait Sky ignore those "countries".

Why we Irish are especially interested in English news and affairs is the subject of another long, heated and ultimately pointless thread, Im sure....! But it is undoubtedly true.

Linku

Regarding the Train Stations, I'm pretty sure I read a while ago that this was put up for public tender, and RTÉ didn't bother submitting a proposal, and Sky ended up winning the contract.

Elmo

Linku wrote: »

Regarding the Train Stations, I'm pretty sure I read a while ago that this was put up for public tender, and RTÉ didn't bother submitting a proposal, and Sky ended up winning the contract.

Did TV3? I have seen RTÉ in spar/centra, scrolling across the screen.

Elmo

drkpower wrote: »

A lot of customers, like myself, when I am waiting around, do like to have something to draw their attention to, keep informed etc.

What about what the bank is doing? Perhaps that is why sky is on in Irish banks.

drkpower

Elmo wrote: »

What about what the bank is doing? Perhaps that is why sky is on in Irish banks.

What?
Are you suggesting banks have Sky on to hide their indiscretions.....?!
Off to CT with you!

L1011

Sky seek absolutely no royalties for showing Sky News in public places and its on every cable package in existance as well as FTA on two satellites. The only other English language news channel freely usable not likely to get very askance looks (as Al Jazeera, France24, Russia Today, etc would) is BBC News which is not on analogue cable, and not on Sky Ireland or ex-sub Irish boxes that haven't been crashed back to a UK EPG.

Hence Sky News is used.

Elmo

MYOB wrote: »

Sky seek absolutely no royalties for showing Sky News in public places and its on every cable package in existance as well as FTA on two satellites. The only other English language news channel freely usable not likely to get very askance looks (as Al Jazeera, France24, Russia Today, etc would) is BBC News which is not on analogue cable, and not on Sky Ireland or ex-sub Irish boxes that haven't been crashed back to a UK EPG.

Hence Sky News is used.

Train stations may be a different story since different news is show from sky.

Cabaal

Mossy Monk wrote: »

I feel BBC News would be better.

Agreed,
Either BBC or Euronews, sky news is awful and is just the UK version of Fox News

dublincelt

drkpower wrote: »

It is there for the customers. Apparently they are always right....:D

A lot of customers, like myself, when I am waiting around, do like to have something to draw their attention to, keep informed etc.

Ha ha, you are a comedian. Sky news to "keep informed"

God help us!

drkpower

dublincelt wrote: »

Ha ha, you are a comedian. Sky news to "keep informed"

God help us!

Hahaha, hehehe, hohoho.....
Yes, to keep informed.
It wouldnt be my first choice but Sky News does keep one informed.

Brian CivilEng

After spending 20 minutes waiting in a train station yesterday the Sky News screen really began to P*** me off. I mean why do people in Ireland care what the exchange rate is between the pound sterling and Japanese Yen? The only mention of the euro was what £1 would buy you. Would it be so difficult to generate an Irish version of the sidebar?