Off The Ball Official Thread <Mod Note - Post #1, #533, #6651>

Utopia Parkway

Can't get enough Ger Gilroy in your life? Then this is the news for you. OTB are going 24 hours.

https://www.independent.ie/entertainment/radio/off-the-ball-launches-24-hour-radio-station-dedicated-to-sports-38258608.html

gormdubhgorm

Utopia Parkway wrote: »

Can't get enough Ger Gilroy in your life? Then this is the news for you. OTB are going 24 hours.

https://www.independent.ie/entertainment/radio/off-the-ball-launches-24-hour-radio-station-dedicated-to-sports-38258608.html

Jayus, if there is a market for it let them off.
It sounds like is more a vehicle to a more consistent stream of advertising revenue in, rather than anything really innovative.

I assume it will be the same 'news'/programmes on constant repeat - similar to Sky News/Sky Sports News?

Dots1982

gormdubhgorm wrote: »

Jayus, if there is a market for it let them off.
It sounds like is more a vehicle to a more consistent stream of advertising revenue in, rather than anything really innovative.

I assume it will be the same 'news'/programmes on constant repeat - similar to Sky News/Sky Sports News?

More like talksport or 5 live than SSN

gormdubhgorm

Dots1982 wrote: »

More like talksport or 5 live than SSN

Fair point I was going to say them as well.
But I would have thought that the talksport format in particular is dated?
They seem to struggle to fill airtime.

Dots1982

gormdubhgorm wrote: »

Fair point I was going to say them as well.
But I would have thought that the talksport format in particular is dated?
They seem to struggle to fill airtime.

Don’t listen to them at all to be honest. It was more that this new station will have live commentaries.

Tell me how

Think the 24 hour move is a big step.
Expect like said above it's about catching as much advertisement as possible.
Interesting that although they're going to this format, I think I saw they're only going to 50 hours content/week.
That's not a huge amount more than what they're currently doing.

Expect to see a lot of people frustrated that they're tuning in and hearing the same content they heard earlier that day.

On the other hand, I'd imagine they'll fit in some sort of dial in during the week. Like Talksport as also said above.

I remember when The Title newspaper launched as a dedicated Sunday sports newspaper. It lasted only a few weeks before was subsumed into another paper.

Edit: just read press release, they say they'll be producing 40 hrs/week. That makes it sound more like an intferace to publish all podcasts they're currently producing in the form of a '24 hour radio'. Nightly show is staying on radio which reinforces that view I think.

redbuck

This is great news, hopefully it takes off.

Ol' Donie

A) Is it actually on the radio or is it internet radio?

Will it be OTB am, then hours of repeats, then OTB, then more repeats?

C) How much of it will be Golf Weekly?

D) I'll give it a whirl, could be good.

E) 40 hours of new content each week is about 24% of the time for a 24 hour station. In other words, it'll be 76% repeats.

Still Ill

Was a tough listen with John and Nathan talking about Rafa's previous jobs.
'What was the big club he was with? Valencia? See he never had the money like he would with a BIG club like Real Madrid or Barca.' He's done a great job everywhere he's been'

You'd think either of them might have a clue what they're talking about. Surely they knew beforehand. Could've at least glanced at wiki.

NIMAN

sugarman wrote: »

Thursday nights with John is getting a bit stale now anyway, same old stuff ..."When I was at Leeds" yada yada

Why thank you.

I've been saying that for about 2 years.

Tell me how

Still Ill wrote: »

Was a tough listen with John and Nathan talking about Rafa's previous jobs.
'What was the big club he was with? Valencia? See he never had the money like he would with a BIG club like Real Madrid or Barca.' He's done a great job everywhere he's been'

You'd think either of them might have a clue what they're talking about. Surely they knew beforehand. Could've at least glanced at wiki.

Think the point he was making was that Rafa had taken Valencia to the League title in Spain spending relatively small amount of money indicating that he is a quality coach.

NIMAN

Tell me how wrote: »

Think the point he was making was that Rafa had taken Valencia to the League title in Spain spending relatively small amount of money indicating that he is a quality coach.

Imagine what he could have done then if he had ever got a big job like, say real Madrid for example.

Say Your Number

Didn't Real Madrid sack Del Bosque after he won the league, and the fella they hired last year was gone in a matter of weeks, Zidane being an anomaly it's impossible for most coaches there.

Tell me how

NIMAN wrote: »

Imagine what he could have done then if he had ever got a big job like, say real Madrid for example.

Or Liverpool, or Chelsea, or Inter Milan.........

Point was he is a good coach who doesn't have to buy a team of players to succeed.

You're probably right though, premier league commentator and liverpool fan Nathan forgot who Rafa coached.

Blinky Plebum

Say Your Number wrote: »

Didn't Real Madrid sack Del Bosque after he won the league, and the fella they hired last year was gone in a matter of weeks, Zidane being an anomaly it's impossible for most coaches there.

Which is why they're so successful, they're is zero tolerance for failure , they've never really had a sustained period without success in their entire history.

Still Ill

Blinky Plebum wrote: »

Which is why they're so successful, they're is zero tolerance for failure , they've never really had a sustained period without success in their entire history.

Sure if you'd listen to John, you'd realise that players need stability. They want to believe that the manager will be there forever.

As much as I love the guy, he's a complete dinosaur when it comes to today's game. He believes that the manager should be taking training sessions, personally buying the players and also negotiating their contracts.

Football just doesn't work like that any more. I've heard him being quite scathing about how Chelsea are run, but the fact of the matter is that in the last 15 years they're one of the most successful clubs in Europe. It might not be appealing to old school football men like John, but that's how football works these days.

diusmr8a504cvk

Paul Corry and Shane Keegan carrying Nathan Murphy through a League of Ireland conversation from start to finish.

Brayan Chilly Shoplifter

Brayan Chilly Shoplifter wrote: »

Paul Corry and Shane Keegan carrying Nathan Murphy through a League of Ireland conversation from start to finish.

To be fair to Nathan, he has made a real effort to get into the LOI and regularly goes to Tallaght with his kids, which is a lot more than some of his colleagues. On a whole, I think OTB are doing well with their coverage considering up to a few years ago it barely registered.

monstermag

I think some of the lads on OTB have more interest in love Island than the women's world Cup.

Still Ill

monstermag wrote: »

I think some of the lads on OTB have more interest in love Island than the women's world Cup.

Could you blame them?

RINO87

Deleted User wrote: »

To be fair to Nathan, he has made a real effort to get into the LOI and regularly goes to Tallaght with his kids, which is a lot more than some of his colleagues. On a whole, I think OTB are doing well with their coverage considering up to a few years ago it barely registered.

Agreed, LOI is getting lots of coverage this year, especially on the Saturdays.

RINO87

RINO87 wrote: »

Agreed, LOI is getting lots of coverage this year, especially on the Saturdays.

They also cover big mid week games in their normal coverage, so it'll be in the news bulletin and they'll talk about the score during the programme whereas in the past they just seemed to tick the LOI box with a segment with Dan McDonnell or Stuey Byrne for 20 minutes once a week. It's like the LOI has finally been accepted as worthwhile. Definitely a shift in attitude.

Ol' Donie

Is there such a thing as a schedule for this OTB 24 hour radio station yoke?

I turned it on there and the first name I heard was Dustin Johnson, would be good to know when it isn't golf chat.

I might be mad, but I could swear they just played some Radiohead in the afternoon yesterday.

Tell me how

Ol' Donie wrote: »

Is there such a thing as a schedule for this OTB 24 hour radio station yoke?

I turned it on there and the first name I heard was Dustin Johnson, would be good to know when it isn't golf chat.

I might be mad, but I could swear they just played some Radiohead in the afternoon yesterday.

Haven't heard it yet.

It seems like it was not very well launched. Came out of the blue, was limited to announcements on NT shows and Twitter.

They're doing lots of road shows at moment, I'd have thought it would have deserved it's own official launch if it was going to be a serious venture.

I must check it out. It could be good, bit if it's not good it'll tick off listeners from the regular shows I think.

dr.kenneth noisewater

Ol' Donie wrote: »

Is there such a thing as a schedule for this OTB 24 hour radio station yoke?

I turned it on there and the first name I heard was Dustin Johnson, would be good to know when it isn't golf chat.

I might be mad, but I could swear they just played some Radiohead in the afternoon yesterday.

https://www.offtheball.com/schedule

Ol' Donie

dr.kenneth noisewater wrote: »

https://www.offtheball.com/schedule

Thanks for that.

Although it is literally a list of OTB am, OTB am repeat, OTB gold, OTB, OTB Gold, Off The Ball.

No idea what's on any of them EXCEPT OTB Gold is The best of OTB since 2002! So that's genuinely interesting.

diusmr8a504cvk

Great coverage of Pat's and Rovers on the OTB Instagram story on Monday.

Tell me how

Ol' Donie wrote: »

Thanks for that.

Although it is literally a list of OTB am, OTB am repeat, OTB gold, OTB, OTB Gold, Off The Ball.

No idea what's on any of them EXCEPT OTB Gold is The best of OTB since 2002! So that's genuinely interesting.

Plus, it doesn't do a night schedule so I expect it is just going to be a rerun of the daily content.

It's not 24hr radio though is it, it's just back to back playing of podcasts.

As I said before, I think this could have been done in a much better fashion with some new features or presenters brought on board to support the launch.

djemba djemba

RINO87 wrote: »

Agreed, LOI is getting lots of coverage this year, especially on the Saturdays.

I don't know why they don't use Fridays show for an around the LOI grounds type show rather than that muck quiz they do.

Ol' Donie

Tell me how wrote: »

Plus, it doesn't do a night schedule so I expect it is just going to be a rerun of the daily content.

It's not 24hr radio though is it, it's just back to back playing of podcasts.

As I said before, I think this could have been done in a much better fashion with some new features or presenters brought on board to support the launch.

I put on OTB in the car this evening and they were repeating an interview from OTB am this morning (I think).

Point is, they re-use a lot of their existing content to fill the hours they have on Newstalk.

It's all a bit mad.

Ol' Donie

Sorry to keep going on about it, but it's even more mental that they chose to launch it at a time of year when the radio programme is cut to two hours because there's no football (aside from the small matter of the actual Women's World Cup).

Tell me how

Ol' Donie wrote: »

Sorry to keep going on about it, but it's even more mental that they chose to launch it at a time of year when the radio programme is cut to two hours because there's no football (aside from the small matter of the actual Women's World Cup).

Agreed. Something weird about it.
Like they had committed to launch by end of June and even though they weren't ready, they just went for it.

Tell me how

Enjoying pieces from Lahinch this week. Bit I heard of Conor Moore was v good.
Also pieces on Pro-Am today were good. Christmas in July for Joe.

Ol' Donie

Tell me how wrote: »

Agreed. Something weird about it.
Like they had committed to launch by end of June and even though they weren't ready, they just went for it.

I actually like the idea - I think both OTB & SC do some of their better work on less popular/current stories.

This would be a great opportunity to do more, say LOI, or American sports or athletics and that.

It's just that's there's no detail at all. None.

40 hours is just:

14 hours regular OTB (not summer)
7 or 8 hours OTB am
10(?) weekend hours

So, that's just 8 hours that aren't already on the radio.

Is some of this Team 33? The Golf Podcast? The (fùckin Jaysus) Dadcast?

Was there even one new thing mentioned?

I'm just curious. What's happening?

Tell me how

Ol' Donie wrote: »

I'm just curious. What's happening?

The only place to hear OTB 24Hr radio is on the Go Loud App.
The App is owned by comunicorp. All Communicorp irish stations are accessible on it.

Seems to be nothing more than a cynical ploy to drive users to the app. Surprised the OTB guys went a long with it. Am particularly annoyed by Ger Gilroys comment that the listeners have been looking for more content and they've launched OTB 24 Hr radio to give them just that.

It's a podcast/streaming interface, nothing more.

Ol' Donie

Well at least that's a reason.

I can't believe they launched without one single new show to entice people.

robo

Anyone else listening to OTBAM?

I am really enjoying it & they have some great guests - only properly started listening in the last month or so.
Eoin is so younger than Ger but isn't afraid to speak his mind and stand his ground. The show is definitely getting traction as they are running more ads during it now.

Tell me how

robo wrote: »

Anyone else listening to OTBAM?

I am really enjoying it & they have some great guests - only properly started listening in the last month or so.
Eoin is so younger than Ger but isn't afraid to speak his mind and stand his ground. The show is definitely getting traction as they are running more ads during it now.

Don't hear it all the time but do enjoy it when I do hear it.
They get surprisingly good guests on for that time of the day. I agree with Eoin Sheehan, I like the way he defends his position.

As well as the ads, it's on longer now than when it started. Used to be 07:45 to 09:00, now it's 09:30.

robo

Also what is good about OTBAM is that the podcast description shows the times and who is on it so you can forward to parts that you miss and have a listen.
Yeh they really do well with the guests. Its still growing and finding its place but definitely the potential to be a great show

Kenny B

Most of the regular shows are wasted with nonsense chatter and the same point being repeated over and over and incessant injokes,

The fooking Triathlon, over & over & over, back slapping,

Previously I would have listened regularly now it's only when working late now & again.

Ger Gilroy sounds like a Fox News contributer nowadays - his opinion is always right and has to get angry to prove it, he jumped the shark with the Armstrong interview, wasting his time with his 'what about the kiddies' nonsense questions, when there was the chance to have a good chat, all his Irish media mates said it was radio gold and since then his angry opinion has become part of the show.

Joe Molloy, Jesus, Has ever a sports presenter had such a lack of sports history knowledge, He'd never even heard of Bod Tisdall, (I think during an interview with Ronnie Delaney, Ronnie mentioned him to the vacuous Joe)

All the rest are grand but I can't see them ever having the all round quality of the Old Crew,

It's a small niche brand and will stay that way.

Tell me how

Kenny B wrote: »

Joe Molloy, Jesus, Has ever a sports presenter had such a lack of sports history knowledge, He'd never even heard of Bod Tisdall, (I think during an interview with Ronnie Delaney, Ronnie mentioned him to the vacuous Joe)

Do you mean Bob Tisdall?
To be fair, he's hardly a household name, I had to look him up.

I liked the old crew as well as but I don't think there's much between them and a group one way or another. People give out a lot about current group moralising, like your comment on the kids (which I don't remember specifically from that interview), but Ken Early can, and does moralise with the best.

BPKS

I know it doesn't belong in the Off the Ball thread but I was listening to the GAA section on Ivan Yeats earlier.

He had Trevor Mortimor on giving his verdicts on this weekends football. I have never heard a worse pundit in my life. The man could hardly speak, let alone get across any meaningful thoughts on the games.

Surely the Newstalk sports team could come up with somebody better than that.

Kenny B

Kenny B wrote: »

Most of the regular shows are wasted with nonsense chatter and the same point being repeated over and over and incessant injokes,

The fooking Triathlon, over & over & over, back slapping,

Previously I would have listened regularly now it's only when working late now & again.

Ger Gilroy sounds like a Fox News contributer nowadays - his opinion is always right and has to get angry to prove it, he jumped the shark with the Armstrong interview, wasting his time with his 'what about the kiddies' nonsense questions, when there was the chance to have a good chat, all his Irish media mates said it was radio gold and since then his angry opinion has become part of the show.

Joe Molloy, Jesus, Has ever a sports presenter had such a lack of sports history knowledge, He'd never even heard of Bod Tisdall, (I think during an interview with Ronnie Delaney, Ronnie mentioned him to the vacuous Joe)

All the rest are grand but I can't see them ever having the all round quality of the Old Crew,

It's a small niche brand and will stay that way.

Who pissed in your cornflakes? It's hardly that bad!

jeremyj1968

Kenny B wrote: »

Ger Gilroy sounds like a Fox News contributer nowadays - his opinion is always right and has to get angry to prove it

As the Managing Director of Off The Ball, the first thing that Gilroy should do is fire himself from the morning show. His personality is toxic and his lecturing on his perceived social justice issues - remember the confederate flag! I want to start the morning with something a bit cheery and humourous, not his snide sarcasm.

Ideally I would prefer Joe or Nathan in the morning.

Badabing

There's a reason why Gilroy was sacked from the breakfast show a few years ago.

Tell me how

Badabing wrote: »

There's a reason why Gilroy was sacked from the breakfast show a few years ago.

Maybe it's because they realized his strength is in the sports side of things.
Like him or loathe him, he's a big part of OTB success.
Original founder of show, stepped in when old crew disappeared over night, has introduced OTB am, has introduced several podcast type features, roadshows have to be seen as a success given the number they have.
He's not my favorite presenter but he is far from terrible at the same time.

diusmr8a504cvk

Tell me how wrote: »

Maybe it's because they realized his strength is in the sports side of things.
Like him or loathe him, he's a big part of OTB success.
Original founder of show, stepped in when old crew disappeared over night, has introduced OTB am, has introduced several podcast type features, roadshows have to be seen as a success given the number they have.
He's not my favorite presenter but he is far from terrible at the same time.

And despite all that he's still a complete wanker.

Tell me how

Brayan Chilly Shoplifter wrote: »

And despite all that he's still a complete wanker.

Hard to argue with that type of insightful analysis from an anonymous internet contributor.

Dots1982

As I like to say every 100 pages or so.. if you didnt have OTB you’d be depending on RTÉ and the Marty Squad for national radio coverage of sport in Ireland.

That should be a sobering thought.

Ol' Donie

Dots1982 wrote: »

As I like to say every 100 pages or so.. if you didnt have OTB you’d be depending on RTÉ and the Marty Squad for national radio coverage of sport in Ireland.

That should be a sobering thought.

And if you didn't have Gilroy starting OTB with Ken, Second Captains wouldn't have come about.

But, yeah, The Marty Squad. Holy jesus.