You knew it was going to happen the moment the news broke, didn't you? To be honest, I can't say I blame them.
Shane Williams' shock call-up into the Lions squad is big news regardless of talkSPORT's connection to it, it has been one of the big sports stories in the press and on Sky Sports News over the past two days so it was something they were always going to discuss, the fact that he will be part of their commentary team for the three Lions Test matches with Australia and was even originally due to co-commentate on the Brumbies match he'll now be playing in.
talkSPORT have got some excellent exposure out of this - a number of the national newspapers to have reported the story have mentioned the station by name and how they have exclusive national radio commentary rights to the Lions tour, which is exactly the message UTV Radio will want to be getting out of there. Also, all of the quotes I've seen have been taken verbatim from Shane's interview with Jonny Gould on Extra Time early on Sunday morning - which I believe was the only interview he'd given prior to Monday's papers going to print.
It's a great story, novel and fairly interesting as you say, and given that you can draw in the station's involvement talkSPORT were always going to squeeze the life out of it, just as Sky Sports would if Will Greenwood had been given a surprise recall or Radio 5 Live would if Matt Dawson had been called up. I suppose the only solace people getting a bit fed up with this story can take is by Wednesday or Thursday they (hopefully) will have given it a bit of a rest and turned their focus to the first of the Test matches.
Also, I have to dispute Jack's comments about Shane as a person a few posts above. I have met him once before and in my (albeit very limited) meeting with him he came across as an extremely nice guy in the same way that he does on television. This was not long after he had broken Wales' all-time try scoring record and had won the IRB World Player of the Year and yet he was still very humble and seemed to have a lot of time for the people around him. People I know/knew who have had much more frequent dealings with him have nothing but good things to say about him. Therefore Jack's comments came as a real surprise to me.
God diff I do wonder about you. Fair play you defend the station with some strong and valid points but for Christ sake "excellent exposure ""mentioning the station by name"get a grip this is,as they tell us the biggest sports station in the world.
You knew it was going to happen the moment the news broke, didn't you? To be honest, I can't say I blame them.
Shane Williams' shock call-up into the Lions squad is big news regardless of talkSPORT's connection to it, it has been one of the big sports stories in the press and on Sky Sports News over the past two days so it was something they were always going to discuss, the fact that he will be part of their commentary team for the three Lions Test matches with Australia and was even originally due to co-commentate on the Brumbies match he'll now be playing in.
talkSPORT have got some excellent exposure out of this - a number of the national newspapers to have reported the story have mentioned the station by name and how they have exclusive national radio commentary rights to the Lions tour, which is exactly the message UTV Radio will want to be getting out of there. Also, all of the quotes I've seen have been taken verbatim from Shane's interview with Jonny Gould on Extra Time early on Sunday morning - which I believe was the only interview he'd given prior to Monday's papers going to print.
It's a great story, novel and fairly interesting as you say, and given that you can draw in the station's involvement talkSPORT were always going to squeeze the life out of it, just as Sky Sports would if Will Greenwood had been given a surprise recall or Radio 5 Live would if Matt Dawson had been called up. I suppose the only solace people getting a bit fed up with this story can take is by Wednesday or Thursday they (hopefully) will have given it a bit of a rest and turned their focus to the first of the Test matches.
Also, I have to dispute Jack's comments about Shane as a person a few posts above. I have met him once before and in my (albeit very limited) meeting with him he came across as an extremely nice guy in the same way that he does on television. This was not long after he had broken Wales' all-time try scoring record and had won the IRB World Player of the Year and yet he was still very humble and seemed to have a lot of time for the people around him. People I know/knew who have had much more frequent dealings with him have nothing but good things to say about him. Therefore Jack's comments came as a real surprise to me.
Diff, I have never met Shane Williams or been in the same establishment but I have heard quite a few stories from different people about him being a poser and an arsehole on a night out. I will admit these stories go back a few years when Shane was younger, he may have matured since then.:D
God diff I do wonder about you. Fair play you defend the station with some strong and valid points but for Christ sake "excellent exposure ""mentioning the station by name"get a grip this is, as they tell us the biggest sports station in the world.
We all know it's not though, that this is bluster usually trotted out by the likes of Danny Kelly and previously Mike Parry, people love a bit of hyperbole but deep down are trying to amuse rather than convince.
As Brian Moore said on here the other day, your average listener - the sort who would never ever stumble across Digital Spy in his or her life - feels more comfortable with the advert-free, well-established environment of Radio 5 Live, if for no other reason than those two reasons. That sort of listener would have picked up their broadsheet today expecting to tune in to 5 Live on Saturday to listen to the First Test Match between Australia and the Lions. Should they pick up a copy of The Guardian, Independent, Telegraph or Times today and read the lead rugby union story, they will find that actually all of the Lions matches are on talkSPORT (a station they may have only vaguely heard of but never listened to, or had dismissed entirely due to inheriting other people's negative perceptions of the station) and that Shane Williams - a massively popular player both in Wales and beyond - will be commentating on these games, not only will they be better informed of which radio station offers what, but chances are they'll be more inclined to give talkSPORT a try than they would have been prior to picking up their paper.
Being really cynical, it wouldn't surprise me if part of the reason talkSPORT has been so "Shane heavy" over the past few days is to immediately draw in rugby union fans who are tuning in for the first time ever/in a long time after hearing or reading about Shane's involvement in the station's Lions coverage through this story.
We all know it's not though, that this is bluster usually trotted out by the likes of Danny Kelly and previously Mike Parry, people love a bit of hyperbole but deep down are trying to amuse rather than convince.
As Brian Moore said on here the other day, your average listener - the sort who would never ever stumble across Digital Spy in his or her life - feels more comfortable with the advert-free, well-established environment of Radio 5 Live, if for no other reason than those two reasons. That sort of listener would have picked up their broadsheet today expecting to tune in to 5 Live on Saturday to listen to the First Test Match between Australia and the Lions. Should they pick up a copy of The Guardian, Independent, Telegraph or Times today and read the lead rugby union story, they will find that actually all of the Lions matches are on talkSPORT (a station they may have only vaguely heard of but never listened to, or had dismissed entirely due to inheriting other people's negative perceptions of the station) and that Shane Williams - a massively popular player both in Wales and beyond - will be commentating on these games, not only will they be better informed of which radio station offers what, but chances are they'll be more inclined to give talkSPORT a try than they would have been prior to picking up their paper.
Being really cynical, it wouldn't surprise me if part of the reason talkSPORT has been so "Shane heavy" over the past few days is to immediately draw in rugby union fans who are tuning in for the first time ever/in a long time after hearing or reading about Shane's involvement in the station's Lions coverage through this story.
What a shocker if that Guardian, Independent, Telegraph or Times reader decides to tune into the station going too or coming home from work and stumbles across the Breakfast Show or Drive.
In the first hour this morning Brazil slamming Joe Kinnear for getting several players names wrong when he phoned in last night.
Just listen to clips of the week Alan to find out who gets names wrong.
I can't think of a sport better suited to radio than Golf. The Ryder Cup was brilliant.
Its probably the only sport where if I had a choice of TV or Radio coverage Id always go for the latter.
Yep, I agree don't quite understand people knocking it, it's a major Sporting event. An English winner too. Good comms can tell you the shot that's going to be played, you find out by crowd reaction when putts fall, and gasps when missed.
I did listen to Justin win on the radio, snuggled in bed (these freezing cold June nights after all). Wasn't Talksport though.
I completely disagree - I listened to a bit of talkSPORT's US Open special last night and thoroughly enjoyed it.
I always enjoy watching or listening to coverage of a close final day of a major golf championship and from what I heard Rupert Bell and Bob Bubka combined well in describing the battle between Justin Rose and Phil Mickelson to win the title. I could listen to Bubka all day, he has a good way of painting pictures with words and a unique, upbeat manner.
I actually think golf works really well on the radio - it's one of the sports BBC Radio 5 Live covers best and this week I caught a bit of US station ESPN Radio's coverage of the US Open and that was very good as well.
As for them discussing the golf today (as no doubt they did), this forum amuses me sometimes. When talkSPORT talks football, people moan because it is overkill with the station obsessing about the same few top six Premier League clubs, even when they are discussing the appointment of a new manager in the Championship as was the case the other day. Then when they broadcast commentaries and preview shows on the British & Irish Lions tour games, you have people on here moaning that the station has become "Lions 1089" as if this is the only thing they talk about and complain that the Lions tour doesn't actually mean anything and that they should be spending more time talking about football. And then when they don't talk about either the Lions or football, and decide to discuss how an English golfer has won a major golf championship for the first time in 17 years, people on here moan about that as well!!!
I'm sure many people who read/post on this forum have come to the same reasonable conclusion as me that commentary and the odd preview on the Lions tour, discussion about developing football stories such as Owen Coyle's appointment as Wigan boss on Friday and coverage of Justin Rose winning the US Open are all worthy of their place on the station and balanced coverage of a variety of sports is welcome, but from reading this thread sometimes you'd be forgiven for thinking that some people don't know what they want to hear from one minute to the next.
This forum is not a homogeneous group so there is no
contradiction in hearing different expressions of sporting
interest from varying posters.
Your comment that
' you'd be forgiven for thinking that some people don't know what they want to hear from one minute to the next' is
a curious one.
People do know what they want it just differs
from person to person hence why you have some saying there is too much football /Lions etc and other disagreeing.
I would have thought that anyone reading the posts would
know exactly what individuals posters like and concur that
we all differs in our views in that respect.
It highlights how challenging it is for Talksport as they are never going to please all of the people,all of the time.
It's just not possible.
I refer to this comment:
you have people on here moaning that the station has become "Lions 1089" as if this is the only thing they talk about and complain that the Lions tour doesn't actually mean anything and that they should be spending more time talking about football
Can you point me to the poster/s that actually said
Talksport should be spending more time talking about football as i don't recall anyone saying that..
I certainly recall saying that the Lions tour dosen't actually mean anything but i didn't follow that up by saying that
'they should be spending more time talking about football'
and i could be wrong but i don't recall anyone else saying that either.
In the first hour this morning Brazil slamming Joe Kinnear for getting several players names wrong when he phoned in last night.
Just listen to clips of the week Alan to find out who gets names wrong.
Ha ha. Indeed. Pot, kettle and black springs to mind,
We all know it's not though, that this is bluster usually trotted out by the likes of Danny Kelly and previously Mike Parry, people love a bit of hyperbole but deep down are trying to amuse rather than convince.
As Brian Moore said on here the other day, your average listener - the sort who would never ever stumble across Digital Spy in his or her life - feels more comfortable with the advert-free, well-established environment of Radio 5 Live, if for no other reason than those two reasons. That sort of listener would have picked up their broadsheet today expecting to tune in to 5 Live on Saturday to listen to the First Test Match between Australia and the Lions. Should they pick up a copy of The Guardian, Independent, Telegraph or Times today and read the lead rugby union story, they will find that actually all of the Lions matches are on talkSPORT (a station they may have only vaguely heard of but never listened to, or had dismissed entirely due to inheriting other people's negative perceptions of the station) and that Shane Williams - a massively popular player both in Wales and beyond - will be commentating on these games, not only will they be better informed of which radio station offers what, but chances are they'll be more inclined to give talkSPORT a try than they would have been prior to picking up their paper.
Being really cynical, it wouldn't surprise me if part of the reason talkSPORT has been so "Shane heavy" over the past few days is to immediately draw in rugby union fans who are tuning in for the first time ever/in a long time after hearing or reading about Shane's involvement in the station's Lions coverage through this story.
Can't ague about any of that diff,and you could be on target with the Shane Heavy bit.
In the first hour this morning Brazil slamming Joe Kinnear for getting several players names wrong when he phoned in last night.
Just listen to clips of the week Alan to find out who gets names wrong.
If there is anyone on TalkSport who hasn't got a leg to stand on over mispronouncing of names it's Mr Brazil.
In the first hour this morning Brazil slamming Joe Kinnear for getting several players names wrong when he phoned in last night.
Just listen to clips of the week Alan to find out who gets names wrong.
To be fair to Alan they played some clips of him getting names
wrong in one segment, after which Matt Holland tested him
with a few others ( he struggled with one or two)
If there is anyone on TalkSport who hasn't got a leg to stand on over mispronouncing of names it's Mr Brazil.
I do think it worth noting that while Alan is a radio presenter
Joe Kinnear has just been appointed Newcastle's new director of football, as such one
would expect him to know how to pronounce the names of the Newcastle managing director and those of his players.
To be fair to Alan they played some clips of him getting names
wrong in one segment, after which Matt Holland tested him
with a few others ( he struggled with one or two)
They have it as a stand alone feature on the
Talksport website:
Alan Brazil takes the Joe Kinnear pronunciation test!
This forum is not a homogeneous group so there is no
contradiction in hearing different expressions of sporting
interest from varying posters.
Your comment that
' you'd be forgiven for thinking that some people don't know what they want to hear from one minute to the next' is
a curious one.
People do know what they want it just differs
from person to person hence why you have some saying there is too much football /Lions etc and other disagreeing.
That's a fair point - although this thread does contain a few people who share a consensus opinion on certain aspects of the station, it isn't a homogeneous group of people who agree on everything.
However, recently the difference of views from one poster to the next has really stood out like a sore thumb - you have people moaning about them covering too much football during the summer months, people moaning that they have given too much exposure to the Lions tour, people moaning about them covering the golf at the weekend.
It's fair to say that we all have our different views - personally I think the station is generally striking the right balance at the moment between its in-depth Lions coverage, discussions of developing football stories (such as managerial appointments like today's Joe Kinnear news) and coverage of other sports like the weekend's golf and tennis - and most people who follow this thread closely will know who falls into what camp, but I imagine the layman who stumbles upon this thread and just skims through a few pages would be a bit bewildered by quite how varied opinion is on aspects of the station's programming. I cannot recall this thread being as split as it is right now, which on balance is probably a good thing to hear a spectrum of opinions, but on the other hand it's can be bit difficult to keep up!
Out of interest, as someone who is (seemingly) dead set against talkSPORT covering the British & Irish Lions tour, but doesn't want to hear more football coverage, what would you prefer to hear on talkSPORT instead this summer? Are you in the camp that finds golf on the radio boring or were you happy with talkSPORT covering the US Open? If so, what other sports do you think the station should have given airtime over the weekend?
In the first hour this morning Brazil slamming Joe Kinnear for getting several players names wrong when he phoned in last night.
Just listen to clips of the week Alan to find out who gets names wrong.
I woke up early this morning and heard most of the first hour of the show - from what I heard Alan actually sympathised that he was struggling with some of the names and had a joke about his history of mispronunciations. He was more critical of Kinnear for the comments he made about Newcastle United fans.
So talkSPORT have found themselves in the position of being involved in two leading sports stories in successive days - Shane Williams' Lions call-up on Sunday and Joe Kinnear's mad interview on The Sports Bar last night. They say these things come in threes, so I wonder what talkSPORT's next direct/indirect contribution to the sporting landscape will be...
I'd just chuck this in yes some of us moan and grumble a lot about the station but that's just how internet forums are, a place to air your complaints. Yes just lately there has been a lot of good stuff on talksport but not everyone catches all the shows that go out so it's unfair to criticise people for not posting in positive comments on these shows if they've missed them. This last couple of weeks because I'm busy with DIY I've missed a lot of shows but I read on here some of what I've missed has been really good, that's great I'm happy (very) that the station is at long last being worth it's name and not just concentrating on football and sounding tired and boring.
Sometimes people like myself, Oak, Rammy, stormy-weathers and a few others get criticised by a particular poster for being negative so much but this member should take a second to reflect and think how we must feel about him praising everything to the hilt where it's not warranted all the time, it works both ways.
What a shocker if that Guardian, Independent, Telegraph or Times reader decides to tune into the station going too or coming home from work and stumbles across the Breakfast Show or Drive.
Not as shocked as I was when i found user comments on The Guardian website praising how funny Goldstein & Cundy are.
I'm not really a golf fan but I always enjoy the pairing of Rupert Bell and Bob Bubka. Talksport did mess up the U.S. Open preview show by putting Bob on for an hour with Ray Stubbs and Jason Burt - both football people who muddled through. Personally, I would have had Georgie Bingham with Rupert and Bob doing the show.
This is the first time I’ve posted on here in ages because something on the computers at work stopped me logging in.
That stopped me joining in the celebrations at the news of Irani leaving the breakfast show.
For what they’re worth, these are my thoughts on the station at the moment:
Breakfast: Obviously Irani going was fantastic news. When the cricketer was on holiday I thought it was a refreshing change to hear a selection of guest hosts on the show. Since that has become a semi-permanent situation I’m not so sure.
It does seem to be encouraging Alan Brazil to raise his game as broadcaster, there hasn’t been an opportunity for anyone to develop a relationship with either Alan or the listeners and I think that is necessary for a talk-based programme to thrive.
Of the ex-sportsmen that have been guest presenters I like Matt Holland and Ray Parlour and I thought AP McCoy was quite interesting the other day. I haven’t been convinced by anyone else, but think the show would be better with a presenter whose background was broadcasting rather than professional sport as it would remove the ‘old-boys club’ feel.
I liked Beeky on the programme (probably because I am a Liverpool fan) but can see that his return would be a step backwards; and there doesn’t seem to be any will from the station to put Danny Kelly on breakfast, so promoting Adrian Durham to that role would seem like the best option to me. That would also give the opportunity to refresh Drivetime.
The Lions Tour: I am not a rugby fan, so don’t really get what all the fuss is about. It seems to me that having commentary on so many friendly games will turn non-rugby fans away. I certainly turned over when I heard commentary of the game in Hong Kong. Having comprehensive coverage of the tests is fair enough, but not the build up.
Mid-morning: They’re using Danny Kelly in a timeslot where I can’t listen as I’m in work. Personally, this is disappointing, but it’s good that they’re using him more
Drivetime: Even when Irani was still at the station I thought Gough was the real weakness in the presenter line-up. This is still the case. There are plenty of big name sports stars that could host the show that are eloquent, thoughtful and entertaining (some of the guest hosts on Breakfast for example) that could improve the quality of this show massively.
I woke up early this morning and heard most of the first hour of the show - from what I heard Alan actually sympathised that he was struggling with some of the names and had a joke about his history of mispronunciations. He was more critical of Kinnear for the comments he made about Newcastle United fans.
..[/QUOTE]
Oh Diff you really are defensive of Talksport.
In the first 15mins Brazil was taking the pee out of Kinnear.
I should imagine then he started to get e-mails, texts, tweets & what ever form of communication there is pointing out that he is the wrong person to jibe at others mistakes.(I even bothered to e-mail myself).
Over the course of the first hour his attitude gradually changed & he started to be more understanding & his co- presenter pointed out that Brazil's former manager Bobby Robson often got peoples names wrong.
I only listened to the first hour but I assume from bits I have read on here that he did a u turn & was more understanding to Joe Kinnear.
While we are discussing Brazil did you notice that when ever he mentioned Newcastle he started by saying "It's frightening"
"It worries me" " It's scary".
Now please tell me what the f**k is frightening & Scary about somebody getting a job at a football club.
Have they really got nothing else to talk about.
I don't know "IT WORRIES ME".
This is the first time I’ve posted on here in ages because something on the computers at work stopped me logging in.
That stopped me joining in the celebrations at the news of Irani leaving the breakfast show.
For what they’re worth, these are my thoughts on the station at the moment:
Breakfast: Obviously Irani going was fantastic news. When the cricketer was on holiday I thought it was a refreshing change to hear a selection of guest hosts on the show. Since that has become a semi-permanent situation I’m not so sure.
It does seem to be encouraging Alan Brazil to raise his game as broadcaster, there hasn’t been an opportunity for anyone to develop a relationship with either Alan or the listeners and I think that is necessary for a talk-based programme to thrive.
Of the ex-sportsmen that have been guest presenters I like Matt Holland and Ray Parlour and I thought AP McCoy was quite interesting the other day. I haven’t been convinced by anyone else, but think the show would be better with a presenter whose background was broadcasting rather than professional sport as it would remove the ‘old-boys club’ feel.
I liked Beeky on the programme (probably because I am a Liverpool fan) but can see that his return would be a step backwards; and there doesn’t seem to be any will from the station to put Danny Kelly on breakfast, so promoting Adrian Durham to that role would seem like the best option to me. That would also give the opportunity to refresh Drivetime.
The Lions Tour: I am not a rugby fan, so don’t really get what all the fuss is about. It seems to me that having commentary on so many friendly games will turn non-rugby fans away. I certainly turned over when I heard commentary of the game in Hong Kong. Having comprehensive coverage of the tests is fair enough, but not the build up.
Mid-morning: They’re using Danny Kelly in a timeslot where I can’t listen as I’m in work. Personally, this is disappointing, but it’s good that they’re using him more
Drivetime: Even when Irani was still at the station I thought Gough was the real weakness in the presenter line-up. This is still the case. There are plenty of big name sports stars that could host the show that are eloquent, thoughtful and entertaining (some of the guest hosts on Breakfast for example) that could improve the quality of this show massively.
Sorry about the long post.
I note and agree with your point about having a pro broadcaster/journalist on the breakfast show alongside the ex-sportsman. Personally, I can't understand why they haven't changed anything for such a long time. Look at other stations including the Beeb. They refresh presenter lineups regularly to keep it fresh.
The Kinnear interview is a genuine scoop and well done to whoever at TS was responsible. Goldstein was sharp enough to let him flow and not interrupt. Gould was clearly dumbstruck by what he was hearing!
The Lions Tour: I am not a rugby fan, so don’t really get what all the fuss is about. It seems to me that having commentary on so many friendly games will turn non-rugby fans away. I certainly turned over when I heard commentary of the game in Hong Kong. Having comprehensive coverage of the tests is fair enough, but not the build up.
I agree with you about the Rugby. Not sure they should have commentary of these games mid morning in midweek.
I for one turned it off as have zero interest in rugby and i expect many people feel the same.
I wonder what the actual ratings are for these games? I'm sure the listening figures will be down quite alot than usual.
Fair enough having the games on at the weekend, but i certainly dont want to listen to the games during the week while im at work.
Also cant stand Brian Moore either, so its a double turn off for me!!!
I agree with you about the Rugby. Not sure they should have commentary of these games mid morning in midweek.
I for one turned it off as have zero interest in rugby and i expect many people feel the same.
I wonder what the actual ratings are for these games? I'm sure the listening figures will be down quite alot than usual.
Fair enough having the games on at the weekend, but i certainly dont want to listen to the games during the week while im at work.
Also cant stand Brian Moore either, so its a double turn off for me!!!
Each to their own, I suppose! I'm enjoying the break from constant 24/7 football non-stories. I'm enjoying the Lions coverage and Brian Moore is a welcome addition. For ages 'we've' been crying out for an intelligent regular contributor to the station. I feel that BM delivers more than that; he engages with sports he's not associated with and tries (although somewhat fruitlessly because of colleagues) to unpick the problems/barriers to success. Also, nice to hear Marcotti back on TS, far too clever for the station (and me!) but love to hear that fella talk, even if he does remind me of the guy off of Man vs Food.
Sometimes people like myself, Oak, Rammy, stormy-weathers and a few others get criticised by a particular poster for being negative so much but this member should take a second to reflect and think how we must feel about him praising everything to the hilt where it's not warranted all the time, it works both ways.
I don't praise everything to the hilt though. For example I was critical about a Kelly and Quinn show I heard a bit of the other week which was devoted to a complete non-story at Arsenal and when asked about Drive Time I'm certainly not someone who would praise that programme unless it did something that was a pretty exceptional break from the norm. But it's true that in general I think they are getting more things right than not at the moment. I have really enjoyed their Lions coverage over the past few weeks and I thought that, despite not having commentary rights, they did as comprehensive a job of covering the US Open as they could in the circumstances.
I've not been critical towards the views of particular posters (well, perhaps wns_195 for his comments on talkSPORT running a short item on Wigan's new manager) but I can't help but notice how in general there has been a lot of criticism flying around over wildly different things. Usually it's the same sort of things that come in for criticism on here but at the moment, with other sports receiving lots of coverage in summers months with a limited amount of football, I'm reading people criticising talkSPORT seemingly just for covering sports they personally dislike. All I've really done is point out how erratic this thread must seem to someone just dipping into it for the first time, which I suppose in a way is good as it shows we all have different opinions.
Oh Diff you really are defensive of Talksport.
In the first 15mins Brazil was taking the pee out of Kinnear.
I should imagine then he started to get e-mails, texts, tweets & what ever form of communication there is pointing out that he is the wrong person to jibe at others mistakes.(I even bothered to e-mail myself).
To be fair, I wasn't tuned in during the first 15 minutes of the programme but did hear most of the rest of the hour from about the first break onwards. By the time he was speaking to Graham Courtney, he was showing signs of sympathy with Joe for his mispronunciations, so if he was being overly critical of Joe for this it must have been really early on as honestly I didn't hear anything that could be described as being more than him having a mild joke over these slip ups.
I agree with you about the Rugby. Not sure they should have commentary of these games mid morning in midweek.
I for one turned it off as have zero interest in rugby and i expect many people feel the same.
I wonder what the actual ratings are for these games? I'm sure the listening figures will be down quite alot than usual.
You're only talking about four games in four weeks, one per week. It's not as if you have had to "put up" with live rugby union commentaries every day. talkSPORT have the rights to the tour and I would expect nothing less than them broadcasting full live commentary on all ten games, in fact it wouldn't surprise me if part of the reason why the Lions committee sold to talkSPORT rather than the BBC is because, unlike 5 Live on previous tours, talkSPORT has the remit and capacity to broadcast commentary on every game.
As for the listening figures, not a direct comparison I know but during the 2011 Rugby World Cup, talkSPORT's listening figures across the board increased to some of their highest levels and even months after the tournament, management attributed their ratings success to their live commentaries from New Zealand. It has been theorised that the success of commentaries overnight for example may have helped to get the ball rolling towards a move to the 24/7 sport format we have now.
For as much as they'll be Keys & Gray listeners like yourself who'll find rugby a bit of a turn off during the day, I'm sure they'll be plenty of rugby union fans who don't have Sky Sports and/or are in work when the midweek matches are taking place, so will have tuned into talkSPORT for a bit during these four midweek mornings. If I had to guess I'd be fairly confident in saying that there is a much larger audience for live coverage of Lions matches than there is for a summer filler show with Kelly and Quinn in what was the Keys & Gray slot.
By the way, good post AdRok, Lions aside I agree with much of what you say - particularly about Darren Gough being an even weaker link than Ronnie Irani was. Love the username as well!
Comments
God diff I do wonder about you. Fair play you defend the station with some strong and valid points but for Christ sake "excellent exposure ""mentioning the station by name"get a grip this is,as they tell us the biggest sports station in the world.
I can't think of a sport better suited to radio than Golf. The Ryder Cup was brilliant.
Its probably the only sport where if I had a choice of TV or Radio coverage Id always go for the latter.
We all know it's not though, that this is bluster usually trotted out by the likes of Danny Kelly and previously Mike Parry, people love a bit of hyperbole but deep down are trying to amuse rather than convince.
As Brian Moore said on here the other day, your average listener - the sort who would never ever stumble across Digital Spy in his or her life - feels more comfortable with the advert-free, well-established environment of Radio 5 Live, if for no other reason than those two reasons. That sort of listener would have picked up their broadsheet today expecting to tune in to 5 Live on Saturday to listen to the First Test Match between Australia and the Lions. Should they pick up a copy of The Guardian, Independent, Telegraph or Times today and read the lead rugby union story, they will find that actually all of the Lions matches are on talkSPORT (a station they may have only vaguely heard of but never listened to, or had dismissed entirely due to inheriting other people's negative perceptions of the station) and that Shane Williams - a massively popular player both in Wales and beyond - will be commentating on these games, not only will they be better informed of which radio station offers what, but chances are they'll be more inclined to give talkSPORT a try than they would have been prior to picking up their paper.
Being really cynical, it wouldn't surprise me if part of the reason talkSPORT has been so "Shane heavy" over the past few days is to immediately draw in rugby union fans who are tuning in for the first time ever/in a long time after hearing or reading about Shane's involvement in the station's Lions coverage through this story.
Just listen to clips of the week Alan to find out who gets names wrong.
Yep, I agree don't quite understand people knocking it, it's a major Sporting event. An English winner too. Good comms can tell you the shot that's going to be played, you find out by crowd reaction when putts fall, and gasps when missed.
I did listen to Justin win on the radio, snuggled in bed (these freezing cold June nights after all). Wasn't Talksport though.
This forum is not a homogeneous group so there is no
contradiction in hearing different expressions of sporting
interest from varying posters.
Your comment that
' you'd be forgiven for thinking that some people don't know what they want to hear from one minute to the next' is
a curious one.
People do know what they want it just differs
from person to person hence why you have some saying there is too much football /Lions etc and other disagreeing.
I would have thought that anyone reading the posts would
know exactly what individuals posters like and concur that
we all differs in our views in that respect.
It highlights how challenging it is for Talksport as they are never going to please all of the people,all of the time.
It's just not possible.
I refer to this comment:
you have people on here moaning that the station has become "Lions 1089" as if this is the only thing they talk about and complain that the Lions tour doesn't actually mean anything and that they should be spending more time talking about football
Can you point me to the poster/s that actually said
Talksport should be spending more time talking about football as i don't recall anyone saying that..
I certainly recall saying that the Lions tour dosen't actually mean anything but i didn't follow that up by saying that
'they should be spending more time talking about football'
and i could be wrong but i don't recall anyone else saying that either.
Ha ha. Indeed. Pot, kettle and black springs to mind,
Can't ague about any of that diff,and you could be on target with the Shane Heavy bit.
If there is anyone on TalkSport who hasn't got a leg to stand on over mispronouncing of names it's Mr Brazil.
To be fair to Alan they played some clips of him getting names
wrong in one segment, after which Matt Holland tested him
with a few others ( he struggled with one or two)
I do think it worth noting that while Alan is a radio presenter
Joe Kinnear has just been appointed Newcastle's new director of football, as such one
would expect him to know how to pronounce the names of the Newcastle managing director and those of his players.
They have it as a stand alone feature on the
Talksport website:
Alan Brazil takes the Joe Kinnear pronunciation test!
http://www.talksport.co.uk/radio/sports-breakfast/130618/alan-brazil-takes-joe-kinnear-pronunciation-test-199861#MllwBqpgyVue097o.99
That's a fair point - although this thread does contain a few people who share a consensus opinion on certain aspects of the station, it isn't a homogeneous group of people who agree on everything.
However, recently the difference of views from one poster to the next has really stood out like a sore thumb - you have people moaning about them covering too much football during the summer months, people moaning that they have given too much exposure to the Lions tour, people moaning about them covering the golf at the weekend.
It's fair to say that we all have our different views - personally I think the station is generally striking the right balance at the moment between its in-depth Lions coverage, discussions of developing football stories (such as managerial appointments like today's Joe Kinnear news) and coverage of other sports like the weekend's golf and tennis - and most people who follow this thread closely will know who falls into what camp, but I imagine the layman who stumbles upon this thread and just skims through a few pages would be a bit bewildered by quite how varied opinion is on aspects of the station's programming. I cannot recall this thread being as split as it is right now, which on balance is probably a good thing to hear a spectrum of opinions, but on the other hand it's can be bit difficult to keep up!
Out of interest, as someone who is (seemingly) dead set against talkSPORT covering the British & Irish Lions tour, but doesn't want to hear more football coverage, what would you prefer to hear on talkSPORT instead this summer? Are you in the camp that finds golf on the radio boring or were you happy with talkSPORT covering the US Open? If so, what other sports do you think the station should have given airtime over the weekend?
I woke up early this morning and heard most of the first hour of the show - from what I heard Alan actually sympathised that he was struggling with some of the names and had a joke about his history of mispronunciations. He was more critical of Kinnear for the comments he made about Newcastle United fans.
So talkSPORT have found themselves in the position of being involved in two leading sports stories in successive days - Shane Williams' Lions call-up on Sunday and Joe Kinnear's mad interview on The Sports Bar last night. They say these things come in threes, so I wonder what talkSPORT's next direct/indirect contribution to the sporting landscape will be...
Sometimes people like myself, Oak, Rammy, stormy-weathers and a few others get criticised by a particular poster for being negative so much but this member should take a second to reflect and think how we must feel about him praising everything to the hilt where it's not warranted all the time, it works both ways.
Not as shocked as I was when i found user comments on The Guardian website praising how funny Goldstein & Cundy are.
I'm not really a golf fan but I always enjoy the pairing of Rupert Bell and Bob Bubka. Talksport did mess up the U.S. Open preview show by putting Bob on for an hour with Ray Stubbs and Jason Burt - both football people who muddled through. Personally, I would have had Georgie Bingham with Rupert and Bob doing the show.
That stopped me joining in the celebrations at the news of Irani leaving the breakfast show.
For what they’re worth, these are my thoughts on the station at the moment:
Breakfast: Obviously Irani going was fantastic news. When the cricketer was on holiday I thought it was a refreshing change to hear a selection of guest hosts on the show. Since that has become a semi-permanent situation I’m not so sure.
It does seem to be encouraging Alan Brazil to raise his game as broadcaster, there hasn’t been an opportunity for anyone to develop a relationship with either Alan or the listeners and I think that is necessary for a talk-based programme to thrive.
Of the ex-sportsmen that have been guest presenters I like Matt Holland and Ray Parlour and I thought AP McCoy was quite interesting the other day. I haven’t been convinced by anyone else, but think the show would be better with a presenter whose background was broadcasting rather than professional sport as it would remove the ‘old-boys club’ feel.
I liked Beeky on the programme (probably because I am a Liverpool fan) but can see that his return would be a step backwards; and there doesn’t seem to be any will from the station to put Danny Kelly on breakfast, so promoting Adrian Durham to that role would seem like the best option to me. That would also give the opportunity to refresh Drivetime.
The Lions Tour: I am not a rugby fan, so don’t really get what all the fuss is about. It seems to me that having commentary on so many friendly games will turn non-rugby fans away. I certainly turned over when I heard commentary of the game in Hong Kong. Having comprehensive coverage of the tests is fair enough, but not the build up.
Mid-morning: They’re using Danny Kelly in a timeslot where I can’t listen as I’m in work. Personally, this is disappointing, but it’s good that they’re using him more
Drivetime: Even when Irani was still at the station I thought Gough was the real weakness in the presenter line-up. This is still the case. There are plenty of big name sports stars that could host the show that are eloquent, thoughtful and entertaining (some of the guest hosts on Breakfast for example) that could improve the quality of this show massively.
Sorry about the long post.
I woke up early this morning and heard most of the first hour of the show - from what I heard Alan actually sympathised that he was struggling with some of the names and had a joke about his history of mispronunciations. He was more critical of Kinnear for the comments he made about Newcastle United fans.
..[/QUOTE]
Oh Diff you really are defensive of Talksport.
In the first 15mins Brazil was taking the pee out of Kinnear.
I should imagine then he started to get e-mails, texts, tweets & what ever form of communication there is pointing out that he is the wrong person to jibe at others mistakes.(I even bothered to e-mail myself).
Over the course of the first hour his attitude gradually changed & he started to be more understanding & his co- presenter pointed out that Brazil's former manager Bobby Robson often got peoples names wrong.
I only listened to the first hour but I assume from bits I have read on here that he did a u turn & was more understanding to Joe Kinnear.
While we are discussing Brazil did you notice that when ever he mentioned Newcastle he started by saying "It's frightening"
"It worries me" " It's scary".
Now please tell me what the f**k is frightening & Scary about somebody getting a job at a football club.
Have they really got nothing else to talk about.
I don't know "IT WORRIES ME".
I note and agree with your point about having a pro broadcaster/journalist on the breakfast show alongside the ex-sportsman. Personally, I can't understand why they haven't changed anything for such a long time. Look at other stations including the Beeb. They refresh presenter lineups regularly to keep it fresh.
The Kinnear interview is a genuine scoop and well done to whoever at TS was responsible. Goldstein was sharp enough to let him flow and not interrupt. Gould was clearly dumbstruck by what he was hearing!
I agree with you about the Rugby. Not sure they should have commentary of these games mid morning in midweek.
I for one turned it off as have zero interest in rugby and i expect many people feel the same.
I wonder what the actual ratings are for these games? I'm sure the listening figures will be down quite alot than usual.
Fair enough having the games on at the weekend, but i certainly dont want to listen to the games during the week while im at work.
Also cant stand Brian Moore either, so its a double turn off for me!!!
Each to their own, I suppose! I'm enjoying the break from constant 24/7 football non-stories. I'm enjoying the Lions coverage and Brian Moore is a welcome addition. For ages 'we've' been crying out for an intelligent regular contributor to the station. I feel that BM delivers more than that; he engages with sports he's not associated with and tries (although somewhat fruitlessly because of colleagues) to unpick the problems/barriers to success. Also, nice to hear Marcotti back on TS, far too clever for the station (and me!) but love to hear that fella talk, even if he does remind me of the guy off of Man vs Food.
I don't praise everything to the hilt though. For example I was critical about a Kelly and Quinn show I heard a bit of the other week which was devoted to a complete non-story at Arsenal and when asked about Drive Time I'm certainly not someone who would praise that programme unless it did something that was a pretty exceptional break from the norm. But it's true that in general I think they are getting more things right than not at the moment. I have really enjoyed their Lions coverage over the past few weeks and I thought that, despite not having commentary rights, they did as comprehensive a job of covering the US Open as they could in the circumstances.
I've not been critical towards the views of particular posters (well, perhaps wns_195 for his comments on talkSPORT running a short item on Wigan's new manager) but I can't help but notice how in general there has been a lot of criticism flying around over wildly different things. Usually it's the same sort of things that come in for criticism on here but at the moment, with other sports receiving lots of coverage in summers months with a limited amount of football, I'm reading people criticising talkSPORT seemingly just for covering sports they personally dislike. All I've really done is point out how erratic this thread must seem to someone just dipping into it for the first time, which I suppose in a way is good as it shows we all have different opinions.
To be fair, I wasn't tuned in during the first 15 minutes of the programme but did hear most of the rest of the hour from about the first break onwards. By the time he was speaking to Graham Courtney, he was showing signs of sympathy with Joe for his mispronunciations, so if he was being overly critical of Joe for this it must have been really early on as honestly I didn't hear anything that could be described as being more than him having a mild joke over these slip ups.
You're only talking about four games in four weeks, one per week. It's not as if you have had to "put up" with live rugby union commentaries every day. talkSPORT have the rights to the tour and I would expect nothing less than them broadcasting full live commentary on all ten games, in fact it wouldn't surprise me if part of the reason why the Lions committee sold to talkSPORT rather than the BBC is because, unlike 5 Live on previous tours, talkSPORT has the remit and capacity to broadcast commentary on every game.
As for the listening figures, not a direct comparison I know but during the 2011 Rugby World Cup, talkSPORT's listening figures across the board increased to some of their highest levels and even months after the tournament, management attributed their ratings success to their live commentaries from New Zealand. It has been theorised that the success of commentaries overnight for example may have helped to get the ball rolling towards a move to the 24/7 sport format we have now.
For as much as they'll be Keys & Gray listeners like yourself who'll find rugby a bit of a turn off during the day, I'm sure they'll be plenty of rugby union fans who don't have Sky Sports and/or are in work when the midweek matches are taking place, so will have tuned into talkSPORT for a bit during these four midweek mornings. If I had to guess I'd be fairly confident in saying that there is a much larger audience for live coverage of Lions matches than there is for a summer filler show with Kelly and Quinn in what was the Keys & Gray slot.
By the way, good post AdRok, Lions aside I agree with much of what you say - particularly about Darren Gough being an even weaker link than Ronnie Irani was. Love the username as well!