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It's my opinion that the national broadcaster wants to go down the route of political correctness full stop, it's my opinion again that like him or not "Brolly" became a catch phrase as well as becoming controversial he almost became as big as the Sunday game show. I will hazard a guess and say he wasn't a full blown politically correct person, more likely he was shall we say politically correct as required, the bland bit didn't suit him, - as a viewer it didn't suit me either. The gaa is deep rooted in our culture and was in existence a lot of years before RTE came along, it's fair to say that RTE is a state sponsored / owned broadcaster, however, it is also fair to say without the gaa RTE may have struggled financially and otherwise after all it's amateur players like Brolly, Whelan, Spillane, O'Rourke etc, etc, etc, that made the Sunday game possible, they in turn became pundits, the pundits gave us their view's and opinions on the game in question, their opinions sometimes became heated, self-opinionated and controversial, and that is where the presenter intervenes shall we say to realign things.
RTE looks as if it is a one way street, ultimately the street leads to Dee Forbes chair of authority after all she is the ultimate boss of RTE and she is then ultimately Declan Mc Bennetts boss, he in turn is Joanne Cantwell's boss, Joanne is presenter and caretaker of the Sunday game show. It could be argued that none of the pundits can or should get bigger than the Sunday game show or it's presenter, roll the tape back to Joe Brolly, like him or not his persona, his sound bites, his controversial uttering was gaining pace and notice, Joe by now was almost as big as the Sunday game, (in theory,) in fairness to Joe it took him almost 20 years with RTE to get this far. - -

Hopefully the gaa season will be back up running again, sooner rather than later, in the meantime RTE should take this opportunity to rebuild, reinvent, and reinvest in the Sunday game, in a way that the viewers would like to have it, not necessarily in a way that RTE would like to have it.
(Facial expressions, body language, jokes, giggles and soundbites all included.)

supersub15 (Carlow) - Posts: 2161 - 01/09/2020 11:45:24    2290061

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Replying To Canuck:  "That is the best joke I have heard in a long time. Using the words "great communicator" and "articulate nature " as compliments for Joe Brolly. Joe was and is a knowledgeable football analyst but it was lack of these other attributes that made him a pain to put up with as a viewer. He will wear out his welcome where he is now also when he crosses the line with an attack on someone. The leopard does not changes its spots. Unfortunately Joe probable believes that bad manners and rudeness is his strength."
Some like him some don't but articulate and great communicator are attributes you can't deny of a barrister and good football analyst. The reason it's "bad manners and rudeness" to some is they want to watch a scripted, boring show where nobody is allowed to speak the truth or give an opinion - a show that has three guests nodding and agreeing to everything they're told to say. Thankfully not every media in Ireland wants this type of show or written product so Brolly will do just fine as long as he wants to give his analysis. The commercial companies within the legal framework want experts to have room to give an opinion and Brolly fits that bill. I think he will be a better analysist outside the comfines of RTE.

sam1884 (UK) - Posts: 707 - 01/09/2020 17:11:09    2290105

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Replying To sam1884:  "Some like him some don't but articulate and great communicator are attributes you can't deny of a barrister and good football analyst. The reason it's "bad manners and rudeness" to some is they want to watch a scripted, boring show where nobody is allowed to speak the truth or give an opinion - a show that has three guests nodding and agreeing to everything they're told to say. Thankfully not every media in Ireland wants this type of show or written product so Brolly will do just fine as long as he wants to give his analysis. The commercial companies within the legal framework want experts to have room to give an opinion and Brolly fits that bill. I think he will be a better analysist outside the comfines of RTE."
Being an ignoramus and rude has nothing to do with the script. Call it for it it is trying to be relevant.

Canuck (Waterford) - Posts: 979 - 01/09/2020 18:30:18    2290118

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I think this thread has reached it's sell by date, time to pull the plug.

supersub15 (Carlow) - Posts: 2161 - 01/09/2020 20:04:45    2290127

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Replying To supersub15:  "I think this thread has reached it's sell by date, time to pull the plug."
I agree ... wait a minute ... I've just spotted that "supersub15" is a non-anagram of Declan McBennett.

DubSanIarthar (Dublin) - Posts: 19 - 01/09/2020 21:58:36    2290137

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Replying To supersub15:  "I think this thread has reached it's sell by date, time to pull the plug."
and resurrect it in a new form, when the time is right because RTE ain't got access to a pot of gold I'm afraid

eoghan6688 (Galway) - Posts: 129 - 01/09/2020 22:02:19    2290138

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Replying To DubSanIarthar:  "I agree ... wait a minute ... I've just spotted that "supersub15" is a non-anagram of Declan McBennett."
supersub15 is very original, it's "anagram" proof, and user friendly, - - - now where is that plug.?

supersub15 (Carlow) - Posts: 2161 - 01/09/2020 23:07:46    2290142

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Replying To eoghan6688:  "and resurrect it in a new form, when the time is right because RTE ain't got access to a pot of gold I'm afraid"
RTE will have access to plenty of gold when they slash the "Winning streak" prize money. - - - keep the faith.

supersub15 (Carlow) - Posts: 2161 - 01/09/2020 23:13:47    2290143

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Replying To Canuck:  "Being an ignoramus and rude has nothing to do with the script. Call it for it it is trying to be relevant."
I respect your views as everyone is entitled to an opinion which is always the best way! However whilst some will agree with you Brolly's new and upcoming contracts since leaving the Sunday game show not all agree with you - other media outlets certainly don't agree with you which maybe gives an indication of how good he is for outlets who want more than people nodding along to a script.

sam1884 (UK) - Posts: 707 - 02/09/2020 09:45:02    2290157

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The Sunday Game hasn't recovered from Michael Lyster's departure. He was able to keep an order of sorts with Brolly, Spillane, O'Rourke while still maintaining interest, respect and integrity. I believe the old hands lot a bit of interest and focus after Lyster left. Joanne Cantwell gave the impression of a humourless school teacher, and still does, who was out to make a point particularly with Brolly. She antagonised him and I don't think Joe took her serious as a presenter. Maybe a parting of the ways was the best thing. I don't know this McBennett character but the Sunday Game is dreadful now, it has no soul, it is mind numbing boring with Stepford Wives opinions.

Ulsterman (Antrim) - Posts: 9294 - 02/09/2020 17:30:15    2290251

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Replying To Ulsterman:  "The Sunday Game hasn't recovered from Michael Lyster's departure. He was able to keep an order of sorts with Brolly, Spillane, O'Rourke while still maintaining interest, respect and integrity. I believe the old hands lot a bit of interest and focus after Lyster left. Joanne Cantwell gave the impression of a humourless school teacher, and still does, who was out to make a point particularly with Brolly. She antagonised him and I don't think Joe took her serious as a presenter. Maybe a parting of the ways was the best thing. I don't know this McBennett character but the Sunday Game is dreadful now, it has no soul, it is mind numbing boring with Stepford Wives opinions."
But Lyster wasnt able to keep an order on Brolly etc. Cantwell is an excellent presenter. If Brolly didnt take Cantwell seriously then thats on him.

KillingFields (Limerick) - Posts: 1636 - 02/09/2020 17:51:20    2290258

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Replying To KillingFields:  "But Lyster wasnt able to keep an order on Brolly etc. Cantwell is an excellent presenter. If Brolly didnt take Cantwell seriously then thats on him."
Lyster's day was the golden era of the Sunday game and we'll realise that more in the years ahead. I suspect he was strong and successful enough to run the show how he wanted as he knew what was successful. Lyster was the Sunday game and no head of sport or anybody else at RTE would get away with controlling how he should do his job. My guess is the show is more controlled nowadays well away from the actual studio and there is significant limitations to the direction it can take.

The entertaining, opinionated but controlled debates Lyster could oversee in the hurling and football shows are long gone and as a result there probably isn't room for the likes of Brolly, but he'll do well elsewhere as he is already showing whilst more and more people watch the Sunday game on demand by skipping past the actual analysis straight to the action.

The Sunday game will sadly become quite a boring insignificant show; certainly not a part of the GAA weekend to the same extent as previous years unless they can unearth a new model that goes with their new ethos. Less conversation, less formal and reduced guests would be a good start replaced by more action if they don't want opinions.

sam1884 (UK) - Posts: 707 - 02/09/2020 19:51:55    2290274

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Replying To sam1884:  "Lyster's day was the golden era of the Sunday game and we'll realise that more in the years ahead. I suspect he was strong and successful enough to run the show how he wanted as he knew what was successful. Lyster was the Sunday game and no head of sport or anybody else at RTE would get away with controlling how he should do his job. My guess is the show is more controlled nowadays well away from the actual studio and there is significant limitations to the direction it can take.

The entertaining, opinionated but controlled debates Lyster could oversee in the hurling and football shows are long gone and as a result there probably isn't room for the likes of Brolly, but he'll do well elsewhere as he is already showing whilst more and more people watch the Sunday game on demand by skipping past the actual analysis straight to the action.

The Sunday game will sadly become quite a boring insignificant show; certainly not a part of the GAA weekend to the same extent as previous years unless they can unearth a new model that goes with their new ethos. Less conversation, less formal and reduced guests would be a good start replaced by more action if they don't want opinions."
The Sunday Game wont be a part of the GAA weekend like it was in the past but there is so many more options like social media and podcasts etc that help play a part as well.
Lyster let many of the panelists loose and didnt moderate the discussion anywhere near enough.

KillingFields (Limerick) - Posts: 1636 - 02/09/2020 20:59:46    2290283

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Replying To KillingFields:  "The Sunday Game wont be a part of the GAA weekend like it was in the past but there is so many more options like social media and podcasts etc that help play a part as well.
Lyster let many of the panelists loose and didnt moderate the discussion anywhere near enough."
I think the Sunday game is such an institution in Irish society it would have survived and took on the new social media culture. The Sunday game under Lyster was as popular the last show he presented as it was the past 20 years; there was no issue with the show and it's popularity was at a consistent peak. Yes some didn't agree with the content but hundreds of thousands consistently tuned in and the shows were talked about for days after and it was very much part of the GAA weekend.

I don't blame Lyster leaving or the actual people in the studio; the show could have went through the post Lyster transition but the direction of the show changed; obviously they could change it without Lyster's intervention. You're correct it isn't part of the GAA weekend any longer as people are ambivilant if they tune in or not and go for more opinionated, off the cuff, genuine unscripted conversation on social media/radio/podcasts. Ironically ideas taken from the successful SG days but ideas the SG believe people don't want now for some reason.

sam1884 (UK) - Posts: 707 - 02/09/2020 22:02:28    2290298

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Maybe the Sunday Game Live could remarket itself by having their live game(s) being given minimal attention on the nighttime show. If viewers were aware that they could only watch 90 seconds of highlights from a report of those games (on the Sunday Game on a Sunday night at least), they would be more likely to tune in for at least some of the match in the afternoon.

A lot of people give out about devoting most of the evening show to the live game(s) and then barely giving any attention to less glamorous games and I can't see how that is not the correct opinion and why it should not be catered for

eoghan6688 (Galway) - Posts: 129 - 02/09/2020 23:33:29    2290307

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Replying To eoghan6688:  "Maybe the Sunday Game Live could remarket itself by having their live game(s) being given minimal attention on the nighttime show. If viewers were aware that they could only watch 90 seconds of highlights from a report of those games (on the Sunday Game on a Sunday night at least), they would be more likely to tune in for at least some of the match in the afternoon.

A lot of people give out about devoting most of the evening show to the live game(s) and then barely giving any attention to less glamorous games and I can't see how that is not the correct opinion and why it should not be catered for"
That's definitely worthy of consideration and could also improve the quality of the highlights shown. Most fans who don't see them live, record the entire matches now anyway as skipping through it gives a much better impression of the game. Personally, I think that the edited highlights for the SG are really badly put together. It's obviously impossible to show every score in 10-15 minutes of highlights ... but I still think that they show way too many. They used to show action replays of every score too which was just crazy in terms of time wasting. They've improved that in the past couple of years not showing replays of every score but still too many in my opinion - I think that only goals and exceptional point should be replayed.
The problem with only showing certain scores is that it's hard for the viewer to get a feel for the game. Sometimes they can screw it up so badly that if you don't know the score in advance, you can be left unsure of the result at the end of the highlights. I remember a couple of recent games where they skipped showing a couple of scores towards the end of a game and the viewer was left with the impression of a different result than the actual result (I'm not great for details but one was a league match which Kerry won by a point but the last point shown was the other team scoring what seemed to be an equaliser).
I would much prefer to see less scores (and less replays) and longer spells of uninterrupted play where the viewer gets a greater feel for a game and also key turning points in a game ... and in the case of an exciting tight finish to try to show as much unedited highlights of that as the allotted time allows. A good template for what I'm suggesting would be the BBC's highlights of Wimbledon where key parts of a match are shown unedited. In the case of many GAA games, you could sacrifice much of the early first half skirmishes to show longer sequences late in the first half when often teams can get a key advantage ... if the third quarter is key to deciding the result show as much of that as possible ... otherwise concentrate mainly on the endgame .... or something like that. Obviously every game is different so would be treated differently .... but the current format doesn't do it for me, leaving the debate on the bland punditry aside.

DubSanIarthar (Dublin) - Posts: 19 - 03/09/2020 10:34:48    2290331

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Will be interesting to see how the livestreaming of games by county boards goes in the next few years. I think I heard that Wexford GAA have taken in €70K during their club championship from streaming and the senior football championship is only starting. Ironically heard on RTE GAA podcast. Apologies if I have that wrong, someone from Wexford could please confirm? The streaming will dip once people can go to games but a county streaming service showing live games, recordings of club games and all age groups for county might bring in revenue for county boards. If Sunday Game, TG4, Eir and Sky ignore some games or show minimal highlights then counties should be entitled to broadcast them and make money from them.

GreenandRed (Mayo) - Posts: 5955 - 03/09/2020 11:06:33    2290347

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The Radio One documentaries are very good and not publicised enough. A nice podcast too. This one about the famous betting coup of 1978, well worth a listen.

GreenandRed (Mayo) - Posts: 5955 - 05/09/2020 16:59:18    2290695

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RTE is a closed shop full stop, knowing who gets what job is as predictable as knowing that it's going to rain sooner rather than later. Knowing who was going to take over from Michael Lyster and Sean O'Rourke in advance belittled the job, it also belittled those hoping to be selected for consideration, apparently there is no openness and transparency within the system.
It appears as if Sara Mc Inerney kept SOR's chair warm for Clair Byrne, at the same time she was serving her apprenticeship for the next move, it happened and good luck to her, but where was the advert. and the interviews. They moved David McCulloch who is imo, is a top drawer forensic investigating journalist from prime time slot to 6-01 News, is that a promotion, demotion, or a move sideways, either way sure it will leave a vacancy to be filled with Prime Time.?
I could never get my head around why they removed "Breakfast Republic" from the early morning 2fm breakfast show, it had huge following, plenty of ad lib stuff a variety of entertainment massive listenership numbers, only to be replaced with more music, less chat or entertainment.
I watched the last few minutes of Evanne ni ChuIlinn Saturday night presenting the gaa matches of the day, the pundits were Pat Spillane and Sean Cavanagh, what a load of rubbish, what we were watching was heavily glamourized, but lacked content, gone was the Pat Spillane and Sean Cavanagh we all once new, Pat in particular seemed to have been air brushed, he had a few elocution crash courses it seems, gone was the once familiar body language, the ad lib stuff even his very familiar Kerry accent had quietened, the d b levels have reached an all time low. Sean Cavanagh wasn't his familiar self either they were either reading from an auto que or from a minimised script.

Out of one frying pan, into a different fire as they say.

supersub15 (Carlow) - Posts: 2161 - 07/09/2020 15:39:46    2291005

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I think vets call it neutering. Taking away that which drives the fire and instinct. The Sunday Game, football version, may as well now be called Eunuch Sunday. It is awful beyond belief.

Ulsterman (Antrim) - Posts: 9294 - 08/09/2020 03:38:40    2291073

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