NEWSTALK SPORTS EDITOR Ger Gilroy has opened the first broadcast of the station’s award-winning Off The Ball programme following the shock resignation of five of the show’s team earlier today.
In a brief opening statement, Gilroy paid tribute to Eoin McDevitt, Ciaran Murphy, Ken Early, Simon Hick and Mark Horgan.
“First things first, we didn’t really expect to be here tonight but we are,” Gilroy said. “That’s because the lads had made a pitch to start the show every night at six o’clock. Management couldn’t accommodate that and the lads have decided to resign.
“All I really want to say about this now is that we’re going to miss our friends. Ken, Eoin, Mark, Simon and Murph are an amazing group of people to work with. They’ve helped change how sport is talked about in Ireland forever.
“They made great radio and they helped make radio great. We’re all going to miss them and we wish them the very best of luck in the future.”
I’m not buying the ‘wanted to start at six’ line from Newstalk at all. 5 lads don’t resign together over a somewhat unreasonable demand for an extra hour.
My guess is the lads might have been made sign a gagging clause as is often the way when a company wants to cover something up. Dunphy was mates with them so if we do hear the truth then there is a good chance it’ll come from him
WTF…..no,no,no,this can’t be…lads were reason why most of us love listening to show. With all due respect to Ger Gilroy who cut his teeth on this show,it will never be same without lads….So, wherever they end up I’m sure they’l have a strong fan base.Hope boys can sort this out or at least have other gig lined up….wherever they are I’ll be tuning in !!
Their proposal was totally stupid though. Bosses were never going to allow female listeners turn to Matt cooper at 6pm in their droves!! Wtf were they thinking!!!
No Dermot I don’t speak for all females, I speak for myself. I’ll let other females make their own thoughts known. I wouldn’t make sweeping statements like snug head…….is that ok with u??
Paula get over yourself. I’m sure you know yourself that the vast vast majority of women would switch off a sports show. It’s not remotely sexist. It’s the truth.
Chillax Paula. Didn’t take long for the feminist brigade to jump on that one! You might listen to a sports show but choose 100 random women and you can bet your last dollar 90 of them would have no interest. Hardly sexist at all but you keep flying the flag.
I totally agree Paula. I’d take OTB any day before Matt Cooper or George Hook. I also agree that was a pretty sexist comment…but I’m not really surprised by it!
Station bosses would never start a sports show at 6 for fear of alienating a large percentage of female drive time listeners. Simple absolute fact. If ye think describing how the chiefs look at listener ratings is sexist then knock ye’re selves out.
Thanks for the advice lads…., look I’m under no illusions that sports shows are more popular with men, but I’m not on some feminist rant, I’m just defending the ones that do listen to them thats all! ;-)
I’m a woman who, in general, has absolutely no interest sport, but I enjoy good, topical talk radio and that’s what Off The Ball was. I’ve listened to the guys most nights for the last few years, have learned loads, and would happily have listened to them from 6pm if they moved the slot forward. If Newstalk thought otherwise they’ve misjudged their listeners.
Hannah I’m sure the powers that be know their listeners radio habits and have George hook on for the same period cooper is. They haven’t misjudged anything even remotely. If they started the sports show at 6 they would haemorrhage female drive time listeners and they know this. That’s why it’s not happening! It’s that simple.
McWilliams also, he was very good when he did the morning show. These days we have the insufferable Chris pontificating to us. Time to switch off radio blueshirt.
Well said I used to love the morning show with Yeates but he was dead right about that blouse Donoghue, I’d say Donoghue be berating all the “low life’s”who won’t pay their property tax, how dare they not be able to afford to pay up, Newstalk has really gone down the tubes with its FG agenda
An hour less of Hook talking about his gout and Ingrid or the best radio sports show on Irish radio. Newstalk managment made a balls if this.I’m devestated….
To think this is just about 6 O’Clock is very naive. The fact that you’re not a George Hook fan has nothing to do with the argument. Many people love his show and would hate to see an hour lopped off it. 7pm is the perfect time for sports shows to start.
Spot on comment – 7pm was a proper time-slot for show-transition. Would be really surprised and disappointed if they resigned just because of this particular point.
The 6pm slot is crowed as it is… Hook, Cooper, Drive time, RTE news, TV3… Exposé!! In that context it made ZERO sense. Might suit Setanta but given the above I wish them well.
You’re all assuming that’s the reason because that’s the reason Denis O’Brien is spewing out now. I’d much prefer to hear the lads’ version of the story before I make my mind up. Either way tho’….it spells the end of Newstalk. I’d give them another 12-18 months and their market share will be next to nothing.
I’m assuming nothing… Clearly Newstalk have their own agenda and that’s their own prerogative. IMO if they left on the basis that Newstalk would not accede to a 6pm slot it says more about them than Newstalk.
Interesting to note that in the last few weeks they were criticising Denis O’Brien alot. Probably in negotiations. Pretty shit coming home at 11pm nearly every weekday. One hour off George Hook’s show ain’t gonna make much difference, he has same guests on, talking the same shit, day after day and the guy isn’t getting any younger, he said today he has pretty bad gout… Bad move Newstalk.
Whatever your opinion of George, his show is very popular and has a mixed audience, some of whom have no interest in sport. Taking an hour off his show would be stupid as he’s Mary Wilson and Matt Cooper are both on ’til 7. If the lads were annoyed at being in work ’til 10 they should have asked for their show to be made shorter, or just produce more pre-recorded content. There must be more to this, I’m sure it will come out soon.
Listen pretty much evrey night and Just remember a few digs, maybe not “alot” as I said..a few probably a better choice of words. Moncrief has also had a few digs.
Back up the truck, Newstalk is ‘commercial’ (as well as being a mouthpiece for O’Brien). So, do the sums, Hook has 130k listeners, OTB has 39k. Maybe a move to 6 would have boosted it a bit, but more likely audience would switch. Good show, mostly, last night was good too. Really don’t understand the logic of the ‘other team’ commercial radio is all about habits and listener profile, not sure where they’ll be fitted in by others. RTE has been moving the deckchairs, but RTE only ever reacts, not proacts.
But they wouldn’t be able to show the games footage as they don’t have rights…love them on the radio but wouldn’t sit at the tv watching them sit around a table.
Great show and it will be a lot poorer without them. Resignation would suggest more to this than meets the eye. They will be a big acquisition target for any station looking to boost listenership and advertising.
They”ll be badly missed, best sport radio I’ve had the good fortune to listen to. They sounded like a bunch of sport mad buddies shooting the breeze- plus they know their stuff.
More like Gaelic bogball. If ya want to listen to crap about bogball the RTE is the station for that. Kens football show was top class, with good guests. It will be missed.
Sport in general is a pointless waste of energy. But soccer is a particularly boring, low scoring, cringe worthy, effeminate ballet coupled with the worst spirtsmanship on the planet. Utter crap.
Every Saturday morning I dragged myself outta bed to watch Soccer AM….Helen is a pain in the ass. She was tolerable when Lovejoy and sheephead were around but it’s muck now, haven’t watched it in years. I’ll miss OTB, especially the dulcet tones of Murph…..
Really shocked and suprised by this i really hope they have a gig lined up as it seems ludricous to think they wanted hookys spot.as others have said theres more to this than we are hearing.
Hope they start an new all sport Irish digital/national radio station, the market its out there, plenty of people who only read the sport section be it The Score or Times/Indo sports section. Some terribly depressing radio shows and papers nowadays, sport is popular because it’s escapism.
Don’t believe 6 o clock slot piece being a resignation issue. More to this than meet the eye as most are saying. Is it true that MD is also gone a couple if week ago? Must be a great working atmosphere in news talk.
They are serving out 2 months notice, which they are no doubt being paid for. Don’t expect to hear any comments from them till their gardening leave is finished.
Gilroy and McDevitt are voice twins so no real difference in the main anchor. Obviously the droll voice of Earley winding up Graham Hunter will be missed though his Sunday commentaries were brutal, and Ciaran Murphy, though he sounds like he probably lets culchies in Dublin down by giving into stereotypes, was also enjoyable and created great banter and awareness of the local paper.
Gift Grub has catapulted the lads to new dazzling heights. I remember when Newstalk was solely a Dublin radio station with basically no ads. You could text in any auld comment to OTB and it would always be read out…How times have changed… Good luck with your future endeavours lads! Great show and regards to Frank!
I’d say they just want to get to bed a bit earlier, 10 o’clock is very late to be finishing every night! Oh and they obviously have a job lined up to jump into!
Rubbish Telly Eireann has just started its own evening sports show, and the publicised it til they were blue in the face, cant see how they’ll fit the lads in there now.
However, they’d do a better job than Moloney, Lyster, Morrisey, O’Herlihy etc …. who are all too comfortable in their positions.
I stopped tuning in Sundays because of dumphy not being listened too, it’s the first time I would never miss a radio show but now on a Sunday it’s the telly again. Off the ball lads were another reason to tune in, why now would I if its gonna be yes men. No disrespect to the new guys but it stinks a bit
2fm is on the cards. With potential for at least 3 of the 5 on match days with rte for soccer Saturday and The Sunday game. They’ve earned a step up and I expect to hear all and see some of them over the coming months best of luck lads.
Have to say was a great and entertaining show, but maybe the guys believed there own Hype. Rte have the money to take them over, but Ken Early should not do live commentary on football matches, he was terrible.
Not even remotely likely Eamonn, Today FM is only downstairs and both Matt and George do some sports talk after 6, not the whole hour, but a little. RTÉ seems unlikely given that they’ve just launched a new sports show on 2fm on weekday evenings. Setanta seems likely, but a TV show is a different model altogether. After all, you can’t listen to TV in the car.
Can’t pretend I will miss Ken Early and his sleep inducing monotone voice but the others will be a big.loss. That said as boring and ridiculous Early is, he’s still far superior the the grumpy old git that’s on before them. Id be amazed if they jumped with nothing to move into. Lets hope anyway.
There is way more to this story than just them resigning over a scheduling issue. They all resigned en masse with no notice. For very sound minded men they would have had good reason to do so.
That was a ridiculous way for gilroy to explain things too (the best wishes part excepted).He should have just stayed clear of the topic of what happened if all he was going to give was one line portraying his “friends” as spoiled brats.
I’m delighted that its gone, hopefully for good. World Cup final could be on and instead of giving updates, we would be listening to something irrelevant like women weight lifters in Bulgaria or an interview with a tennis player ranked 568 in the world… Good riddance to this tripe…
I think it’s a loss to radio. To me, it’s like Top Gear, I’ve zero interest in cars but love Top Gear because of the banter and downright fun the guys presenting always seem to be having. I have little interest in sport but would listen to Off The Ball cos they all just seemed so passionate about sports & were having such fun you just wanted to feel like you were joining in with it all.
8 games live on TV-streaming in the St Patrick's weekend GAA schedule
8 mins ago
0
FreeRacing
Rachael Blackmore celebrates first win of the week at Cheltenham Festival
1 hr ago
1
Italian Job
Jack Crowley set to start at 10 for Ireland against Italy
21 hrs ago
135
Sign in or create a free account
To continue reading create a free account
Or sign into an existing account
Your Cookies. Your Choice.
Cookies help provide our news service while also enabling the advertising needed to fund this work.
We categorise cookies as Necessary, Performance (used to analyse the site performance) and Targeting (used to target advertising which helps us keep this service free).
We and our 156 partners store and access personal data, like browsing data or unique identifiers, on your device. Selecting Accept All enables tracking technologies to support the purposes shown under we and our partners process data to provide. If trackers are disabled, some content and ads you see may not be as relevant to you. You can resurface this menu to change your choices or withdraw consent at any time by clicking the Cookie Preferences link on the bottom of the webpage .Your choices will have effect within our Website. For more details, refer to our Privacy Policy.Privacy Policy
We and our vendors process data for the following purposes:
Use precise geolocation data. Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Store and/or access information on a device. Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development.
Cookies Preference Centre
We process your data to deliver content or advertisements and measure the delivery of such content or advertisements to extract insights about our website. We share this information with our partners on the basis of consent. You may exercise your right to consent, based on a specific purpose below or at a partner level in the link under each purpose. Some vendors may process your data based on their legitimate interests, which does not require your consent. You cannot object to tracking technologies placed to ensure security, prevent fraud, fix errors, or deliver and present advertising and content, and precise geolocation data and active scanning of device characteristics for identification may be used to support this purpose. This exception does not apply to targeted advertising. These choices will be signaled to our vendors participating in the Transparency and Consent Framework.
Manage Consent Preferences
Necessary Cookies
Always Active
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work.
Targeting Cookies
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
Functional Cookies
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then these services may not function properly.
Performance Cookies
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not be able to monitor our performance.
Store and/or access information on a device 106 partners can use this purpose
Cookies, device or similar online identifiers (e.g. login-based identifiers, randomly assigned identifiers, network based identifiers) together with other information (e.g. browser type and information, language, screen size, supported technologies etc.) can be stored or read on your device to recognise it each time it connects to an app or to a website, for one or several of the purposes presented here.
Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development 137 partners can use this purpose
Use limited data to select advertising 106 partners can use this purpose
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times an ad is presented to you).
Create profiles for personalised advertising 79 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service (such as forms you submit, content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (for example, information from your previous activity on this service and other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (that might include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present advertising that appears more relevant based on your possible interests by this and other entities.
Use profiles to select personalised advertising 78 partners can use this purpose
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on your advertising profiles, which can reflect your activity on this service or other websites or apps (like the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects.
Create profiles to personalise content 38 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service (for instance, forms you submit, non-advertising content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (such as your previous activity on this service or other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (which might for example include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present content that appears more relevant based on your possible interests, such as by adapting the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find content that matches your interests.
Use profiles to select personalised content 34 partners can use this purpose
Content presented to you on this service can be based on your content personalisation profiles, which can reflect your activity on this or other services (for instance, the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects. This can for example be used to adapt the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find (non-advertising) content that matches your interests.
Measure advertising performance 127 partners can use this purpose
Information regarding which advertising is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine how well an advert has worked for you or other users and whether the goals of the advertising were reached. For instance, whether you saw an ad, whether you clicked on it, whether it led you to buy a product or visit a website, etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of advertising campaigns.
Measure content performance 60 partners can use this purpose
Information regarding which content is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine whether the (non-advertising) content e.g. reached its intended audience and matched your interests. For instance, whether you read an article, watch a video, listen to a podcast or look at a product description, how long you spent on this service and the web pages you visit etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of (non-advertising) content that is shown to you.
Understand audiences through statistics or combinations of data from different sources 75 partners can use this purpose
Reports can be generated based on the combination of data sets (like user profiles, statistics, market research, analytics data) regarding your interactions and those of other users with advertising or (non-advertising) content to identify common characteristics (for instance, to determine which target audiences are more receptive to an ad campaign or to certain contents).
Develop and improve services 82 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service, such as your interaction with ads or content, can be very helpful to improve products and services and to build new products and services based on user interactions, the type of audience, etc. This specific purpose does not include the development or improvement of user profiles and identifiers.
Use limited data to select content 39 partners can use this purpose
Content presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type, or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times a video or an article is presented to you).
Use precise geolocation data 45 partners can use this special feature
With your acceptance, your precise location (within a radius of less than 500 metres) may be used in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Actively scan device characteristics for identification 27 partners can use this special feature
With your acceptance, certain characteristics specific to your device might be requested and used to distinguish it from other devices (such as the installed fonts or plugins, the resolution of your screen) in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Ensure security, prevent and detect fraud, and fix errors 89 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
Your data can be used to monitor for and prevent unusual and possibly fraudulent activity (for example, regarding advertising, ad clicks by bots), and ensure systems and processes work properly and securely. It can also be used to correct any problems you, the publisher or the advertiser may encounter in the delivery of content and ads and in your interaction with them.
Deliver and present advertising and content 96 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
Certain information (like an IP address or device capabilities) is used to ensure the technical compatibility of the content or advertising, and to facilitate the transmission of the content or ad to your device.
Match and combine data from other data sources 71 partners can use this feature
Always Active
Information about your activity on this service may be matched and combined with other information relating to you and originating from various sources (for instance your activity on a separate online service, your use of a loyalty card in-store, or your answers to a survey), in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Link different devices 52 partners can use this feature
Always Active
In support of the purposes explained in this notice, your device might be considered as likely linked to other devices that belong to you or your household (for instance because you are logged in to the same service on both your phone and your computer, or because you may use the same Internet connection on both devices).
Identify devices based on information transmitted automatically 86 partners can use this feature
Always Active
Your device might be distinguished from other devices based on information it automatically sends when accessing the Internet (for instance, the IP address of your Internet connection or the type of browser you are using) in support of the purposes exposed in this notice.
Save and communicate privacy choices 66 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
The choices you make regarding the purposes and entities listed in this notice are saved and made available to those entities in the form of digital signals (such as a string of characters). This is necessary in order to enable both this service and those entities to respect such choices.
How can a modern day manager not have a mobile phone?
Why should he?!
Wha??????
He deserves another chance….he does in his b*******ks!!
CAn ye no’ feel i’?
I cant believe these idiots thought they’d get a drive-time slot for a sports programme.
I’m not buying the ‘wanted to start at six’ line from Newstalk at all. 5 lads don’t resign together over a somewhat unreasonable demand for an extra hour.
What happens to Murph’s Country Pages now?
Me neither, why would they resign just because the station wouldn’t extend their show by an hour, it all sounds a bit bizarre
Something fishy going on here, we have yet to hear the real story. Chances are we’ll hear it from Eamon Dunphy over time.
Why would we hear it from Dunphy?
My guess is the lads might have been made sign a gagging clause as is often the way when a company wants to cover something up. Dunphy was mates with them so if we do hear the truth then there is a good chance it’ll come from him
WTF…..no,no,no,this can’t be…lads were reason why most of us love listening to show. With all due respect to Ger Gilroy who cut his teeth on this show,it will never be same without lads….So, wherever they end up I’m sure they’l have a strong fan base.Hope boys can sort this out or at least have other gig lined up….wherever they are I’ll be tuning in !!
Their proposal was totally stupid though. Bosses were never going to allow female listeners turn to Matt cooper at 6pm in their droves!! Wtf were they thinking!!!
Surely ur name should be Smug head…..what a stupid sexist comment to make. As a female, I’d much rather listen to off the ball than Matt Cooper.
So do you speak for all females ???
No Dermot I don’t speak for all females, I speak for myself. I’ll let other females make their own thoughts known. I wouldn’t make sweeping statements like snug head…….is that ok with u??
Paula get over yourself. I’m sure you know yourself that the vast vast majority of women would switch off a sports show. It’s not remotely sexist. It’s the truth.
Aside from the sexism element snug head, both stations you refer to are both in the same ownership.
Chillax Paula. Didn’t take long for the feminist brigade to jump on that one! You might listen to a sports show but choose 100 random women and you can bet your last dollar 90 of them would have no interest. Hardly sexist at all but you keep flying the flag.
I totally agree Paula. I’d take OTB any day before Matt Cooper or George Hook. I also agree that was a pretty sexist comment…but I’m not really surprised by it!
“Chillax Paula. Didn’t take long for the feminist brigade to jump on that one!”
What do the “feminist brigade” look like and sound like?
Cause if they’re against mass generalisations about gender then you can count me as a member too.
Station bosses would never start a sports show at 6 for fear of alienating a large percentage of female drive time listeners. Simple absolute fact. If ye think describing how the chiefs look at listener ratings is sexist then knock ye’re selves out.
Thanks for the advice lads…., look I’m under no illusions that sports shows are more popular with men, but I’m not on some feminist rant, I’m just defending the ones that do listen to them thats all! ;-)
The only thing I watch on TV is rugby & soccer & athletics & boxing & motor racing just to name a few….. & by the way I’m female.
I’m a woman who, in general, has absolutely no interest sport, but I enjoy good, topical talk radio and that’s what Off The Ball was. I’ve listened to the guys most nights for the last few years, have learned loads, and would happily have listened to them from 6pm if they moved the slot forward. If Newstalk thought otherwise they’ve misjudged their listeners.
Sorry Paula
And here was I convinced all my friends naked Hannah were part of the lads. Thanks for clearing that one up Hannah (who is in fact female)
Naked Hannah, there’s a show I’d tune in for
Hannah I’m sure the powers that be know their listeners radio habits and have George hook on for the same period cooper is. They haven’t misjudged anything even remotely. If they started the sports show at 6 they would haemorrhage female drive time listeners and they know this. That’s why it’s not happening! It’s that simple.
I think it’s great that you’re so interested in sport, but with all that time spent watching TV, doesn’t the ironing suffer?
First ROG now this, the end of the world is near
Dunphy, Yeats, now this. If there was a “Not Newstalk” radio station it would do well.
Yates left due to failed business owing hundreds of thousands and he decided to move abroad and declare bankruptcy. Totally different situation.
McWilliams also, he was very good when he did the morning show. These days we have the insufferable Chris pontificating to us. Time to switch off radio blueshirt.
@stephen – yes I knew that…
Well said I used to love the morning show with Yeates but he was dead right about that blouse Donoghue, I’d say Donoghue be berating all the “low life’s”who won’t pay their property tax, how dare they not be able to afford to pay up, Newstalk has really gone down the tubes with its FG agenda
It would have been 1 hour less of that idiot Hook !!
Wonder where the lads will end up ? Fair play to them to sticking to there principals ,not easy to quit a job in this climate .
Bet it will be Setanta. Eoin McDevitt already has a slot on same.
An hour less of Hook talking about his gout and Ingrid or the best radio sports show on Irish radio. Newstalk managment made a balls if this.I’m devestated….
To think this is just about 6 O’Clock is very naive. The fact that you’re not a George Hook fan has nothing to do with the argument. Many people love his show and would hate to see an hour lopped off it. 7pm is the perfect time for sports shows to start.
They were being completely insane though, a sports show at 6 on a weekday and move into Hooks time-slot? Stupid stuff.
Think we all coulda got on board with that!
Absolutely… Made no sense to move to 6pm.
Spot on comment – 7pm was a proper time-slot for show-transition. Would be really surprised and disappointed if they resigned just because of this particular point.
Would have been the end of me listening to Newstalk, sick of all the sports
The 6pm slot is crowed as it is… Hook, Cooper, Drive time, RTE news, TV3… Exposé!! In that context it made ZERO sense. Might suit Setanta but given the above I wish them well.
You’re all assuming that’s the reason because that’s the reason Denis O’Brien is spewing out now. I’d much prefer to hear the lads’ version of the story before I make my mind up. Either way tho’….it spells the end of Newstalk. I’d give them another 12-18 months and their market share will be next to nothing.
I’m assuming nothing… Clearly Newstalk have their own agenda and that’s their own prerogative. IMO if they left on the basis that Newstalk would not accede to a 6pm slot it says more about them than Newstalk.
Ah crap. One of the best and most engaging shows on radio even when they were discussing sports I knew very little about. I’ll miss it.
The managing director resigned a few weeks back and now this. Something is rotten in the state of Newstalk me thinks.
I thought we’d grow old together.
Newstalk is surely the big loser here – someone needs to sign those guys up en masse now – RTE, can you use my TV licence renewal toward this please?
The clue is in the title, “TV Licence”. it’s being abolished anyway so I wouldn’t worry.
Interesting to note that in the last few weeks they were criticising Denis O’Brien alot. Probably in negotiations. Pretty shit coming home at 11pm nearly every weekday. One hour off George Hook’s show ain’t gonna make much difference, he has same guests on, talking the same shit, day after day and the guy isn’t getting any younger, he said today he has pretty bad gout… Bad move Newstalk.
Whatever your opinion of George, his show is very popular and has a mixed audience, some of whom have no interest in sport. Taking an hour off his show would be stupid as he’s Mary Wilson and Matt Cooper are both on ’til 7. If the lads were annoyed at being in work ’til 10 they should have asked for their show to be made shorter, or just produce more pre-recorded content. There must be more to this, I’m sure it will come out soon.
OTB presenter’s were “criticising O’Brien a lot” in recent weeks? When?
Listen pretty much evrey night and Just remember a few digs, maybe not “alot” as I said..a few probably a better choice of words. Moncrief has also had a few digs.
Back up the truck, Newstalk is ‘commercial’ (as well as being a mouthpiece for O’Brien). So, do the sums, Hook has 130k listeners, OTB has 39k. Maybe a move to 6 would have boosted it a bit, but more likely audience would switch. Good show, mostly, last night was good too. Really don’t understand the logic of the ‘other team’ commercial radio is all about habits and listener profile, not sure where they’ll be fitted in by others. RTE has been moving the deckchairs, but RTE only ever reacts, not proacts.
A new Irish radio station dedicated to sport is the only answer. Build if.. they Will Listen.
It even
Questions for John, now that they’re gone?
“eh Eoin…..”
Terrible loss to Newstalk
Not buying it. So they resigned on principle yet now have no job in a deep recession. Something else is up
I doubt they’re that stupid… Setanta would be the logical move for them… Great scope to make a format for them around CL coverage etc.
But they wouldn’t be able to show the games footage as they don’t have rights…love them on the radio but wouldn’t sit at the tv watching them sit around a table.
All they have left now is Montcrief.
Great show and it will be a lot poorer without them. Resignation would suggest more to this than meets the eye. They will be a big acquisition target for any station looking to boost listenership and advertising.
We’ll have to make do with Des Cahill…..
Desssssszzzzzzzzzzzz!…..zzzz!
They put on a great show, big loss to Newstalk, all sounds very orchestrated though!!! I sense they’ve been tapped up!!!
Only presenters who were not in Love with FG. …..looks like I’ll not be tuning in again.
gutted they have brought me home every evening for 3 years they will be hard to replace
They”ll be badly missed, best sport radio I’ve had the good fortune to listen to. They sounded like a bunch of sport mad buddies shooting the breeze- plus they know their stuff.
too much soccer. good riddance.
Are you american? We call it football over here.
Since when???
No, football is gaelic football here, soccer is soccer …. Wait what am I saying ? No one cares what its called!!!
Gaelic Football is called football here afaik. Association Football is commonly referred to as soccer.
More like Gaelic bogball. If ya want to listen to crap about bogball the RTE is the station for that. Kens football show was top class, with good guests. It will be missed.
Fool
Sport in general is a pointless waste of energy. But soccer is a particularly boring, low scoring, cringe worthy, effeminate ballet coupled with the worst spirtsmanship on the planet. Utter crap.
Utter Nonsense.
A user name called Irish revolution and calls the nation sport Bogball
It would make you think all right
As they say in real rugby country ‘Legends’ !!
Reminds me of the time Lovejoy and half the back room team left Soccer AM, although the show is still running its an embarrassment to what it once was
Every Saturday morning I dragged myself outta bed to watch Soccer AM….Helen is a pain in the ass. She was tolerable when Lovejoy and sheephead were around but it’s muck now, haven’t watched it in years. I’ll miss OTB, especially the dulcet tones of Murph…..
Really shocked and suprised by this i really hope they have a gig lined up as it seems ludricous to think they wanted hookys spot.as others have said theres more to this than we are hearing.
Won’t be tuning to that station anymore
What about administrator of the week? No no no, this isn’t right!
Brilliant sports team. Will be missed big-time.
Hope they start an new all sport Irish digital/national radio station, the market its out there, plenty of people who only read the sport section be it The Score or Times/Indo sports section. Some terribly depressing radio shows and papers nowadays, sport is popular because it’s escapism.
Really sad news ! Terrific radio every evening no matter what subject was being covered. Newstalk have lost a regular listener in me !!
And don’t forget always at 9pm Ken Early’s football spot missing it already ARRRRG
Gilroy and McIntyre, no thanks!
Now what am i goin to listen to when im making the dinner.
Weeshie Fogarty on Radio Kerry does a great sports slot from 6 to 8, this will have to be the staple diet for now….
Weeshie’s a local legend in Kerry, no reason to red-thumb that.
Don’t believe 6 o clock slot piece being a resignation issue. More to this than meet the eye as most are saying. Is it true that MD is also gone a couple if week ago? Must be a great working atmosphere in news talk.
No statement from the lads yet?? Odd that. Will miss this show. Only started listening to it recently. Damn it!
They are serving out 2 months notice, which they are no doubt being paid for. Don’t expect to hear any comments from them till their gardening leave is finished.
Haha, gardening leaves.
Gilroy and McDevitt are voice twins so no real difference in the main anchor. Obviously the droll voice of Earley winding up Graham Hunter will be missed though his Sunday commentaries were brutal, and Ciaran Murphy, though he sounds like he probably lets culchies in Dublin down by giving into stereotypes, was also enjoyable and created great banter and awareness of the local paper.
Hopefully they will replace the show with something a little more worth while than sport commentry.
RTE not making any comments!! Interesting!!!
If it is going to be Setanta will Ken be kept just out of camera shot??
aaahhh ken is a cutie
Gift Grub has catapulted the lads to new dazzling heights. I remember when Newstalk was solely a Dublin radio station with basically no ads. You could text in any auld comment to OTB and it would always be read out…How times have changed… Good luck with your future endeavours lads! Great show and regards to Frank!
I’d say they just want to get to bed a bit earlier, 10 o’clock is very late to be finishing every night! Oh and they obviously have a job lined up to jump into!
Rubbish Telly Eireann has just started its own evening sports show, and the publicised it til they were blue in the face, cant see how they’ll fit the lads in there now.
However, they’d do a better job than Moloney, Lyster, Morrisey, O’Herlihy etc …. who are all too comfortable in their positions.
They off to Setanta?
They were lookin for a six o clock start ??? Sounds like they wanted to leave .. I’d say the rte deal was done already
I stopped tuning in Sundays because of dumphy not being listened too, it’s the first time I would never miss a radio show but now on a Sunday it’s the telly again. Off the ball lads were another reason to tune in, why now would I if its gonna be yes men. No disrespect to the new guys but it stinks a bit
2fm is on the cards. With potential for at least 3 of the 5 on match days with rte for soccer Saturday and The Sunday game. They’ve earned a step up and I expect to hear all and see some of them over the coming months best of luck lads.
Highly doubt they’d go to 2fm, as a new sports show just started there.
Have to say was a great and entertaining show, but maybe the guys believed there own Hype. Rte have the money to take them over, but Ken Early should not do live commentary on football matches, he was terrible.
I hope whoever signs them up is a National station, my money is on Today FM
Hardly … Today FM is owned by Denis O’Brien.
Today FM is also owned by Denis o Brien, as is SnoozeTalk. The will go to RTE.
Not even remotely likely Eamonn, Today FM is only downstairs and both Matt and George do some sports talk after 6, not the whole hour, but a little. RTÉ seems unlikely given that they’ve just launched a new sports show on 2fm on weekday evenings. Setanta seems likely, but a TV show is a different model altogether. After all, you can’t listen to TV in the car.
You can if you have a TV in your car. I wonder will the lads be brave and try and launch their own internet radio channel?
Sad day…
Never heard of them till now…best of luck lads whatever you do.
Eh why bother commenting then…?
HATE THIS “OFF THE BALL” SHOW! NOT SURPRISED IT’S GONE!
Can’t pretend I will miss Ken Early and his sleep inducing monotone voice but the others will be a big.loss. That said as boring and ridiculous Early is, he’s still far superior the the grumpy old git that’s on before them. Id be amazed if they jumped with nothing to move into. Lets hope anyway.
There is way more to this story than just them resigning over a scheduling issue. They all resigned en masse with no notice. For very sound minded men they would have had good reason to do so.
That was a ridiculous way for gilroy to explain things too (the best wishes part excepted).He should have just stayed clear of the topic of what happened if all he was going to give was one line portraying his “friends” as spoiled brats.
They must have something lined up to all resign…if not, good luck lads your going to need it ! Ken early wont be missed
Ken Burly where art thou??
I’m delighted that its gone, hopefully for good. World Cup final could be on and instead of giving updates, we would be listening to something irrelevant like women weight lifters in Bulgaria or an interview with a tennis player ranked 568 in the world… Good riddance to this tripe…
Wake up and smell the coffee lads…only crud makes it not commercial radio…
Oh baby I don’t care !
I think it’s a loss to radio. To me, it’s like Top Gear, I’ve zero interest in cars but love Top Gear because of the banter and downright fun the guys presenting always seem to be having. I have little interest in sport but would listen to Off The Ball cos they all just seemed so passionate about sports & were having such fun you just wanted to feel like you were joining in with it all.