Jerome Ousted?

[Ulick]

Are you sure about that? They are a public service broadcaster, with mandate for quality etc.. if they wanted viewing figures they could be showing various reality TV shows instead of Songs of Praise etc.

In this case yes. Sport is outside any remit in terms of quality etc., see ONeill's point re. Cavan vs. Fermanagh. I'm told that the viewing figures for Ulster championship matches didn't justify the money being spent for the rights. The BBC head office in Britain may have had some input into this decision though.

Who told you that? The BBC aren't paying anything for the rights.

[Main Street]

Was Colm O´Rourke being serious or sarcastic, when he referred to insurance man Quinn,
'feck the begrudgers he is as a great GAA man' ?

He didnt say that.

You are right, he did not say that, I was not quoting but referring to my memory of the article where he wrote

"And finally, a message for a great GAA man, Seán Quinn: don't let the bastards grind you down."

In substance, not very different to my memory.
Was he being sarcastic or serious?

[Main Street]

16 June 2008
http://www.bbc.co.uk/complaints/response/2008/06/080630_res_ni_sport.shtml

After complaints from viewers who were unhappy that the coverage from the Artois Championships at Queen's Club concluded early on BBCNI in order to show an alternative sporting event.

"We try to minimise the disruption caused to our audience and in this particular instance we moved away from the network schedule to provide coverage from the GAA's Ulster Senior Football Championship Quarter Final at Breffni Park, a fixture that involved Cavan and Armagh"
"Our GAA coverage attracted increased viewing figures in Northern Ireland (the audience more than doubled) and was delivered as part of an enhanced BBC commitment to programming in this area".

[Logan]

Was Colm O´Rourke being serious or sarcastic, when he referred to insurance man Quinn,
'feck the begrudgers he is as a great GAA man' ?

He didnt say that.

You are right, he did not say that, I was not quoting but referring to my memory of the article where he wrote

"And finally, a message for a great GAA man, Seán Quinn: don't let the b**tards grind you down."

In substance, not very different to my memory.
Was he being sarcastic or serious?

Well most people don't pass much notice on what he says so I guess no one knows!

Shame about Quinn though

[Main Street]

BBC complaints
http://www.bbc.co.uk/complaints/text/summary_nov2007.html
the key theme to complaints about BBC sport coverage in all the UK was

Sport: complaints were received from people who feel BBC Northern Ireland and Radio Ulster provide insufficient coverage of the GAA (Gaelic Athletic Association)

[Ulick]

Sport is outside any remit in terms of quality etc., see ONeill's point re. Cavan vs. Fermanagh. I'm told that the viewing figures for Ulster championship matches didn't justify the money being spent for the rights. The BBC head office in Britain may have had some input into this decision though.

Not so. Have a look at the BBC Charter. They also state here that sport is an important part of their public service remit:

www.bbccharterreview.org.uk/pdf_documents/BBC_submission_sport.pdf

[passedit]

http://gaaboard.com/board/index.php?action=profile;u=716;area=showposts;start=15

[seafoid]

That thread is interesting. It does look like JQ has a point but WTF was he doing posting
anonymously against the BBC ? 

[saffron sam2]

I saw somewhere that JQ said the relationship started to deteriorate around 4 years ago. It must have been some disgruntled Armagh superior who was jealous of Tyrone's second all-Ireland. When Tyrone won their third presumably all hell broke loose.

I think four years ago was when the BBC dropped the live Championship coverage - only a year or two after they picked up load of awards for the same coverage.

Live coverage was dropped at a time when the price being charged for the rights was not justified by viewing figures.

Are you sure about that? They are a public service broadcaster, with mandate for quality etc.. if they wanted viewing figures they could be showing various reality TV shows instead of Songs of Praise etc.

In this case yes. Sport is outside any remit in terms of quality etc., see ONeill's point re. Cavan vs. Fermanagh. I'm told that the viewing figures for Ulster championship matches didn't justify the money being spent for the rights. The BBC head office in Britain may have had some input into this decision though.

Who told you that? The BBC aren't paying anything for the rights.

Probably didn't make myself clear enough. The use of "didn't" suggests past tense, I am talking about the past. When the BBC pulled the coverage 4 or 5 years ago it was because the figures didn't add up for them. I wasn't talking about the current deal. Sorry.

[Ulick]

I saw somewhere that JQ said the relationship started to deteriorate around 4 years ago. It must have been some disgruntled Armagh superior who was jealous of Tyrone's second all-Ireland. When Tyrone won their third presumably all hell broke loose.

I think four years ago was when the BBC dropped the live Championship coverage - only a year or two after they picked up load of awards for the same coverage.

Live coverage was dropped at a time when the price being charged for the rights was not justified by viewing figures.

Are you sure about that? They are a public service broadcaster, with mandate for quality etc.. if they wanted viewing figures they could be showing various reality TV shows instead of Songs of Praise etc.

In this case yes. Sport is outside any remit in terms of quality etc., see ONeill's point re. Cavan vs. Fermanagh. I'm told that the viewing figures for Ulster championship matches didn't justify the money being spent for the rights. The BBC head office in Britain may have had some input into this decision though.

Who told you that? The BBC aren't paying anything for the rights.

Probably didn't make myself clear enough. The use of "didn't" suggests past tense, I am talking about the past. When the BBC pulled the coverage 4 or 5 years ago it was because the figures didn't add up for them. I wasn't talking about the current deal. Sorry.

That's fair enough but my original point stands i.e. we can only take the BBC at their word on this because they wouldn't disclose their viewing figures for Championship games or disclose how much they were spending on GAA coverage in comparison to other sports.

[Main Street]

Apparently what ever the BBC says, is good enough for some.

However they have admitted the viewing figures for GAA game have doubled.
Not said from what figure and over what time.

[haranguerer]

Was Colm O´Rourke being serious or sarcastic, when he referred to insurance man Quinn,
'feck the begrudgers he is as a great GAA man' ?

He didnt say that.

You are right, he did not say that, I was not quoting but referring to my memory of the article where he wrote

"And finally, a message for a great GAA man, Seán Quinn: don't let the b**tards grind you down."

In substance, not very different to my memory.
Was he being sarcastic or serious?

Him saying he is a great GAA man as an aside to the message 'dont let the bastards grind you down' is very different to saying a message of support purely seemingly because he is a great GAA man, because to support him on that basis alone would indeed be silly.

Anyway, I think its clear he was being serious rather than sarcastic. Its less so which you are being, though...   

Back to the topic in hand - just thinking the Beeb better not win, or I'll have less justification (not that it ever were needed) to call them black bastards when they show coverage of Linfield winning the league 

[Ulick]

When I asked them for audience figures and the amounts spent by the BBC on the different sports (Football, Hurling, Soccer, Rugby, Motorcycling), this is the reply I received: 

30th August 2007

Dear Mr X
Freedom of Information Request – RFIxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Thank you for your recent letter requesting information about the volume, cost and audience figures for BBCNI television and radio coverage of Gaelic Football, Hurling, Soccer, Rugby and Motorcycling.

The information which you have requested about the volume and cost of specific aspects of BBCNI's sports output is not covered by the Freedom of Information Act 2000. Schedule 1 of the Act states that the BBC and other designated public service broadcasters are covered by this legislation only in respect of information held for purposes "other than those of journalism, art and literature". Information which is not subject to disclosure because of this derogation may otherwise be exempt from disclosure because of the application of other provisions of the Act.

The BBC receives audience data about television viewing in the UK under an agreement with the Broadcasters' Audience Research Board (BARB) for which the BBC pays an annual subscription. Under the terms of this agreement, the BBC is entitled to use such information for its own internal purposes and may make this data more widely available in specific circumstances. Although we consider that the Act does not apply to audience data, the BBC does have a working practice (consistent with other broadcasting organisations and the terms of its contractual agreement with BARB) of releasing some headline performance information. We will not be releasing such information or any accompanying analysis on this occasion. Audience figures for radio listening across the UK are collated by Rajar and are subject to analogous contractual constraints. We believe that such information is not covered by the Act and will not be making it voluntarily available in response to this request.

Following discussions with colleagues however, and consistent with established practice at local level, BBCNI is prepared to voluntarily release information about the volume and range of its current sports output. The nature, extent and profile of our sports coverage is directly affected by issues relating to rights acquisition, funding constraints, market provision and the BBC's service commitments as a whole. All of our output is delivered within the context of the BBC's Charter and Framework Agreement and also the terms of its Service Licences and Purpose Remits. Sports programming is an essential and prominent feature of our service offering across radio, television and online and we work hard to ensure that it reflects a broad cross-section of interests and activities.

BBC Radio Ulster broadcasts 41 Saturday Sportsound programmes each year. Much of this output focuses on Irish League soccer and includes full match commentaries from c41 fixtures. In 06/07 the station also provided live coverage of 8 Setanta Cup matches involving Irish League teams and 6 European games featuring local clubs. Its programming additionally included 8 international matches involving the Northern Ireland soccer team. Such output was complemented by dedicated sports programming on BBC Foyle and its coverage of Derry City's performance in the Eircom League. BBCNI also provided extensive coverage of the Milk Cup in Coleraine and soccer (together with the other sports referred to in your request) featured in news and related programming on local television and radio.

BBC Radio Ulster broadcast live match commentaries form 36 Gaelic Football matches on Sunday Sportsound and dedicated medium wave split programmes. Such programming included inter-county and club games, the National Football League and All-Ireland Club Championships. Our radio coverage was complemented by programming on BBCNI television which included highlights of the Hurling Final and live coverage of the MacRory Cup.

BBC Radio Ulster provided live coverage of Ulster team fixtures as part of the Magners League and Heiniken Cup, together with live match commentaries and analysis of fixtures involving the Ireland rugby team. The latter included 8 matches within the review period. BBCNI television additionally provided coverage of the Magners League, Schools' Cup and Ireland A v England A matches.

BBCNI television provided a mix of programming about motorcycling which included coverage of the Isle of Man TT, the Ulster Grand Prix and fixtures at Tandragee, Cookstown and Antrim.

Yours sincerely
Mark Adair
Head of Public Policy, Corporate and Community Affairs





So the only thing they would actually disclose was that BBCNI had live radio coverage of:

63 soccer games (FM and MW)
36 football games (MW only)
0 hurling games
At least 8 international rugby games + undisclosed amount of Ulster games and Ireland reserve games (presumably FM and MW)

On tv they covered 5 motorcycle races, School's Cup and MacRory Cup final. 

Of course things have changed in the last three years. Now they are getting the rights to the Ulster Championship for free and have someone else actually filming the stuff for them, they now have live coverage of the Ulster Championship - usually alongside a simultaneous broadcast on RTE or TV3.

[Main Street]

Him saying he is a great GAA man as an aside to the message 'dont let the b**tards grind you down' is very different to saying a message of support purely seemingly because he is a great GAA man, because to support him on that basis alone would indeed be silly.

But not as silly as the creative genius who surmises this collection of words

"saying a message of support purely seemingly because"

Anyway, I think its clear he was being serious rather than sarcastic. Its less so which you are being, though...   

Again you surmise incorrectly. I was quite serious.
I had my doubts that O'Rourke was being serious because imo, his mention of the  "great GAA man" was so corny and as has been pointed out in this thread, is a much abused accolade.

[haranguerer]

Theres nothing wrong with what I have written. The 'purely seemingly' bit is the only part you could be stumbling over, but its necessary to make my point, purely as in 'on its own', and seemingly because we dont know upon which basis he has decided to support Quinn.

Did you seriously think O'Rourke was being sarcastic? I find that hard to believe. Anyway, to continue in a pedantic vein, '...a great GAA man' doesnt appear to have been abused as an accolade at all - are you saying that any of those who have been labelled as such arent great GAA men? I think the point is that being a great GAA man shouldnt absolve someone of other transgressions...