A message from BBC Radio Berkshire

RoyalBlue · by **RoyalBlue** » 24 Jul 2006 18:44

Very, very, out of character for the club to negotiate in public in this manner.

Cynical I know, but could it be they know full well the BBC have reached their absolute limit and are now looking to portray the club as the good guys in this matter, hoping all the proverbial will fly in the direction of the Beeb when they fail to accept the club's offer of a 'compromise'.

Y21 · by **Y21** » 24 Jul 2006 19:12

But surely the amount that the Beeb need to cough up is peanuts to them? I know they shouldn't be held ransom by RFC but I'd rather my license fee went to something exciting and interesting (admittedly, to me) than the utter tripe and garbage that pollutes the TV these days.

bobby1413 · by **bobby1413** » 24 Jul 2006 19:15

PieEater It's free money to the club, they have not have got the Â£100k they wanted, but having turned down the Â£65k BBCRB offered, they are well out of pocket on what they could of achieved for the selling the rights to all parties. (i.e they got 100k not 165k)

It sounds like the previous deal could only have been around Â£20k so the club has already done well in getting the Beeb to massively increase their offer. "Meeting RFC half way" would still make the price paid over four times last years price, I can't see that happening.

Again, I think there is an alterior motive.

JM owns 107. I think he wanted more than money for this deal, he wanted HIS radio station to have the rights, and in my opinion money was secondary in some ways.

andyhalls · by **andyhalls** » 24 Jul 2006 19:20

The signs are good, knew a petition would work!

'lista · by **'lista** » 24 Jul 2006 19:25

Smillie's Dive Why don't we send him a pound coin each?

It would make a statement if a few hundred people did that.

I would be more than happy to act as a temporary agent, collecting in all the pound coins prior to onward transmission to the club. Let me know if I can be of assistance.

PieEater · by **PieEater** » 24 Jul 2006 19:30

It's free money to the club, they have not have got the Â£100k they wanted, but having turned down the Â£65k BBCRB offered, they are well out of pocket on what they could of achieved for the selling the rights to all parties. (i.e they got 100k not 165k)

It sounds like the previous deal could only have been around Â£20k so the club has already done well in getting the Beeb to massively increase their offer. "Meeting RFC half way" would still make the price paid over four times last years price, I can't see that happening.

thefruits · by **thefruits** » 24 Jul 2006 19:37

PieEater It's free money to the club, they have not have got the Â£100k they wanted, but having turned down the Â£65k BBCRB offered, they are well out of pocket on what they could of achieved for the selling the rights to all parties. (i.e they got 100k not 165k)

It sounds like the previous deal could only have been around Â£20k so the club has already done well in getting the Beeb to massively increase their offer. "Meeting RFC half way" would still make the price paid over four times last years price, I can't see that happening.

I was listening to BBCRB earlier and Andrew Peach hinted towards the prospect of there being room for further negotiations. This was at 8:40 this morning. It appears that the coverage in the EP, the continuing noise generated through the petition and the response to JM's interview has led the club to offer the carrot that we now have in front of us.

One thing... surely the BBC in its entirety must have a pot for Local radio football support, and just that BBC RB have seen their costs increase... so those relegated from the Premiership last season (BBC Sunderland, BBC West Bromwich etc...) must surely have seen a reduction in costs. Hence the impact to the overall BBC pot is not entirely incremental ?

Wycombe Royal · by **Wycombe Royal** » 24 Jul 2006 19:38

PieEater It sounds like the previous deal could only have been around Â£20k so the club has already done well in getting the Beeb to massively increase their offer. "Meeting RFC half way" would still make the price paid over four times last years price, I can't see that happening.

BBC Berks said that the club requested 3 times than last season so I would guess it was around the Â£30-Â£35k area. BBC Berks then offered double the amount they paid last season.

thefruits · by **thefruits** » 24 Jul 2006 19:45

andyhalls The signs are good, knew a petition would work!

Looks like your inspired idea has helped move the dial. WD.

mydak · by **mydak** » 24 Jul 2006 19:54

CocoPops Maybe a bit early, but signs are good for fan power!

next...

ticket prices

oh...

and bigger servings of bovril

windjammer · by **windjammer** » 24 Jul 2006 20:18

The Official Club statement at 5 pm is to be welcomed, hopefully a good example of people power. But how on earth did they misjudge the siuation so badly? Surely they should have anticipated the outcry? Before this evening's statement I don't think that John Madejski's inflammatory comments published in today's (Monday) Evening Post helped the situation one iota. Quote: 'When the Evening Post put it to Mr Madejski that half a million listeners would lose out on hearing live matches he said "Okay, tell them to send me a pound each and I'll give it (the rights) back to Radio Berkshire"'. The fans are already paying, on the whole happily, a huge increase to see the Premiership plus the new shirts etc, and comments like this only inflame the situation and give the impression he is obsessed by money. Are we meant to believe that his own radio station paid the full asking price? Is the Pope Catholic? The old saying goes "If you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen". We are grateful for what he has done over the years for Reading FC but maybe it is time he sold out to someone with more money and maybe a better appreciation of true football fans. Reading FC and we Loyal Royals existed before John Madejski came in and will continue to exist after he is gone, whatever division we may end up in.
Maybe the main BBC should refuse to cover Reading games on Radio 5 Live and BBC TV refuse to show the highlights on Match of the Day, after all not everyone has Sky (although I admit I do). How would he react to that I wonder?

Jerry St Clair · by **Jerry St Clair** » 24 Jul 2006 21:41

But what does "meeting BBCRB in the middle" actually mean? The possibility of shared rights to live commentary with 107? 107 being ditched in favour of BBCRB?

Bowman's Quiver · by **Bowman's Quiver** » 24 Jul 2006 22:33

As someone else has intimated it is unheard of for the club to negotiate in public in all other matters, so why on earth are they doing so now?

Is this really the olive branch that it appears or just a poor disguised attempt at spinning their way out of a PR nightmare of their own making?

Presumably Radio 107 have a binding contract to exclusive local radio broadcasting rights or was it all done on a nod and a wink?

Or has the whole sorry saga been a red herring designed to up the anti on Radio Berkshire which has backfired more spectacularly than the club could ever have imagined?

Stranded · by **Stranded** » 24 Jul 2006 22:33

Jerry St Clair But what does "meeting BBCRB in the middle" actually mean? The possibility of shared rights to live commentary with 107? 107 being ditched in favour of BBCRB?

I would guess it's a case of BBCRB have offered Â£65k, RFC want Â£100k but are willing to compromise at say Â£80K.

topfuller · by **topfuller** » 24 Jul 2006 22:36

I wonder if there will be a sting in the tail with this apparent 'U' turn, ..

Remember when they were only allowed to broadcast the first 20 minutes (or something) live, then it was 10 minute periods throughout the rest of the game...

But which-ever if we do get it back we all owe 'thefruits' a beer !!

playoffs or layoffs · by **playoffs or layoffs** » 24 Jul 2006 22:42

Hopefully this debacle can now be resolved ASAP and the club can devote more time to signing some new players before the season starts

Warfield Royal · by **Warfield Royal** » 24 Jul 2006 22:49

"ongoing discussions" - what a joke!!!

It was not ongoing discussions when the done deal was announced with such a fanfare last Thursday.

If Beeb pays Â£1 over the odds to RFC then every money grabbing football club in the country will be demanding higher fees.

Yes, I want RFC to have sufficient funds to compete in the Prem but don't hold your closest friends to ransom.

Cookie · by **Cookie** » 24 Jul 2006 22:57

Bowman's Quiver As someone else has intimated it is unheard of for the club to negotiate in public in all other matters, so why on earth are they doing so now?

Is this really the olive branch that it appears or just a poor disguised attempt at spinning their way out of a PR nightmare of their own making?

Presumably Radio 107 have a binding contract to exclusive local radio broadcasting rights or was it all done on a nod and a wink?

Or has the whole sorry saga been a red herring designed to up the anti on Radio Berkshire which has backfired more spectacularly than the club could ever have imagined?

The club IS the fans ultimately

andyhalls · by **andyhalls** » 24 Jul 2006 23:09

topfuller
But which-ever if we do get it back we all owe 'thefruits' a beer !!

My petition, my beer!

Shame I am underage!

I really hope this petition has made the impact I wanted when I first started it.

C'mon JM you know what to do now.

Scrappy · by **Scrappy** » 24 Jul 2006 23:49

bobby1413
PieEater It's free money to the club, they have not have got the Â£100k they wanted, but having turned down the Â£65k BBCRB offered, they are well out of pocket on what they could of achieved for the selling the rights to all parties. (i.e they got 100k not 165k)

It sounds like the previous deal could only have been around Â£20k so the club has already done well in getting the Beeb to massively increase their offer. "Meeting RFC half way" would still make the price paid over four times last years price, I can't see that happening.

Again, I think there is an alterior motive.

JM owns 107. I think he wanted more than money for this deal, he wanted HIS radio station to have the rights, and in my opinion money was secondary in some ways.

To be honest, he's probably pissed off with Only fools on Horses and saw this as a great way to get back at them for showing this absolute tripe...

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