Sign the Petition to save BBCRB Commentary

[Y25]

for what its worth i've signed anyway

[Gordons Cumming]

for what its worth i've signed anyway

Thanks for your effort, there.

[Compo's Hat]

My licence fee pays South Today, Eastenders, Davina McCall, has the cheek to show repeats but can't we just have a bit of football commentary on the airwaves of local radio on a Saturday afternoon.

And as for Reading Football Club... you're even worse which is why i signed.

[Readingfanman]

Over 1150 on there now. Keep it going.

[HighburyRoyale]

Signed. Duly.

[royal.badger]

Signed.

[TFF]

[quote="The Evening Post"]Fans show true Royals loyalty

Generous Royals fans have dug deep into their own pockets to help BBC Radio Berkshire win back the right to commentate on live games.

The Post can reveal that STAR (Supporters’ Trust At Reading) has been inundated with donations since John Madejski told our readers on Monday he would give the Beeb the rights if they all sent him £1.

The Evening Post reported yesterday that the Royals’ chairman had agreed to reopen talks with the BBC following an outcry from fans over his decision to axe the station from airing next season’s Premiership matches.

Loyal Royals were upset the rights had been given exclusively to Mr Madejski’s own station – Reading 107fm – which according to official radio statistics has a potential reach of some half a million fewer people than Radio Berkshire.

As the Post went to press, 1,134 loyal Royals had signed an online petition to reinstate the BBC’s rights and internet fanzine Hobnob was bombarded with messages from angry supporters.

The Post understands the club and the BBC were on the brink of reaching a deal last night and that “thousands of poundsâ€

[bobby1413]

Wow, great news!

Well done STAR, you should be very very proud of yourselves. As well as the hobnob community and other RFC fans!

[18urz71]

I've signed too

[johnnym]

erm...BBCRB commentary was useless drivel though.

dellor and that other fool knew little about football, rfc or broadcasting.

i'm sure reading 107 will be no better, but i am amazed so many people are bothered about this.

there are more important things to petition and worry about.

[Ooo Trevor Morley]

Signed too.

[Ooo Trevor Morley]

i'm sure reading 107 will be no better, but i am amazed so many people are bothered about this.

Perhaps these people are outside the Reading 107 catchment area; therefore, they're unable to listen to matches that they would have been able to hear if the game was broadcast on BBC radio Berks. That was a rather long winded explaination but I hope it had the effect of lessening any feelings of amazement.

I'll be in Korea come September, and what with our Korean signing, I expect matches to be broadcast locally over Seoul's airwaves.

[bracknell loyal royal!]

Well Done STAR!

[strap]

their subsequent decision to grant exclusive rights to a radio station (partly owned by the Chairman) with an extremely poor area of coverage in a contest that many suspect took place on a far from level playing field!

107 deny they have an exclusive agreement, although it will work out that way if nobody else comes to an agreement to buy the rights.

If they want to plausibly deny that they "negotiated" exclusive access, perhaps they should think about editing their own website?

http://www.reading107fm.com/page.pl?id=5

I like Independence Day too. "Plausible deniability" - quote of the decade!

On a more serious note, does JM's pathetic jibe (and I'm paraphrasing here) that "if the half a million or so listeners outside the 107fm area but inside BBCRB area each send him a pound he'd think about reinstating BBCRB" bother anybody else? Here is a man who has amassed a £325M fortune, loaned the club £40M odd to get it where it is today, and yet he can't see the offence he has caused by being a penny pinching spiteful little turd on the commentary issue?

Probably is just me, but frankly I get the impression that he is starting to belive his own hype. Absolute power corrupts absolutely, and maybe, just maybe, he's taken RFC as far as he can or is prepared to. If he wants to retain the hero status he has achieved, perhaps now would be a good time to do some "serious networking" to find that rich buyer he keeps banging on about, rather than just talking about it and alienating himself from a good few tens of thousands fans.

Of course, it may well be that he personally had nothing to do with the whole commentary rights episode.

[Bowman's Quiver]

their subsequent decision to grant exclusive rights to a radio station (partly owned by the Chairman) with an extremely poor area of coverage in a contest that many suspect took place on a far from level playing field!

107 deny they have an exclusive agreement, although it will work out that way if nobody else comes to an agreement to buy the rights.

If they want to plausibly deny that they "negotiated" exclusive access, perhaps they should think about editing their own website?

http://www.reading107fm.com/page.pl?id=5

I like Independence Day too. "Plausible deniability" - quote of the decade!

On a more serious note, does JM's pathetic jibe (and I'm paraphrasing here) that "if the half a million or so listeners outside the 107fm area but inside BBCRB area each send him a pound he'd think about reinstating BBCRB" bother anybody else? Here is a man who has amassed a £325M fortune, loaned the club £40M odd to get it where it is today, and yet he can't see the offence he has caused by being a penny pinching spiteful little turd on the commentary issue?

Probably is just me, but frankly I get the impression that he is starting to belive his own hype. Absolute power corrupts absolutely, and maybe, just maybe, he's taken RFC as far as he can or is prepared to. If he wants to retain the hero status he has achieved, perhaps now would be a good time to do some "serious networking" to find that rich buyer he keeps banging on about, rather than just talking about it and alienating himself from a good few tens of thousands fans.

Of course, it may well be that he personally had nothing to do with the whole commentary rights episode.

And that, I suspect, hits the proverbial nail firmly on the proverbial head.

This has all the fingerprints of an overeager lackey behind it. Which one I wonder?

[Platypuss]

Nah, his ill thought-out and misjudged remarks in the EP definitely look like those of a cornered man caught bang to rights.

[AthleticoSpizz]

Nah, his ill thought-out and misjudged remarks in the EP definitely look like those of a cornered man caught bang to rights.

downright dishonourable and disrespectful, if you ask me

[thefruits]

Do you know what... when I woke up early Sunday morning in a really angry mood after a late evening shift on the other thread trying to badger support for Andy's petition I had a thought... we needed more exposure

This thread was set up to try and get more exposure. To be honest I half thought it would be moved as soon as the moderators got up at Sunday lunchtime to the 'Club policies' section and the thread and the petition would fade into obscurity. (Thx Mods for not moving it from the Team section !!!)

Its 4 days on and we've tripled the number of signatures.. we've bombarded the EP / JM / JH with emails etc.. had considerable coverage in the local rag and you know what.. the fans of RFC have shown that they aren't plastic, they aren't apathetic and they certainly care a great deal about their club.

Lets raise a glass tonight ... to the fans !

Cheers all and keep signing, TF

[AthleticoSpizz]

Am certainly raising a glass or two

Just a shame it had to be done, although the shortsighted assumptions of our acceptance by the club, has been by far surpassed by the unity of opinion and the desire for common sense to prevail by the folk that ensure the clubs very existence.

[bluehoops]

From the Guardian - thefruits you've got it National too!!

Reading radio rights row

Reading's preparations for their debut Premiership season are being overshadowed by a row between their chairman John Madejski and the BBC over radio commentary on Royals games. Last week Madejski awarded exclusive rights for local radio commentary to Reading 107, a city-based station owned by Madejski Communications. The deal shut out BBC Radio Berkshire, formerly co-holder of the rights, which balked at Madejski's demand for £87,000, up from £33,000 last season. With the Madejski-owned station available only in the city, supporters protested that 500,000 people living in the wider region previously catered to by the BBC would be denied access. With the Reading supporters' trust offering the BBC £5,000 to bridge the gap Madejski, who recently accused other Premiership clubs of greed, has reluctantly offered to reopen negotiations.