Thetownend.com

Good evening.

 

With the season now almost ten games old I am writing to ask you for your feedback with regards to the matchday commentary provided by STFC’s broadcast partner, Brunel FM.

 

If at all possible, could you provide feedback on the following three sections of the Saturday afternoon coverage?:

 

1. Pre-match 2-3 pm – how informative is the pre match build up, team news etc?

 

2. The match itself 3-5pm – your comments on the commentary team, the co-commentator, at both home and away games

 

3. Post match 5-6pm – Paul Sturrock’s post match interview and post match analysis.

 

Thank you in advance for your time.

Tell that cunt lambert i will reply to that email when he replys to the 2 emails i sent him

I must admit I was against the move to Brunel but the match commentary is really not that bad at all.  The BBC commentary sounded like they were trying to describe a cricket match at times.  Yes the pre and post match coverage is poor, but come on fella's be fair.

Id love to comment but am unable to recieve Brunel at my house!  :evil:

Surely that just proves the whole point to the club anyway? Total shite and that's if you even get it.

I agree

Anyone thought that Brunel FM, maybe trying to get out of the deal, perhaps they are not doing as well as they think.

I shall maintain my boycott of Brunel as an anti Board protest...I urge the rest of you to do the same.  It appears though most can't hear it anyway, or there's nothing to hear, which is as good as a boycott.

I shall maintain my boycott of Brunel as an anti Board protest...I urge the rest of you to do the same.  It appears though most can't hear it anyway, or there's nothing to hear, which is as good as a boycott.

Not at all, I am just saying maybe look at it from another point of view.

Boooo. I didn't get one of those emails. Here are my serious replies in case the club/station still monitors this forum.

1/ Only heard the opening games pre match buildup. It was poor but they were having problems so I'll give them the benefit of the doubt. The problem is I go to home games between 2-2:15 and I always miss the pre-match stuff. In contrast BBC RS had stuff on Swindon in that timeslot. Mark - 3/10

2/ The commentary I find passable but passionless and variable in quality. 6/10

3/ Shockingly poor. I get back to the car after the game and want to hear debate about the game. I want to hear feedback from the fans. I want to hear interviews with the manager and players. I don't want to listen to 80's crap in the hope something comes on. Thankfully BBC RS still cover this area. 2/10.

In general: I don't mind Brunel FM. I think local radio has it's place, I listen in. But it just isn't providing the same level of service that the BBC did. The commentary is OK, not great but passable on the whole. What I miss is the pre and particularly post match analysis. I also miss the BBC RS 6pm Friday phone in. Unfortunately Brunels limited range and commercial pressures means they will never replicate what the BBC can offer. In fact, the BBC still offer a superior service in regards to news, reviews and interviews.

To the club: I really don't see how selling the right to a station whose key target demographic is Swindon can be of benefit to the club. It just loses exposure through reduced coverage. I can't see how any commercial activities Brunel can offer will benefit or even be seen by those outside the borough. I realise the club needs to maximise £££, but I genuinely think this was an own goal.

To the radio: It's nothing personal. Good luck to you as a station. I listen in fairly regularily.

I suggested on email, despite them broadcasting the games on that tinpot station in Warminster, that they'd reduced geographical coverage by at least 50%.

Doubtless the suits at Brunel will tell those gullible twats at the club that you can pick up Tinpot FM Warminster in Truro and Tinpot FM Swindon in Southend and if you have a very big aerial you can just about pick it up on the moon.

DV - thank you my dear - could always rely on you

Bushey - She said she couldn't receive it in the county ground carpark!

As I understand it, although Brunel have worked hard to increase the coverage, the fans have got 50% less coverage in the end.

You see Marie, BBC Wilts covered from south of Salisbury to Bristol, to Ciren to Burford to Hungerford. I know as I travelled to these places often after a match whilst listening to post match interviews.

So can fans in Salisbury hear Town matches? No!
Can fans in S Oxon or S Glos here Town matches? No.

So there!  :beers:

Harry - as i said i'm not questioning why fans are unhappy. However, Brunel did what they could to increase the coverage (which looked unlikely for a long long while) but worked extremely hard to get the increased area.

I know for a fact that Brunel can't cover the area of BBC RS, i'd never say we can, but you cannot blame Brunel for this as they've done what they can, which i think should be appreciated.

Thanks for that Marie, and I don't really blame Brunel, though am cross about the whole thing. But the fact is I have a lesser service, and a lesser range than I could get, and to top it all my local teams (Bris City & Rovers) get supported by BBC a lot even on non-match days and majority of their fans are happy.

It's a mess, and the sooner BBC gets the service the better. Brunel I take it is a sister station to Original FM in Bristol I guess.

Really can't stand the coverage to be honest (on the odd occasion when I can get the bloody station!) Pre and post match stuff is a joke, Wiltshire Sound all the way for that, and the commentary is woeful compared to what we used to have. I can't even tell who's scored half the time, the fella sounds so underwhelmed it could be either team!

As far as i'm concerned it was so much better in every way last season, so fans have every right to complain that Brunel FM aren't up to the job.

furthermore, with all the greatest due respect to yourself marie - ed hadwin is a professional journalist for the bbc, yourself and your colleagues work(ed) for a commercial radio station. no offence intended whatsoever but there's a pretty significant gulf there.

Sonic - You know me, not a professional journalist by a long mile, and while i can only speak for myself, when i was employed by the station it was only for a 'different, and fan's perspective' and whilst alot of people critisiced brunel last seasonm i thought i portrayed that.  This season, there is no doubt you are correct and without getting into it, part of the reason i left.

Harry - again, see above. You are right BBC can offer due a wider service due to air time etc which is where STFC miss out with Brunel. Origional although they are 106.6 i believe which i close to us they aren't Brunel's sister station. I don't even think they are part of GCap (GWR), they too are a new station and i'm not too sure which network they are part of (possibly alongside Fox FM of Oxford).

From my personal opinion - and again i no longer work for the station, so an opinion that has no connection to Brunel at all, I think you're annoyed at the fact that you don't like the coverage, which is fair enough, but please dont criticise the fact we have extended the coverage as far as possible and within our limits tried to accomodate as many Swindon fans as possible.

I know for a fact that Brunel can't cover the area of BBC RS, i'd never say we can, but you cannot blame Brunel for this as they've done what they can, which i think should be appreciated.

Brunel I take it is a sister station to Original FM in Bristol I guess.

As far as i know no, but due at the end of September (could be wrong).

But its first year so i'm sure they aren't expecting them to be brilliant.

Fully agree with you - but if you were management of Brunel and you saw an opportunity to promote your new radio station within the area would you take the risk?

Anyone thought that Brunel FM, maybe trying to get out of the deal, perhaps they are not doing as well as they think.

Smith & Smith  :Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick:  :Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick:  :Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick:

Tell that cunt lambert i will reply to that email when he replys to the 2 emails i sent him

Absolutely awful.

No Friday night sports talk phone in- this was always a good half hour on the town and fans phone in.

Having listened to every game so far this season on Brunel and most games last season I can honestly say the pre match build up is non existent in comparison to BBC which was not exceptional but it was passable.

The in game commentary is very very poor, even with the many different commentators and guest commentators...like Tom...err err urm err umm Jones, the only professional one was Alan Mac who was very good, so often during games we get...oh and theres a goal, at first they dont say who scored it, they dont say the build up, often it has happened they dont even say which team scored it! thats amateur and very unprofessional.

They often chat about mundane stuff without giving us any idea whatsoever of how the game is progressing, whos playing well and more so what is happening on the pitch, it can take literally 1 minutes commentary to find out who scored and for which team, and confused scorers like the Brentford game when Adams scored...or is that Cox oh no it looks like it was Blackburn, WTF thats just plain terrible.

After match....well its again pretty non existant, and please stop playing adverts for taxis in Frome and Warminster, I know the partner station is 3TR for there but we dont need or want to listen to the adverts.

End of rant.

The reception in Ciren is usually okay, but it was shite today. I blame you, you are obviously cursed.

Arthur Hunt! Remember him?

Ben,

I've been led to believe that you are soliciting opinions via e-mail regarding the quality of service offered by Brunel FM. Firstly, I'd like to point out that I was extremely disappointed not to receive a direct e-mail from you requesting my opinion despite being an STFC World subscriber for 4 years. Secondly, I'd like to refer you back to our earlier e-mail correspondence on 21 and 22 August 2007 following the significant technical problems encountered during the home game with Luton Town - if you'd like me to remind you of that conversation, I'll gladly do so on request. Thirdly, and finally, I'd like to point out that being a Swindon Twon FC fan living overseas, I am totally reliant on the STFC World Matchday service every week, so I would like to think my perspective holds substantially more weight than those who sporadically listened to the service provided by BBC Radio Swindon in the past and listen to Brunel FM at present.

I am going to take the opportunity to once again address these issues with you. I'll start with addressing your specific points regarding Brunel FM, then I'd like to add again the ongoing issues with the overall matchday service offered by Premium TV. I'll start with your questions:-

1. Pre-match 2-3 pm – how informative is the pre match build up, team news etc?

What I've heard of the pre-match build-up, in my opinion it is not of a similar standard to BBC Radio Swindon, mainly because Brunel FM insist on playing music, something BBC Radio Swindon did not do in the hour before kick-off. I'm not saying BBC Radio Swindon coverage was perfect, but it was significantly better than the service Brunel FM currently offers. I'd give it 4 out of 10. As it happens, I rarely listen to Brunel FM pre-match, and rather listen to BBC Radio Swindon then switch over to STFC World at kick-off.

2. The match itself 3-5pm – your comments on the commentary team, the co-commentator, at both home and away games

I have to say what I've heard so far has frankly been amateur, and much lower than the standard offered by BBC Radio Swindon. Generally, the lead commentator has been dull, soulless and passionless with respect to Swindon Town FC, often is unable to describe the action in detail, is unable to even recognise the Swindon players, and on more than one occasion showed more passion when the opposition scored (which in my book is a cardinal sin). With the exception of Alan McLoughlin (who was excellent), the co-commentators have been shockingly awful - that is when there is one (e.g Hartlepool, which was by far the dullest 2 hours I have spent listening to STFC commentary). In summary then, generally unprofessional, but I'll be generous and offer up 3/10.

3. Post match 5-6pm – Paul Sturrock’s post match interview and post match analysis.

The after match coverage is again pretty non-existant. On more than one occasion I sat waiting for a hour after the game for some post match reaction and just got a load of 80's music and a load of adverts for taxis in Frome and Warminster - I know the partner station is 3TR, but we don't need or want to listen to the adverts every 3 minutes! I've given up on post-match coverage, and switch back to BBC Radio Swindon, who seem to be able to interview Paul Sturrock and key players much quicker than Brunel FM - and ask much more pertinent questions as well. Frankly its rubbish, and so I can only offer 1/10.

So overall, in summary, I find the overall Match Day service offered by Brunel FM as shoddy and unprofessional, and certainly well below the standard of BBC Radio Swindon.

Now can I tackle you once again on the overall package offered by Premium TV. You'll be aware from our earlier correspondence on 21/22 August that I was extremely disappointed by Premium TV's service during the Luton game earlier this season, compounded by the lack of service for the first 55 minutes of the last game of last season against Walsall. Regretfully, I have to inform you that after a minor blip (in the positive sense) in the service, normal service was resumed this past weekend for the Millwall game. Once again I and all STFC World subscribers that I know were unable to listen to the dedicated Swindon Town commentary offered by Brunel FM due to 'technical difficulties' suffered by Premium TV. I reported the problem to Premium TV at 1508 on Saturday, received an automated response at 1514 claiming, and I quote "Currently we are having some technical problem with the commentary and we trying to fix it ASAP, please bear with us". I followed up with three further e-mails to Premium TV Customer Service at 1516, 1557 and 1649 on Saturday, to which I have had no response to date. I consider that to be appalling Customer Support.

I am getting really close to cancelling my contract with Premium TV, which expires on 28 November, and demanding a full refund, because they currently can't provide the service I'm paying for. I shall certainly not be renewing my subscription to STFC World after this weekend's events.

Best regards

Whatever happened to Stuart Mac?

I'll ad my two penneth.

I can;t stand Brunel's coverage, but I don't blame them for getting the rights.  GWR did it in the 80's and used the clubs risein fortunes to build a brand image off the back (as well as being very agressive in the way it operated).  Not sure Brunel could ever hope to replicate that, but I can see why the brand guys would want to give it a shot.

Commentary is at times I'm sad to say laughable.  Not that BBC was always good, just that it reminds me of Arthur Hunt's Salisbury efforts at times on BBC back in the day.  He got a Swindon game once, shocking.

Unfortunately, Brunel's one big failing here was not having the knowledge to weighup the possible outcomes.  Anyone with an ounce of an idea of the general feeling around the club, the geographical range the fans come from etc would have realised their was a big risk of negative reactions being directed their way.  Guilty by association.

For the club, should you not have gained this type of valuable customer insight before approaching likely broadcasters and putting the contract out for tender (not just on price)?  Too late now I'm afraid, it's in Brunel's court now and it's up to them to either make it work for them or decide it's a dead duck and move resources into more profitable areas.

Have they had their RAJAR figures yet?

Sports news is now 25 past the hour

Bloody hell, look who turned up on Radio Yocals coverage this weekend!

Sports news is now 25 past the hour

I've posted it elsewhere too but here's the response I had about the lack of coverage on Saturday from Premium TV -

"We are sorry for the lack of Swindon Town commentary at the weekend.

The club is responsible for choosing the radio station to provide the commentary. The radio station is responsible for connecting to Premium TV by landline and Premium TV is responsible for streaming the commentary on the internet.

Unfortunately on Saturday the radio station did not dial in to Premium TV. Premium TV tried to contact the radio station and the club without success, so a share of the Millwall feed was provided rather than nothing."

West Wiltshire is supposed to get the live commentry through Brunels sister station 3TR. I can't get a decent signal at the best of times but on saturday there was no commentry at all. Fucking disgrace. So now we in WW have been shafted.

The thing is, even when 3TR are covering games I can never get a decent signal anyway. They only broadcast from Warminster FFS.

I can confirm that in Chippenham the broadcast is receivable. The commentary is always the saem tho' is goes like this HiSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

 :soapy tit wank:

Amen Brother!! Im between Chippenham and Melksham and cant get it either!

Well, I can't believe the club are still believing that Brunel's signal goes as far as Bath - it can hardly make Chippenham!!! 3TR never in a million years "covers West Wiltshire".

By all accounts I don't think we (non receivers) are missing much

Tonight will be the first time I've used STFC World this season.

Judging by this thread I'd be better off watching teletext.........

well they at least seem to have remembered to turn the feed on tonight

Interesting post from hogface on ThisIs



I heard nothing direct from PTV, so I'll treat this as a rumour for now. Makes sense though, and I've asked Ben to confirm or deny that this was the cause of Saturday's problem.

The only way Brunel FM is going to improve is if they give me a job.

i sent off my e-mail about Brunel FM earlier, just got a response, apparently my views have been noted and will be acted upon!

i sent off my e-mail about Brunel FM earlier, just got a response, apparently my views have been noted and will be acted upon!