So, with the channel having been on-air for three months now, what is the general consensus of the channel?
I think that ITN have given it a good go, but my one nag is that before its launch, Setanta Sports News was promised not to be repetitive during each hour - unfortunately I don't think that this has been completely lived up to.
The presenter line-up hasn't really impressed either IMO; I say this as I am watching Charlie Webster on the channel at the moment, and I cringed when she had the Colchester chairman on the line, struggling to find questions. Sadly this 'cringe' feeling seems to happen all too often.
What I'd like to see is the ditching of the way the presenters are switched every hour, and create fixed timeslots, like Sky Sports News (i.e. David Jones and Georgie Thompson), so for example have Andy Kerr and Alex Hyndman on from 4-8. I reckon this would work a lot better, and create some consistency for the channel.
Although I have given a bit of criticism here, I do thing that SSN has started with positive foundations though, considering their competition. With a little work here and there, the channel could flourish quite nicely, and provide a real alternative to Sky in a few years time - providing some funding goes into getting some decent presenters, however.
Are they still on a 20-minute cycle or have they managed to pad it out to at least half-an-hour yet?
It sounds like presenter wise they're doing what they did with the ITN News Channel in it's early days in switching presenters every hour or so. After all, if they're reading the same stories three times in an hour they'd have sent themselves to sleep by the end of a four-hour shift.
Having only seen bits of it on the website I can't really comment too much on the content, though the layout still looks hideous. What I can say though is there has been absolutely no sign that what Setanta are doing has caused Sky Sports News to make any changes, so I don't think you can say they're making a huge impact in that area.
I think if you are just looking for a quick general digest of sports news, then Setanta Sports News would probably leave you feeling quite satisfied. If you are looking for coverage of events such as match-days, competitions draws and opinion then Sky has to remain the best. Setanta Sports News' Saturday operation is quite frankly shocking. They often have two in studio guests, the last time I watched one of these was Martin Keone, and he was piss-poor. He looked bored, he sounded bored and was stumbling all over the place, not knowing players and which teams they played for and even where the games were being played (e.g. home or away).
Did the Kelly Dalglish show ever take off, do we even know if it is being shown, as I thought it was, but nobody has ever talked about it in this thread.
The graphics remain the same - just as awful as before. Often they come complete with stupid errors which are quite a cute touch. Not.
I wont repeat what others have said, but I really find the presenters changing every hour irritating, especially when they have these program names of the epg. A bit of variation wouldn't go a miss to be honest.
On the plus side when the go to a full blown report (which is rare in itself) they now get rid of the grey story bar at the top, so they obviously have taken on some of the concerns that have been raised. What's encouraging is that they are doing this increasingly often too.
Perhaps ditching the graphics, except maybe for a ticker (and just the one) at the bottom and going full screen would give them a unique selling point.
I know I often wish I had the option to watch SSN in full screen, and though the league tables and results might have a point at the weekend or after midweek fixtures, for the rest of the week they are not really necessary and the screen would be put to better use with full screen reports.
Then perhaps if they extended to 30-minutes they could fill the last minute or two of each half hour with a full screen look at each league table or something.
It's awful. Sky Sports News is a fantastic service, and it's only when you watch its Setanta equivalent that you realise quite how good Sky is. It's pedestrian, practically it doesn't have as many highlights, and some of the presenters are embarassing. It's not even a third rate version of Sky Sports News, it's worse than that.
All this I wouldn't mind if it cable provided the choice, but it doesn't - we're forced to watch this nonsense because Virgin can't settle its battle with Sky. All the while it tells us their new service is just as good - no it isn't.
As I only have access to Setanta Sports News it has been a welcome return...with lots of buts!
The graphics are not easy on the eye and there is way to much going on the screen. Why they can just use the same looking graphics as Setanta 1 on a Saturday afternoon is a mystery.
I know it has only been a few months but they don't seem to have made any changes since launching. No tweaks or modifications as I would have expected when the reality of running a new channel starts.
The presenter thing doesn't really bother me as I don't watch it hour after hour and so never really notice it but I do wish they would zoom the camera in and only show one presenter at once. They seem keen on having both presenters on screen all the time.
Overall, I'm glad I have a sports news service again on the main TV but they need to start making improvements now they have all settled in.