Radio coverage at kettering

[MattDavison]

For anyone not going, there'll be coverage of about the last half hour from Kettering v Gravesend tomorrow on BBC Radio Kent, 96.7 FM

 

MATT DAVISON

 

[John Pearce]

Typical Radio Kent....why not the whole match?

 

Why is it that when there is a full non league commentary and the result is beyond doubt the commentary switches to another match where the result is perhaps still in the balance...ie Doncaster vs. The Fleet, commentary switched to the Margate game.............but when the same thing happens to Gillingham ie 6 down against Wolves the commentary stays with that game........come on Radio Kent most people in Kent have got very little or no time for Gillingham FC.

[Hempstead Gaz]

At least RK do try to give us a bit of publicity. Which is a lot more than the the lot of poxy amateurs at Meridian. All you get on their teletext service is Gillingham, Margit, Hastings, Ashford and bloody C****y !!!!!

Can you believe that !!! I have spoken to them, written, faxed and e-mailed. The only reply I ever get is that Gravesend isn't in the South - East !!! Where the hell is it then !!! I lived in Gravesend for 25 years, and for Meridians benefit it IS in SE England AND you can receive Meridian TV there . (though god only knows why you would want to !!).

I don't think Gravesend has moved recently, I even checked my maps and atlases.

I can only surmise that Meridian TV is run by cretins and morons !!!

 

[MattDavison]

Although I work for a rival organisation to Meridian, I will justify their position. I live in Gravesend, as many of you know, but I cannot pick up Meridian (well I can on cable but that isnt the point), I get Carlton - and I live at the Rochester end of Gravesend. So no Gravesend hasnt moved, but if they did Fleet stories I think a lot of the club's fans wouldnt see them.

When you lived in Gravesend you must have had your ariel pointing another way.

Re the Radio Kent criticism, I just thought that as the first hour of our programme would have no commentary in it and Gravesend were playing it would be nice to have the last half hour of the match. I thought you would appreciate that. The guy who replied first suggests unless we could do the whole game we shouldnt do any commentary at all. I don't agree.

The day we were at Doncaster (and that was me), consider the other way around. Suppose we had started Dagenham v Margate and Margate had gone 3-0 down while the Fleet were 1-0 up. You wouldnt want me to stay with the Margate game would you?

On this occasion I deemed that as Margate and Gravesend are the same status I would see how the games go, whereas Gills attract seven times the average gate as Gravesend and are three divisions higher. It's the same as comparing Gravesend with, say Hythe Town.

And the theories sound easy enough but the guy at Gravesend was booked on the assumption he would be providing goal updates not commentary. He didnt have the equipment, or time, to do commentary. I think he only had one microphone for a start.

Once we left a Gills game and went to the end of a Dover cup tie, and maybe in hindsight we could have gone to Gravesend for the last five/ten minutes maybe, then we would have heard the winning goal. He may have been able to do that on his own but no more. It's hard enough WITH Chas next to you, let alone WITHOUT anyone next to you.

 

 

[kmj]

I feel that some of the criticism from our supporters about Radio Kent's coverage of our games is unfair. The coverage has been much better in the past year or so and this, I feel, is largely down to Matt's efforts to broaden the coverage of the more senior teams in the county. Regarding the decision to transfer the coverage from our game at Doncaster to the match Margate were playing against Dagenham, because they were deemed to still stand a chance of salvaging something, it just so happened that this was the kiss of death to Margate' chances as I recall that immediately coverage was switched D&R scored. I do however question the amount of coverage given to Charlton Athletic, a team not even in our county! Can this be explained?

[Hempstead Gaz]

I will be checking Meridian teletext 470 - 476 this week just to prove they have no time for the Fleet, but are more than happy crap like C****y. My main gripe is with the editorial professionalism at Meridian.

RK are a fine station and I think Fleet are very fortunate to have RK on board, as Matt and all the other sports presenters really do seem to support the fleet.

[Slartibartfast]

Charlton are the nearest premiership club and although they are not in Kent many of their fans are.

Charlton and Gillingham are clearly the biggest clubs in the area and it is only natural that they should get more coverage, it is annoying however when after Matt Davison had said that there would be coverage of the last 20 minutes of our game yesterday RK left that coverage to discuss some 16 year old schoolboy who might or might not get a place on Gillinghams bench!

When all the teams are playing at the same time it seems fair to give the lions share of coverage to the senior team but when there is only one football match going on it would be nice to stick to football commentary rather than gossip.

[Alan W (GNFC)]

I once queried the C****y coverage on Meridian and suggested they should be covered by Anglia, but was told that due to the lie of the land, they cant receive Anglia there, and the Meridian signal does carry there.

 

The Teletext services are I understand, provided by an outside organisation and are not provided by Meridian themselves.

 

I have details of the people to complain to, somewhere & will try & let you have details, Chatham Gary.

[Hempstead Gaz]

Thanx for that Alan, I feel like i have been banging my head against a brick wall for the last 5 years or so.

What we need is another game against Aston Villa, I bet Meridian will be there then !!!!

[gazza701]

Radio kent is changing its name to RADIO GILLINGHAM, well it might as well its what everyone thinks anyway.

[carjam]

Matt your doing just fine. Thanks.