Radio Norfolk

[Ap]

Thanks Mark. Always good to hear from someone 'on the inside' so to speak. I think you've summed things up perfectly.

Admin has hit the nail on the head however. Why advertise a Lynn away commentary during the week only to then choose a different game when the weekend arrives? 3 times this season now, so far from a one off.

[Mallard]

I guess it depends on people’s definition of ‘Volunteer’.  I don’t see that as someone who gets free travel, admission, hotel accommodation, food, drink etc all paid for.  Yes time is FOC.  Grey area at best.  Fans of a Football Club have to pay out of their own pockets for those that some enjoy as  perks.

[Pink]

Ah yes! Pre match preview and team news, the 15 minute updates , full time report and a chat with the manager. Happy days.

I think you're being a little harsh Pink with your ' patchy ' comment regarding RN's coverage. In my time every game was covered , home or away , either by reports or live commentary . Indeed I think the two season's the club spent in the full National League more or less every game had full live commentary. I also remember assisting with commentaries for places such as Fisher Athletic, Merthyr , Gloucester and even Chester on a wet Tuesday evening! Add to that the manager or a player ( sometimes both ) on Nick Bowler's non league football show every week I think that add's up too something a little more than patchy.

As someone else mentioned in this thread local programming on the station has been slashed to 8 hours per day Monday - Friday and just four hours over the weekend which is the sport coverage. Every other hour is covered by output shared by numerous other local radio stations. This may explain why now football coverage is kept as local as possible when Norwich are not playing.

When I covered Lynn for RN it was all done voluntary as I was only interested in raising the profile of the club at that time and never sought any financial gain. Nowadays volunteers appear as rare as rocking horse poop although  to be honest commiting to doing all of the travelling  required to cover the away games is a big undertaking and takes up many hours of your own time,

Good Morning Mark,

Lovely to have the opportunity to chat.


Firstly, heartfelt thanks for your past input with the club and in helping to raise its profile while you were onboard.

Yes, no doubt that there was a significant uplift in exposure for Lynn on RN when in the National League and of course on any of the big Cup moments.


However, my perspective is different from yours, being a fan on the outside......and from my perspective, "patchy" feels a fair description of coverage since the inception of RN. I lived in Lynn for almost 30 years. When I returned to Norfolk some years later, I settled in Norwich where I have been for around 25 years. Following the Linnets in preference to the Canaries, I have always been struck by the extent of the coverage for the Canaries on RN. Typically,full match coverage on Saturday and midweek, Canary Call phone ins post match, Scrimmage or similar during the week, regular sports bulletins. In comparison, for Lynn, typically 5-10 minutes on Local Report, acouple of score updates during the Norwich commentary and maybe a very brief half time and full time report, plus a full commentary once in a while. An exposure which over the years, isn't a lot different to that which Dereham or Wroxham have benefitted from.

The vast majority of Norwich away games are also commentated on by the home sides local BBC station, I would assume, together with TV broadcast and commentary from the BBC when Norwich were in the Premier League.
For me, these resources could have been spread out more fairly across the county eg for away games why not use the commentary from the host local station, freeing up a commentary team for the likes of Lynn ?

Maybe I am missing something here and don't have full facts, but there seems to me to be a "little old Lynn" syndrome here, where we are supposed to be grateful for little scraps.

Please feel free to come back to me, if you feel this is unfair.

All the best.

[Mark A Hearle]

I do remember someone telling me from Radio Norfolk that some of the programme content updates were done from London but I agree with all who are saying that the information there should be correct.

And as for perks Mall well I must have been doing something very wrong whilst at the club because I remember paying for at least three of the items you have listed !

[Ap]

I do remember someone telling me from Radio Norfolk that some of the programme content updates were done from London but I agree with all who are saying that the information there should be correct.

If true, that would explain it and would also, I guess, fit the BBC centralise strategy. Feels like there has to be some internal disconnect at play rather than Mr Bowler just changing his mind on a Saturday morning!

[Mallard]

Good on you Mark for paying some.  However i guess as a fan you would be paying for everything on the list if it wasn’t for the fact that you were doing a live Commentary as Nick’s support.  Do you still attend most games these days, compared to your volunteering days ?   

Have to admit that the news coming out of the Club is not at the same level as it was during MH’s days.  Still things change and move on.   On that subject isnt SC due to air an up to date Podcast ?

[Fosters Cigar]

Hi folks
Couldn't agree more with Pinks comments.
After the superb victory over sunny Scunny I asked Nick Bowler and his asst why no live coverage? They did indeed say the cutbacks were to blame and coverage switched to a regional model after six pm. So I asked how Canaries fans felt about that? They replied, no problem, the Canaries are wall to wall coverage no matter what time of day or night. So no regional problems then?
I believe RN used to pay for coverage of City. Does anyone know if that's still the case?

[Nemesis]

I guess budgets are allocated differently depending on region.
On Saturday BBC Radio Humberside covered  FA Trophy second round - Scunthorpe United v Darlington on BBC Sounds, DAB:
and  Forest Green Rovers v Grimsby Town on FM, Freeview
On BBC Radio Lincolnshire  Stevenage v Lincoln City with Coalville v Boston United via BBC Sports website.

One rule for some . . .

[admin]

The BBC Radio Lincolnshire reporter has the advantage of having Boston United secretary and commercial manager Craig Singleton as co-commentator.
As Mark said, Lynn hasn't got the volunteers.

[Mallard]

When there is a lack of bread then ....  "Qu'ils mangent de la brioche",

[Mark A Hearle]

Hi Pink,

Firstly thank you for your kind words - as I've said before I always tried my best whilst involved at The Walks.

I cannot disagree with your thoughts to be honest with you. Norwich City will always be RN's  main team to cover , as it has been since it first began broadcasting in the early 80's.  You raise a good point in them using coverage of the local radio station's output for away games , it makes sense. It's a point you would probably have to raise with them but I'm sure they will say that by using their own staff to cover the games it would continue to give a slant towards's Norwich as opposed to the opposition. I know when I began co commentating I was encouraged to see a game through the eyes of Lynn and it's supporters and always talk them up as much as possible. I remember once covering a game for another local  BBC radio station down south for a game with Yeovil Town where I had to be a Yeovil fan for the afternoon at The Walks - that wasn't easy!

I feel we have had more commentaries over the time than say Wroxham or Dereham and I can remember being told that RN had received complaints from other teams saying that Lynn received too much coverage and it should be shared out more so they will probably say they cannot win! That's all in the past now though. I'll finish by saying that I never felt their was a ' Little old Lynn ' feel about thing's when I was involved with RN and the club but I do feel to a point there  has to be an acceptance that Norwich City will always be given lots more airtime than ourselves and other teams in the county at step 3 and below because of their standing in the football world at present.

Thanks again for replying to my post.