Talk radio fails to get a straight answer

Eurosport controversy: There were echoes on the Marian Finucane Show on RTÉ Radio yesterday of that 1996 Newsnight interview by Jeremy Paxman with Michael Howard when the BBC's very own rottweiler asked the then Home Secretary the same "yes or no" question 14 times - and never once got an answer.

Finucane and Eurosport viewer Andrew McGeady wanted to know if NTL was saving money by replacing Eurosport with CNBC in its package, a question that hinted at the possibility finance, rather than viewing figures, was the main motivation behind NTL's decision to give the less-than-exhilarating CNBC Eurosport's slot in the cable group's analogue service.

Eight times (not including supplementary questions) Finucane and McGeady asked the question of NTL marketing director Mark Mohan and eight times they failed to get an answer. "Can you not just say yes or no," pleaded an exasperated Finucane after 10 minutes' questioning. "Neither" was the gist of the response from Mohan, who pointed out that confidentiality clauses in the company's contracts with the "channel providers" prevented him from divulging such information.

At the end of the interrogation another Eurosport fan, Audrey, came on air, and was evidently amused by NTL's reluctance to give a straight answer to a straight question. "I am holding my sides laughing," she giggled.

Audrey had phoned in to say she watched "ballroom dancing once a year from Paris and martial arts" on Eurosport, insisting the channel "broadens your whole horizon, instead of football, football, football".

Eileen, another caller, agreed, pointing out the channel covers "about 15 minority sports that you can't get anywhere else", and rejected the suggestion CNBC is a first-rate replacement. "I am really not interested in what happens on the stock exchanges in Czechoslovakia or other places, they have to bring back Eurosport. Everyone I have spoken to is devastated."

Later in the show several more listeners phoned in messages to say they were mightily relieved NTL was showing us less sport, because we'd "too much already".

On the evidence of The Irish Times' email inbox this past week the second big question in the NTL v Eurosports' viewers debate is: has French channel TV5 higher viewing figures in Ireland than Eurosport? And if it doesn't, why is Eurosport the channel that has been axed?

"How is TV5 doing," asked Finucane. "We don't have an issue with TV5 at the moment," replied Mohan, "but we are watching all of these channels and looking at them all in the research."

Eurosport? How is TV5 doing?

"According to the figures we have from AC Neilsen (March 2001) Eurosport had an audience share that was five times that of TV5 (in Ireland)."

NTL were unable to provide TV5's viewing figures (although they were able to say Eurosport's figures were 0.9 per cent of their customer base" and directed us to AC Neilsen. By the time we were told this AC Neilsen had shut up shop for the day.

NTL did, though, say "our research is not confined to any one point in time . . . it monitored consumer habits over 12 months.and showed Eurosport is increasingly regarded by consumers as a niche channel and one which could more appropriately be included as part of our digital television service". (cost: €12.70 per month extra to Eurosport fans).

So? Baton down your hatches and prepare for hostilities between Irish Francophiles and Eurosport fans - the message would appear to be: there's only room in NTL's package for the one of us.

In fairness to NTL, and their public relations executive Sandra Eaton, who actually answered the questions put to her yesterday and expressed some sympathy for Eurosport's viewers, there's a touch of the GPO in Easter 1916 to the tale i.e. 98.4 per cent of the nation claim to have been avid viewers of Eurosport all along, just as most of our grannies and granddads claimed to have been buying stamps in O'Connell Street's post office around the time Michael Collins and the lads stormed in.

Still, the message from Eurosport diehards is: "we haven't gone away, you know".

For now, though, Eurosport fans have no option but to watch the space their beloved channel once inhabited, a space now occupied by CNBC Europe.