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Plate on the laps again…

March 10th, 2008 | By: Jan | 14 Comments »

I can see you thinking :-).

It’s a Dutch term. We want to watch football highlights at 7 pm Sunday evening. With our plate on our laps, is the expression. Over the last years, the Eredivisie football highlights were - oh dread - in the hands of the commercial stations. And that was a huge pain in the neck! Because their objective - obviously - was to milk it for money. So, the highlights were later in the evening, huge blocks with commercials in between, a lot of talk (to make the program longer and to put more commercial blocks in) and the top games were presented last… You could have made this up.

But, they were the commercials… So every game, even the many many dreadful ones, were qualified as “wonderful spectacles”, “great football”, “extremely exciting”, etc etc.

But the commercials couldn’t make it last and now - after three years of being shoved between Talpa, 10 and RTL - football comes “home” again. The NOS is going to take care of it again: @ 7pm. Mart Smeets, the “face” of Studio Sport said: “Football came home. I think football belongs to the public broadcaster, as it belongs to the public.”

Presenters like Tan and Van Gangelen who moved from the NOS to follow the money to the commercial stations are not welcome back at the NOS. “They now have the commercial air around them. Won’t work.”

Before the Talpa move, the KNVB tried a similar set up. The chairman of the KNVB back then - I forgot his name - said the infamous words: “We’ll try something new!” and put football behind the decoder. The big clubs liked the idea (more money for them) but the rest blocked the vote and with egg on their faces, the KNVB board - who would become shareholders in the new commercial station - had to resign. Now, they tried again and failed again.

So, Jack van Gelder, Mart Smeets and Frank Snoecks rule again :-). (I won’t mention Tom Egberts here… I don’t like him)

Tags: Group C, Jack van Gelder, Mart Smeets, Oranje, The Netherlands

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Comments

By Tjeerd | March 11th, 2008 at 1:00 am

Interesting take on Dutch TV football politics. Here in Canada the CBC is the Canadian version of NOS. They do have commercials and must pay for the rights of NHL hockey. The signature broadcast is “Hockey Night in Canada” always on a Saturday night. A must for every bar and home in Canada. It has always been on the CBC and always been on Saturday night. The CBC is funded by the Canadian government with a mandate to promote “Canadian Culture”,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Poays03IfAg

Posted from United States

By Jan | March 11th, 2008 at 3:44 am

See. that’s how it’s supposed to be. The NOS will have to pay serious money and will start the show and end it with commercials but not as bad as with the commercial broadcasters.

Posted from Australia

By goose | March 11th, 2008 at 4:31 am

the NOS paid only 21 mln for 5 years (thats also radio), for me its the best thing that happened in years!! i actually almost stopped watching dutch football cause of the way the commercial tv brought the games (15 minutes per game and than 15 minutes of commercials!)…now it will be all the games in an hour and thats enough for dutch football

Jan, you dont like Tom?? hahaha.. i cant stand Mart Smeest,my fav was always Kees Jansma

gtrs

Posted from Netherlands

By Jan | March 11th, 2008 at 7:12 pm

But Kees has gone over to the Dark Side :-). Mart has it’s own personal style, true. And sometimes, Mart thinks Mart is more important than the viewer. But Tom Egberts acts as if he is a football fan. He isn’t. He doesn’t get it. Everytime he jumps in with a stupid remark, it’s because he just doesn’t get the game. You call those guys wankers, right? I think Jack van Gelder is the best. Most knowledgeable, passion for the game, good connections…only problem is, is his Ajax heart :-). And Frank Snoecks is by far the best commentator ever!

Posted from Australia

By Tjeerd | March 12th, 2008 at 11:03 pm

I like Jack van Gelder.

Posted from United States

By Caleb | March 13th, 2008 at 7:16 am

Jan, Goose, you guys don’t know bad commentating until you listen to American soccer commentating… absolutely terrible! But I shouldn’t get started or I’ll likely spend the next 20 minutes ranting..

Posted from Japan

By Bruce | March 13th, 2008 at 9:45 am

Amen to that Caleb. I’d rather listen Chinese or something rather than American commentators. I get so angry when I listen because they know absolutely nothing about the sport and make a mockery of it.

Posted from Republic Of Korea

By Jan | March 13th, 2008 at 4:16 pm

Really :-)?

Wow…

Posted from Australia

By JVB21 | March 13th, 2008 at 7:23 pm

Oh I could go on and on about Tommy Smyth for ESPN. He makes my ears bleed, in fact I’ll turn the sound off and put some music on rather then listen to his asinine comments.

Posted from Canada

By finnster01 | March 13th, 2008 at 9:49 pm

Tommy Smyth is the only Irish I know that is genuinely hated by ALL of his countrymen and I have lived in the US for 18 years and most of my friends are Irish or American… The Irish, especially the ones in the US & East Coast, tend to look out for each other. Tommy is beyond terrible, nobody likes him. They all laugh at him. I watch most of my games live at my local bar in New York, and every time I hope that the game is on Setanta and not ESPN…Tommy never played for anyone decent, only some Irish league team I can’t remember, certainly doesn’t know what he is talking about, yet he comments all the big games and has an opinion on everything which in most cases does not even make a tad of sense.

You may have problems in Holland, but if you ever come to watch soccer in the US, please make sure you bring your I-Pod.

And the sad thing is, people wonder why soccer/football has not taken off in the US?

Posted from United States

By Jan | March 13th, 2008 at 9:51 pm

Tommy Smyth? I think I listen to him too!! Is he the guy who looks like that awful cartoon character in bugs bunny. The guy who runs around with the shotgun? I have a problem with Janusz Mikalik or whatever his name is. The man knows a lot, but keeps on blabbering till the cows come home. All in one sort of tone, very distracting and annoying…

Posted from Australia

By finnster01 | March 13th, 2008 at 9:58 pm

That’s the guy:-)

Posted from United States

By Jan | March 13th, 2008 at 11:32 pm

Elmer Fudd!

I hate this guy. The voice… The funny quips… The face….

Posted from Australia

By JVB21 | March 14th, 2008 at 8:54 pm

Tommy is one of those “armchair quarterbacks” that you just want to dump your warm beer over. I could almost tolerate his negative and critical commentary IF he had ever actually been a quality player, but clearly his grip on reality is loose. A delusional Elmer Fudd who idolizes Don Cherry. The only bright moments come when the replay proves him completely wrong.

Posted from Canada

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