Second Captains is an Irish media company set up in March 2013 by Eoin McDevitt, Ken Early, Mark Horgan, Ciarán Murphy and Simon Hick. Their independent, member-led, commercial-free platform called The Second Captains World Service is now the 4th biggest podcast in the world on Patreon.The company specialises in television, radio and online production and currently broadcasts from their studios in Dublin daily on secondcaptains.com. Second Captains were the first major radio show to move from traditional programming to podcasting in Ireland and remain the most-popular podcast ever produced in Ireland. The company has produced 5 series of the IFTA nominated Second Captains Live for RTÉ 2 television and also produce and present radio shows for RTÉ Radio 1. They have hosted TV shows and live events in the UK, San Francisco, New York, and all around Ireland. The 5-man team had previously produced and presented the "Off The Ball" show on Newstalk national radio station for 9 years, garnering numerous PPI radio awards. They left their jobs in Newstalk in early March 2013. Their departure caused major ripples in the Irish media industry and they had to see out a period of gardening leave, during which there was great speculation about what their next move would be.
Podcasts
The Second Captains Podcast began on 14 May 2013 in conjunction with The Irish Times. The show quickly became the most popular podcast in Ireland, winning the iTunes podcast of the year in 2014. In 2015, the podcast was chosen as one of the top ten British and Irish podcasts of all-time as part of iTunes Essentials list and it was selected as one of The Guardian’s 50 best podcasts of 2016. It remains Ireland’s most-listened-to podcast. Each edition is hosted by main anchor McDevitt, with Early and Murphy. It is produced by Horgan and Hick and although there is an Irish focus to some of the programming, international sport, current affairs and pop culture all play a major role. Second Captains expanded its online shows in February 2017 and launched The Second Captains World Service podcast feed available only to Second Captains' members. The Player's Chair Podcast hosted Richie Sadlier and Ken Early's Political Podcast were added to the roster of programming. The commercial-free, subscriber-based model had over 10k members after 12 months. Regular guests include Shane Horgan, Richie Sadlier, Oisin McConville and Brian Murphy from San Francisco's KNBR radio station, who speaks weekly on US sports. In March 2018, Second Captains celebrated their 5th birthday with interviews with Ken Loach, Vincent Browne, Lynne Cox, Michael Chieka and Paul Kimmage. PBESO, pronounced "pee-bezzo" and short for "Pierce Brosnan's Emigrant Shout-Outs", is a regular slot on the show. During the slot, input from listeners around the globe is sought and broadcast, with emigrants contacting the programme with stories of their travels and missing home.
Second Captains Live
In August 2013, three months after the podcasts began, Second Captains made a not-for-broadcast pilot for RTÉ television. Soon after, they were commissioned for a four-show run on RTÉ 2 in September/October 2013. The first broadcast was scheduled to coincide with a vital World Cup qualifying match between Ireland and Austria, going on immediately after the live coverage of the game. Thereafter the show reverted to Wednesday nights. Second Captains Live was enthusiastically received by audiences, the Irish Independent calling it "sports broadcasting of the highest quality" and the Irish Times describing it as "ridiculously fabulous".
Format
Second Captains Live was hosted by McDevitt, with Early and Murphy sharing co-hosting duties. Mark Horgan was the series producer, with Hick acting as producer and making some on-screen appearances. The show is divided into three parts - the first part is a panel discussion between three current or former sports stars on a particular topic broadly analogous to the big news of that week and touching on their own experiences. The second part is an interview with a main guest. The third part is a quiz between one of the guests and Murphy, called Challenge Second Captains, playing on Ciaran's previous experiences of competing on old RTÉ school quiz-shows Blackboard Jungle and Gridlock. The show is influenced by Fantasy Football League, TFI Friday and Nighthawks. The show is shot completely live in front of a studio audience, and in between the interviews, RTÉ archive is used extensively, often for comedic purposes. It is described on the RTÉ website as "the place in Irish television where sport meets entertainment". Second Captains Live is directed by Maurice Linnane, whose work also includes the popular music programme Other Voices.
The Good Wall is a feature on the show where the top ten Irish sportspeople of all-time are chosen by Second Captains contributors. Each week, the programmes major guests can make one change to the existing wall, and introduce a new sportsperson to the top ten. O'Gara made a stir when he removed former teammate O'Driscoll from the top spot in show 1. O'Sullivan subsequently removed Irish golfer Pádraig Harrington from the wall entirely.
Name
The name Second Captains comes from a press conference exchange Ken Early once had with then-Ireland football managerSteve Staunton. Commenting on the return of experienced goalkeeper Shay Given to the starting team, Early asked Staunton if it was "almost like having a second captain on the team." Staunton paused for a moment and then said - "Pffft... second captain, first captain, whatever."
