Things im starting to dislike about Phantom

My name is Mud

Before reading, please take this post as feedback from a regular Joe Bloggs listener. Im 29, male, and I work full time and would be considered a "commuter" listener (no radio on during the day in work, but listen if I am in the car on weekends)

Anyway, Phantom was the only reason that I even listened to the radio. Now I listen to mp3s alot of the time, and I only tune in to catch the news on the half hour, and just to save battery on the player if its running low...

Reasons:

1. Pure Morning with Ritchie and Charlotte

What does Charlotte do exactly?

Does she just make up the numbers so that Phantom have a borderline "inane chatter" morning show?...similar to the advert that Sinister Pete used to do for Pure Morning, mocking the 'girl and a guy' format, used by all the inane chatter morning shows on other infuriating stations.

I listen between 8 and 8.45am, and she only seems to pip up to say things like "yes Ritchie" or mentions what she ate for dinner the night before.

I enjoyed Atomic Clodagh and the Weather Bike. Boo-urns I say. Boo-urns.


2. Music selection

Why is tripe like the Ting Tings being played? Where has all the good ecletic music mix gone? I used to enjoy getting a great selection of alternative tunes, especially in the morning and evening. Im a commuter, so I would listen for at least 1hr 30mins a day.

Now I switch back on my mp3s, as im so bloody bored of hearing Painted Black or feckin Fools Gold being played 100 times a day. Where has the quality control gone? Do DJs just put on whatever was on the recent list?


3. Jack Hyland

Your crooner "guess the tune" bit, is NOT FUNNY. Neither is the tune in any way decipherable. Another reason to listen to mp3s.

Stop playing censored reruns of classic comedy pieces by Stephen Wright or Bill Hicks. It gets old very fast. Another reason to listen to mp3s.

"Jack Hyland IS Jack Hyland IN nnneavvvy traaafic" IS NOT FUNNY. Another reason to listen to mp3s.


4. ICON

Do you screen the bands that come into the studio for interview and acoustic session?

Not screen for music quality, but screen them for charisma. Cathal does his best in this situation but its like bleeding blood from a stone, and it comes across on air. Some have the personality of wet cardboard.

At least bring them in beforehand to get an idea if they can actually talk and say something interesting about their band or music!


5. Bob Dylan

Maybe its just me, but I never liked Bob Dylan. I found his own music boring, and his croakiness insufferable. Now he is on the radio, playing more boring music, and being croakier. I seriously dislike this show. And to think that the "Two Petes Talk Rubbish" used to be in this slot.


6. Rock Census - intro

The Joker and the Thief intro is getting annoying. Every time I hear it, I think you are going to play it...but no. Its just an intro.

It gets me all worked up that Phantom is going to play something good! But no. Here comes this weeks chart. Yawn.

So, please change the intro...

If I think of more, i'll post up. But think of it as constructive criticism.

Best shows: The Powerhouse, Blitz, and the Producers. A serious overhaul is needed on the "big ticket" shows IMO.

Bluefoam

Ireland needs a rock station IMO

lordgoat

Bluefoam wrote: »

Ireland needs a rock station IMO

It has one albeit temporary for the moment. Dublins Rock 949.

Phantom is now somewhere in between today fm and old pirate phantom, leaning more towards the today fm side.

Initially i thought the new line up was great, the first two weeks really shook things up, i'm not too gone on the morning show and thought Richie was possibly better solo, at the moment i've stopped listening to it. I listen to phantom from 10 am to 5/6 while in work and some days it's good while others it's muck.

Going to and from work - 9 -10 and 6:30 - 7. I always listen to Dublin City Fm, during these times it's Live Drive a traffic show but they play better music in between bulletins than any other station, a great combination of oldies and new stuff and the presenters (well in the evening anyway know their music)

I'll continue listening during the day, i think Finest Worksongs has improved alot although it's a tough show to keep fresh. And i love the album archive.



All in all, i think the OP was a little harsh but he has some good points.

Recovered

Interesting post, I would listen on the way to and from work in the car and was just wondering the other day whether the channel has been deteriorating or if it's just me.

Looks like it ain't me so. :P

For me personally I wouldn't be into a lot of the stuff that's getting played on phantom these days (and I couldn't name you examples cause I don't listen for the names of bands or songs I don't like). It's almost as if I'm tuning in just hoping for a good song to come on...

jimkennedy

True. Also losing the love for the Phantom here. It's a disappointment after all the years of keeping button 1 on the car radio empty and waiting for the return. I live about two minutes walk from the studio and I'm tempted to go down there some evenings and hand in a stern letter of protest.

Clearly, they now have to make money as a commercial station, which is fair enough, so they must have some pressure to play more centralist, broader-appealing music. You can almost hear the anguish, though, when you get DJs claiming that the new Snow Patrol is quite good and playing it yet again. The repositioning of the station is analogous to the new direction of Kings of Leon, which explains why they play that stupid song every friggin' hour. It's got the word 'sex' in the title, you know, so that's, like, edgy.

The problem is that they might end up just another irritating 'me too' station and appeal to more folks, but at the expense of losing the original audience. Just wait for the convoy of blonds driving Phantom-themed minis around the place...

Jim.

My name is Mud

Like I said, take it as feedback! I dont mean to sound harsh, possibly thats my personality coming across.

One other thing that bothered me on Sunday while attempting to listen in the evening...

...John Meehan

TREE: Something that grows from the ground, has leaves.
THREE: The number immediately following the number two and preceding the number four.

One of my pet hates.

It really "grinds my gears" when he says "0 8 TREE, TREE double one, 1 0 5 2"

Im all for local Irish accents and all (waaay better that that Rick "USA" O'Shea on Today FM), but was this the best on offer?

CiaranC

I was away for a year and came back to this morning show. Its terrible. I dont want to hear this inane babble, it makes we want to ram into the car in front of me when im driving.

Back to Mp3 for me. It was nice while it lasted.

Jip

My name is Mud wrote: »

TREE: Something that grows from the ground, has leaves.
THREE: The number immediately following the number two and preceding the number four.

Now that's a ridiculous criticism, I'd say 4 out of 5 Irish people do not pronounce the 'h' in three.

My name is Mud

Thats a fair enough point. I would beg to differ on your statistics though.

I do not think that 3.5m people in the Rep. of Ireland say Tree instead of Three. If that was the case, you would hear it on 80% of the time. Maybe im sheltered, but I dont hear it that much. Except on Sundays at about 6ish.

Plus, if you are working in an industry that requires you to be talking live on a public broadcast system, surely some elocution skills are the bare minimum requirements?

Im not trying to be harsh here, im just losing the will to listen to Phantomas much as I used to, because of so many little annoyances.

Sorry Phantom!

windowcleaner

Why oh why does every song now come topped and tailed with a "you're listening to Phantom" sting, either from the DJ or pre-record? We know it's Phantom - even fcking casual listeners know its Phantom. Ruins the flow of the music and makes it seem as if the whole station is pre-recored

Hold on....

It's not, is it?

gurramok

I'm a recent convert to Phnatom and found music i would of never heard on 'mainstream' stations that has grown on me to be fav songs.

I'd also concur about the too much talk stuff, I only get to listen to the station on way to work before 9 and after work around 5-7pm and its just the talk stuff tends to be around lunch hours i listen to and lasts over half hour.

I don't get opportunity to listen outside these hours daytime so unable to comment on material!

Anyway, I shouldn't have to wait a half hour for a song to be played, should i?

Some talk is ok for maybe 5-10min but it does tend to go overboard at Phantom when it does.
Top notch to the playlists though for playing new music, keep it up!

Quint

IT's nowhere near as good as the phantom of old. But it's a business, and listeners is the key. I'm sure they're getting loads of requests for more mainstream stuff. I used to listen to it a lot, but it's so repetative I can't! I hope The Rock gets a licence, I usually listen to that, but flick over when they play something dodgy. Which is every 3 songs. Then change back

Bluefoam

Quint wrote: »

But it's a business, and listeners is the key.

THey are licensed as a rock station, not Simon Cowell FM...

License should have gone to ZedFM

lordgoat

gurramok wrote: »

Top notch to the playlists though for playing new music, keep it up!

Very debatable, what's new for some is not new for others.

Donal Dineen > Phantom on his own for new material.

Plus the Rock has gotten it's licence apparently.

ixus

The constant talk on Phantom Daily really is grating. Listen To the station online during work regularly and driving to from work.

Daily gives me a headache. I really loathe conversations about what's on the Telly tonight or what was on last night. Please stop!

What's with that Richy lad ringing his Mum during the Saturday show? I just don't get it....

The repitition of the music can be annoying at times, but at least it's better than the mainstream.

I'm not sure about the Bob Dylan piece, it can be hit or miss with what he plays. Are we supposed to like it because it's Bob Dylans choice?

Acid Tongue

As well as agreeing with a lot of stuff mentioned here I miss Bedrock!

dave.omeara

A couple of very interesting comments flying around here.

I listen whenever I'm driving so that could be anytime of day. I tend to agree with the view on Pure Morning. Now I don't mind that there are two presenters on it, all I want is music. A bit of chat about the events of the day or the main stories, but mainly at 7 in the morning I want loud, quality music to set me up for a long day's work. If it's a slow news day the the Daily Pun Down can be painful.

Phantom Daily I enjoy though. Especially if they get a good subject for texting in. Finest WorkSongs and The Front Row are good, because they still focus on the music.

The new evening schedule I haven't really listened to much so I don't think it's fair to comment on. But why did you move Spiral Stares?

SlyRax

I've been thinking that phantom has got quite poo poo over the last few weeks. I though I was just being a stuck up music elitist . I'm always complaining when my girlfriends friends start to like bands I've been listening to that's when I know they're dead. They just become this same old same old dribble. I think kings of leon is the perfect example of great music dying. They must know that they are becoming pants. Or maybe they are blinded by the money. Filling stadiums versus making brilliant music, changing music and peoples lives. But hey, life goes on, another band steps up, makes brilliant music becomes popular, makes worse music, becomes more popular, befriend U2, make worse music.

Back to Phantom, they are everything above. I mean, do these DJs listen to the music they're playing when they are off air, at home??? Money and greed ruin everything. Was this station formed to play good music or to be the next FM 104. Please, please. please get Bob Dylan off the radio. I can guess, I'd say 4 out of 5 times what the next song is going to be in the morning. In fact they play boys don't cry when I am at the lights at newlands cross every morning.

Rant over, hopefully someone creates a new pirate station that was like the old phantom. Until then ipod in the car, last.fm in work.

JJ

I would agree with some points that the OP makes. When I listen to the radio in my car, I just like to hear some good rock music. What I mean by that is the kind of songs that make say, "great tune" and keep you going during a mundane drive. I'm not talking about sugary sweet pop music but just good rock the socks off your you-know-whats kinda rock music.

Sometimes Phantom provides this but other times, I just hear music made by pretentious musicians who are so far up their rear end, there's no hope that they'll ever see the light of day at any point in the near future.

I really enjoyed listening to The Rock (94.9) when they had a temporary license last year. They helped fill that gap that Phantom was lacking in the "great tune" (see above) department.

Also, I actually first heard the Ting Tings on Phantom, looked them up on the net, saw them at The Village, bought the album and listened to it over and over again so I'm grateful to Phantom for introducing me to them.

gurramok

I just heard a rap type hip hop song on Phantom at about 3:40pm, the bloody horror! :mad:

SlyRax

Don't know whether Phantom has just changed their play list but the songs this morning where actually bearable and I couldn't guess the next song every time. I mean I love The Cure but play me boys don't cry every morning at 8.50 and I'll go home and throw the CD in the bin. Kudos though, I complained about it when it was annoying me so I should give credit when it doesn't. the test is now, am I going to be hearing these same songs in the same order for the next 2 months?

Big Nasty

Have to agree that Phantom has gone down-hill of late. Very repetitive and as many users have said you can almost predict the songs sometimes, especially at peak 'drive-times'. In fact you are pretty much guaranteed to hear pretty much the same selection when you're driving home in the evening as that you listened to that morning. That said, at Phantom's worst, when you flick channel it's still the best out there. Listened to The Rock when it was on air, it's still available online by the way, pre-recorded or whatever. Great station but had some serious cheese going on too! When it comes back on-air I'll certainly be listening again. My perfect radio station would be a mix of good Phantom and good The Rock playlists - i.e: with all the pop and cheese extracted!

Both stations need to be made aware of the feedback on this thread!

30txsbzmcu2k9w

these guys have serious dislike for anything that goes beyond that generic spikey strokes-like guitar sound. I'm not talkin metal or anthing, just grunge and the likes. Most types of Alt rock are shunned. Which is funny because thats how they got listeners in the pirate days. Can't imagine them playing tool or AIC during the afternoon tbh. Don't bother with it anymore

MagicMarker

I used to listen to it to and from work. I always found whatever songs were playing on the way in were guaranteed to be playing on the way home. I just stick on the mp3 player now.

Quint

Phantom is supposed to be a rock station. I wonder why they don't throw in a few more classic rock songs? Not cheese (we'll soon have the rock back for that!) A few doors, led zeppelin, the who, rolling stones, beatles etc. I mean they still play the ting-tings!
I remember texting requests to Jenny Houston, she loved the old stuff!
I happen to hate the foo fighters, they seem to be phantoms favourite band. Every hour there's a foo fighters song.

biZrb

I've been listening to Phantom for a long time, about 9 years now. I understand that a station has to change when they become commercial for many reasons, but I feel what made Phantom special, distinctive and unique from other stations has been lost over the years.

I don't listen to the radio as much as I used to but I was listening on different days and at different times over the last two weeks and I was so disappointed by what i heard. I know a commercial radio station has A lists and B lists of songs that have to be played but its the songs that are in between them are so boring and generic that made me what to switch stations on more than one occasion.

Phantom used to be the best place to hear new music and bands I've never heard of and I didn't hear anything like that when I listened. I got annoyed when a DJ referred to Bat For Lashes as a band, I know its only a small thing and many an easy mistake but I expect better from an alternative/indie/rock radio station!

But there are things I like about Phantom, Bob Dylans Theme Time Radio is excellent, Jim O Carroll, The Album Archive, the guy on at 10 on a Saturday night and that documentary on tape cassettes etc.

I know what Phantom is capable of its just a shame that they're not doing it!

Adiaga 2

Yeah, agree with everything in the above post. To be fair it must be difficult for the guys running the station to do all the things you have to do as a commercial station and still maintain the values and ethos that Phantom started out with. It's dissapointing as a long time listener to see the change though. It's still the best thing on the radio here by a long way imo. Hopefully they will find a nice medium between the "commercial-ness" and "keepin it real"

lordgoat

Hmm, i've been listening to Phantom for quite a while.
Things i'd like to see come back - The two petes. That show was quality and very entertaining.

I understand that there must be concessions in order to make the station a success and it takes time to find the right balance.

The shows i enjoy most are The Album Archive. And Cathal Funge's show on a saturday morning. I'd gladly replace Jim Carrol with him had i the power. I find Jim Carol show very hit and miss and find he tries to cover all bases and play 'the next big thing too often' That said i do respect the fact that he plays music that he does actually listen to. And i'm sure he has a good audience so fair play on that aspect.

I like Derek Byrnes sat afternoon show (not sure if he as a regular slot) i just tuned in last week.

fitzcarraldo

Phantom could never be like it was for the simple reason that as a licensed radio station they can't do what they did as a pirate station, they have to have chat segments and breakfest shows etc to be competitive in the market and try and get people from the likes of Today FM and FM104

But in my opinion by doing this they fundementally changed what made them different and had me listening in the first place, the biggest of these is simply requests, old phantom had DJs playing the songs they likes and the songs the listeners requested, if a song was popular, more people requested, it created a loop of good music on air all the time. The request shows on a Sunday and Monday night were my favorite, and I believe that the current DJs are really handicapped by needing to play the latest ting tings etc. instead of preparing the music they feel the listeners want to hear.

Im not saying all of new phantom is bad, i'm studying down the country at the mo but when i'm home if find stadium rock on a saturday afternoon really good, but the breakfast shows have been a bust since the start (sorry, sinister pete is just not the force he used to be) and i think bringing back something like the two petes talk rubbish would give the station a bit more character.

I just feel they have been diluted to an extent of being very ordainary, and I say that as a previous fanatical listener, chat room regular and down with ZedFM/Niall Stokes advocate!

Mr. Frost

I still like it but it's been getting progressively worse for the last year or so. Some awfully crap music getting airtime - the Kaiser Chiefs?!

windowcleaner

Good to see people mention Cathal Funge - i have started working saturdays mornings and get to hear his show and think it is excellent. It is DJs like him and Pearl and Derek Byrne and Jim Carroll who make the station worth listening to - they really know their stuff

Just an aside - I hope the people in Phantom Towers are reading this and taking note. Be better than just trying to be hip and trendy and up with the kids with Twitter. Last time i looked, you couldn't Tweet a radio stream