4FM

thejuggler

Test transmissions on air now - roughly an hour of looped music with voice overs in between.

barnicles

94.8 Strong, music, no RDS
97.4 Strong,silence,TP,RDS

brettmirl

More on the 4FM Schedule. It's going to include Damien Kiberd, Jimmy Greeley and Derek Davis!!!!

barnicles

Fyi, if your listening to 94.8 in some areas and use RDS it will revert to 97.4 which broadcasts silence.

barnicles

95.4 just came on the air for me.
As predicted, it wires out live95

vince

94.8 from cork heard around bandon today but nothing from noween hill on 95.4 yet

barnicles

I got 95.4 near Knocknagree with RDS

Elmo

4FM sells itself as Ireland's version of BBC Radio 2

Radio boss still upbeat about launch of 4FM

Big Tone

Seems to me their main programmes are made up a lot of old ex-RTE heads.

barnicles

Latest reception reports:
94.8 - Broadcasting music
95.4 - Nothing, although other Nowen Hill stations are fine.
97.4 - Nothing at all, had RDS yesterday

Liam Byrne

Not a peep out of 104.2FM.....

barnicles

In Limerick?

Was that RLO before?

DMC

Listened on 94.6... (Naas?) in North county Meath for the first time...

Immediately presented by Billy Joel's magnum opus, "Scenes From An Italian Restaurant", and for that alone, if that is part of the bill of fayre, I think I have another preset to add!

obrienmichael

picking it up loud and clear here in north tipp on 104.6 with rds reading 4fm. :eek:

barnicles

obrienmichael wrote: »

picking it up loud and clear here in north tipp on 104.6 with rds reading 4fm. :eek:

Actually it's 4FM :P

Elmo

barnicles wrote: »

Actually it's 4FM :P

The logo is in lower case if that makes a difference.

I like their logo.

barnicles

The RDS reads ____4FM_.

Leaderbored

Some stations do use different RDS formatting to signify different transmission areas, (KFM and kfm being one example I know of) but I don't know whether 4fm are doing this or not.

Liam Byrne

Yup, have the 104.6 now - still nothing in the proposed Limerick City & County freq though.....maybe they're sorting out each tx along the chain before linking the next one using reception from that ?

Edit : Bit of a "brit" drawl on the "Test traWNsmission" V/O.....sounds a bit like the habit a certain now-AWOL radio-head round these parts used to have .....hopefully just an "it'll do for the mo" minor issue.....

Looking forward to it, though - been a LONGGGGG time since we've had a listenable, worthwhle addition to the airwaves around these parts!

More Music

Leaderbored wrote: »

Some stations do use different RDS formatting to signify different transmission areas, (KFM and kfm being one example I know of) but I don't know whether 4fm are doing this or not.

That's ok if you only have 2 transmitters, it's going to be either 4fm or 4FM.

Doesn't really work if you have 14 or 15 transmitters. How many variations of 4FM are there? How would you remember which version reresented which transmitter?

104.6 RDS is 4FM. I checked on tuner that can display upper and lower case.

Elmo

More Music wrote: »

That's ok if you only have 2 transmitters, it's going to be either 4fm or 4FM.

Doesn't really work if you have 14 or 15 transmitters. How many variations of 4FM are there? How would you remember which version reresented which transmitter?

104.6 RDS is 4FM. I checked on tuner that can display upper and lower case.

Will they have advertising and news opt-outs for each city. Hence you could have 4FM Cork.

More Music

Elmo wrote: »

Will they have advertising and news opt-outs for each city. Hence you could have 4FM Cork.

I suppose that's entirely possible, but I cannot see them creating confusion with the brand and using "4FM Lim" or "4FMClare" on the RDS.

Are they allowed advertising splits? Didn't think the BCI allowed that.

Elmo

More Music wrote: »

Are they allowed advertising splits? Didn't think the BCI allowed that.

What is the point of a multi-city Radio channel if they can't have advertising splits? but then this is the BCI I am talking about

More Music

Elmo wrote: »

What is the point of a multi-city Radio channel if they can't have advertising splits? but then this is the BCI I am talking about

Hey Elmo,

The main reason for the multi city approach is to cover as much of the population as cheaply as possible. In other words, serve the highest number of people with as few transmitters as possible. Don't forget 1 transmitter in Dublin serves over 1 million people. 7 transmitters in Donegal will probably serve 90,000.

The BCI don't allow split advertising for any of the regional stations. So a clothes shop in Portlaoise putting an ad in Spin SW is a waste. Somebody from Clare or Kerry isn't going to Portlaoise for a pair of socks! That's a good reason to allow split advertising, but Spin SW knew that when applying for the license.

I think it's the exact same for 4FM.

Elmo

More Music wrote: »

Hey Elmo,

The main reason for the multi city approach is to cover as much of the population as cheaply as possible. In other words, serve the highest number of people with as few transmitters as possible. Don't forget 1 transmitter in Dublin serves over 1 million people. 7 transmitters in Donegal will probably serve 90,000.

The BCI don't allow split advertising for any of the regional stations. So a clothes shop in Portlaoise putting an ad in Spin SW is a waste. Somebody from Clare or Kerry isn't going to Portlaoise for a pair of socks! That's a good reason to allow split advertising, but Spin SW knew that when applying for the license.

I think it's the exact same for 4FM.

IMO the reason for the BCI is to regulate radio stations so that they provide services both to the listeners and the advertisers. Surely if they have news opt-outs then they should have ad opt-outs. Sorry off the topic again.

Leaderbored

More Music wrote: »

That's ok if you only have 2 transmitters, it's going to be either 4fm or 4FM.

Doesn't really work if you have 14 or 15 transmitters. How many variations of 4FM are there? How would you remember which version reresented which transmitter?

Bearing in mind that there are a number of spaces on the RDS display, there are potentially hundreds of variations of upper & lower case versions, using all of the allocated spaces.

(4FM_____ ; _____4FM ; __4_FM__ ; 4fm_____ .etc)

Whether or not the listener can remember what each variation means is irrelevant, as slight case & positional differentiation are generally used by technical staff for identification purposes, and are not strictly for the casual listeners benefit.

More Music

Leaderbored wrote: »

Bearing in mind that there are a number of spaces on the RDS display, there are potentially hundreds of variations of upper & lower case versions, using all of the allocated spaces.

(4FM_____ ; _____4FM ; __4_FM__ ; 4fm_____ .etc)

Whether or not the listener can remember what each variation means is irrelevant, as slight case & positional differentiation are generally used by technical staff for identification purposes, and are not strictly for the casual listeners benefit.

RDS PS display is limited to 8 characters.

I'm not talking about the listener either. I know they don't care if it's 4fm or 4FM.

What I meant earlier was how is any engineer going to remember the assignments. Take Cork, there are 7 transmitters to cover that area, plus any spill over from nearby areas. How is the engineer going to remember if "4FM" on the RDS relates to 94.8, 95.2, 95.4, 97.2 97.4 or spill over from Limerick on 104.2.

It's alot easier if there are only 2 transmitters, 95.4 is "4FM" and 95.2 is "4fm".

In any event, I just press display on my radio and it displays the RDS and frequency on the same screen. So it's easy, and because of that I don't need to have different RDS displays on my transmitters.

Leaderbored

More Music wrote: »

RDS PS display is limited to 8 characters.

I understand that. That is why I used 8 characters in my examples typed above to show that although there are perhaps a dozen or more easily memorable sequences that are immediately obvious, hundreds of variations on the format are possible.

More Music wrote: »

I'm not talking about the listener either. I know they don't care if it's 4fm or 4FM.

What I meant earlier was how is any engineer going to remember the assignments.

If an engineer cant remember a sequence of 8 characters, perhaps he shouldn't be an engineer. Should he be forgetful, he could always write them down, I suppose, and hope nobody finds out his dark secret.

Anyway, my initial point was not that variation was possible (we know that as radio stations around the country already do it) but that we so far don't know whether 4FM are using this system or not, so speculation on the impossibilities of it in any particular area are futile until we know.

Fuzzy Clam

The only reason I can think of to use a different character display would be to indicate a possible fault. For instance, if a backup transmitter or link kicks in, it may display lower case. I know the BBC use something along those lines.

More Music

It's easy to remember a sequence of 8 characters, but I think you're missing my point. The problem is remembering which sequence of dashes and upper or lower case letters represents which of the 15 transmitters.

If he's driving along and sees "--4Fm---" on the display how is he going to remember off hand which of the 15 transmitters that relates to. Is it 97.2 or 97.4 or maybe 95.4. Of course he can write them down, then he has to stop and pull out the file and check. If you have only 2 transmitters you don't have much scope for confusion.

The reason for KFM and kfm was I suspect because the engineers didn't have the facility to check the frequency on their Land Rover radios. So when driving to fix a transmission problem they could diagnose it based on the RDS display. That's grand with 2 transmitters, but completely useless of you have a big network like Newstalk or 4FM.

Leaderbored

More Music wrote: »

It's easy to remember a sequence of 8 characters, but I think you're missing my point. The problem is remembering which sequence of dashes and upper or lower case letters represents which of the 15 transmitters.

With respect, I'm not missing your point, I'm just not agreeing with it. The scenario you're suggesting wouldn't be that much of a burden when you consider what the job entails. Honestly.

More Music

Leaderbored wrote: »

With respect, I'm not missing your point, I'm just not agreeing with it. The scenario you're suggesting wouldn't be that much of a burden when you consider what the job entails. Honestly.

You are correct, it's not a burden. I've engineered enough radio stations to know.

It's just of no benefit with a large network, it's much easier to hit the display button on the radio and show the frequency or lack of. Look at Radio 1, 2fm or Newstalk, they all have consistant PS displays. The only stations that have a different PS are some of the local ones that TBC are contracted to.

Anyway, 4FM are not going to have different PS displays so it doesn't matter.

LordSutch

Had a quick listen in the car earlier today over twenty mins, & it just sounds like another 80s station to me.

Little river band > Phil Collins > Joan Armatrading > Bagatelle > Dexys > Haircut 100 . . . . :rolleyes:

WHATS THE POINT ???

Elmo

Camelot wrote: »

Had a quick listen in the car earlier today over twenty mins, & it just sounds like another 80s station to me.

Little river band > Phil Collins > Joan Armatrading > Bagatelle > Dexys > Haircut 100 . . . . :rolleyes:

WHATS THE POINT ???

It is only currently testing. Teenagers of the 1980s are over 45s, sorry!

But As I said it is time for the BCI to take better care of their licence channels given the chance 4fm will become Radio1980 rather then Radio 1950 - 1990.

I think we should reserve judgement until it launches.

Leaderbored

Camelot wrote: »

Had a quick listen in the car earlier today over twenty mins, & it just sounds like another 80s station to me.

Little river band > Phil Collins > Joan Armatrading > Bagatelle > Dexys > Haircut 100 . . . . :rolleyes:

WHATS THE POINT ???

Different tunes for different days in the test period.

Tuesday was a pleasant if elderly selection from The Beatles, Bobby Darin, Doris Day, Stevie Wonder etc. Wednesday gave us Barry White, for the few minutes I was listening.

I wouldn't judge the entire station content on one 20 minute segment of one hour of one day before broadcasting properly begins.

Liam Byrne

Elmo wrote: »

Teenagers of the 1980s are over 45s, sorry!

Just BARELY!!! i.e. if you were 17 in 1980.....

I was a teenager for most of the 80's and I'm not even 40 yet

vince

95.4 from noween hill on today i like the music so far tunes i havent heard for a while lets hope they keep the talk to a minimum but that will be hard whit the stupid talk rule. they should allow these stations abreak from that rule.

bbability

Well the line up is complete and as we can see it was done through the fair a square format of being a friend of a friend in radio... what a line up... Gareth O Copy Cat starting off the day is enough for me but it will give some of those local stations out in limbo a good run for their money. For me its another version of Lite Fm with mutil city license. As for the presenters, its nothing personal but there was no way joe bloggs was going to get a job on bore fm with that line up of buddies.

Liam Byrne

104.2 is now on-air......not sure how much it's needed, since 104.6 is pretty strong all over the city, but hey, no complaints here.....

Roll on launch day.....

Fuzzy Clam

bbability wrote: »

Well the line up is complete and as we can see it was done through the fair a square format of being a friend of a friend in radio... what a line up... Gareth O Copy Cat starting off the day is enough for me but it will give some of those local stations out in limbo a good run for their money. For me its another version of Lite Fm with mutil city license. As for the presenters, its nothing personal but there was no way joe bloggs was going to get a job on bore fm with that line up of buddies.

Well almost complete. A few gaps regards the presenters of some of the specialist shows. Kieran Phillips on saturday? Haven't heard him in a while...
Not goin' to call it yet, but nothing impressive from what I've seen. I suppose with Martin Block at the helm, its always going to be safe and boring. A lost chance maybe:(

MaltEagle

Am really excited about launch on Friday Been listening to the test transmissions too

Elmo

Breakfast on 4 with Gareth O’Callaghan: 06.00 - 09.00
A programme mix of timeless music and comprehensive news, information and comment to start the day.
Greeley on 4: 09.00 - 12.00
The best music variety, morning entertainment, conversation and guests. Features will include Your Say on 4, also, 4 of the Best, plus, songs from 4FM's Album of the Week and the Record of the Week.
Kiberd on 4: 12.00 - 14.00
A topical phone-in show featuring people in the news.
McColl on 4: 14.00 - 17.00
A music intensive show with celebrity chat. Features include Non-Stop Oldies, one hour of music from the 60’s and 70’s at 3 o’clock every afternoon along with 4FM’s featured Irish Artist and The 4 Word of the Day.
McGurk on 4: 17.00 - 19.00
A fast paced music and current affairs show that sums up the day.
Soundtrack on 4 with Gerry Stevens: 19.00 - 21.00
A regular two hour music show featuring the sounds of the sixties and seventies.

mike65

12 mins to go. Well the site says so but its all a bit low key....

edit - oops
http://www.4fm.ie/index.asp

vince

well its started whit war of the worlds

mike65

You'd have thought they could have had the webstream running by now.

Liam Byrne

Great selection of music since midnight......hope that keeps up!!

LordSutch

Hmm, having a listen on & off, not sure yet :cool:

Nothing I've heard so far sets 4FM apart from any other Irish radio station . . .

Jury's still out.

dedon

As long as they dont insist on playing Beyonce (all the single ladies) and Lady Gaga, I will be happy.

Declan A Walsh

It is interesting looking at the background of the staff.

RTE dominates: Gareth O'Callaghan(Millennium Radio and 2FM),
Jimmy Greeley(RTE Television, Radio1, 2FM, Millennium Radio and possibly FM3), Brian McColl(Millennium Radio and 2FM as Nails Mahoney), Gerry Stevens(2FM), Derek Davis (RTE TV and Radio 1), Tom MuGuirk(ditto), Marian Farrell(Radio 1, I understand), Michael Comyn(Lyric FM), David Harvey(RTE Television), David Heffernan(ditto) and Mark Byrne(Millennium Radio).

There is a bit of a Lite FM/Q102 connection as one might expect: Martin Block, Al Dunne, Michael Comyn and Mark Byrne.

98FM is represented quite well: Head of Music Jim Kenny (as far as I know), Jimmy Greeley, Brian McColl, Gerry Stevens and Mark Byrne.

There is also the Capital Radio/Rock 104/FM104 connection: Martin Block, Gerry Stevens, newsreader Cathy Cregan and Mark Byrne.

Superpirates experience: Gareth(Radio Nova, Energy103 and Q102), Gerry(Q102), Dave Harvey(Radio Nova and Kiss FM), Owen Larkin(Kiss FM 103.7, Monaghan Town), Brian, aka Nails Mahoney,(Sunshine Radio), Jim Kenny (ditto) and Mark Byrne (ditto).

Radio Ireland/Today FM: Newsreader Bernie Jamieson, Brian (brief periods), Karl Tsigdonos, John Troy and ehm Mark Byrne (what, again?!).

There is a smaller Atlantic 252 connection: Al Dunne, Nails Mahoney (Brian McColl, again!) and, last but not least, Mark Byrne (no surprises there!).

As well as that, between them, various non-Dublin local stations around the country are represented- Galway Bay FM, CKR, South East Radio and LMFM.

Century Radio ... let's see: Owen Larkin, David Harvey and, oh yes!, Mark Byrne.

There is the Dublin Country connection: David Harvey, Noel McCaul and Michael Comyn (in some capacity - presenter or contributor).

One link that people wondered about was would there be any temporary licence people here. Here is what I found: Bernie Jamieson(Choice FM and Premier FM as a deejay), Mark Byrne (yes! - Hot Country), John Troy (I think - Choice FM), Chris Maher (Xmas FM?) and, the man who seems to have benefited most from these, Jim Kenny (Premier FM, Choice FM, Hot Country and Xmas FM).

Anyone know the previous experience of the following people mentioned on 4FM's schedule:
Marian Farrell, Kieran Phillips, Chris Maher and Allen Smith?

mike65

Waifs and Strays FM