The official Christmas FM thread

DvB

Oh man, it was so good to have Christmas FM on in the car on the drive to work this morning, dunno what was going on but the traffic was dreadful so it was great to have the festive cheer to keep me in good spirits.

TRS30

DvB wrote: »

Oh man, it was so good to have Christmas FM on in the car on the drive to work this morning, dunno what was going on but the traffic was dreadful so it was great to have the festive cheer to keep me in good spirits.

Was just thinking the same. First morning dropping the kids with it on, not too loud on the way so could hear them sing along and loud on the way back so I couldn't hear myself sing along

Declan A Walsh

Here are some more station lists!

The following past and present presenters on Christmas FM have also been presenters on 98FM.

Jim Kenny, rip - I think he was the station manager for Christmas FM as well (Also can be included in the Sunshine 106.8 and the superpirate Sunshine Radio lists!)

David Lyons

Ruth Scott

Lisa Gernon

Marty Miller

Karl Dawson

Chris Barry

Gareth O'Connor (can also be included in the national independent stations list)

Niall Boylan (can also be included in the Sunshine 106.8 list)

Pat Courtenay (AFAIK he was briefly with Christmas FM)

Mark Byrne


The following past and present presenters on Christmas FM have also been presenters on Wicklow's East Coast Radio/East Coast FM.

Lisa Gernon

Marty Miller

Gerry Healy

Roger Lane

Patricia Lane (can also be included in the RTE list)

Gareth O'Connor

Niall O'Keeffe (can also be included in the rock station Radio Nova list)

Enda Caldwell

Ryan O'Neill

Posy

Thanks Declan!

I heard the station's first playing of my favourite song, Stop the Cavalry, yesterday. Delighted with life.

Heroditas

DvB wrote: »

Oh man, it was so good to have Christmas FM on in the car on the drive to work this morning, dunno what was going on but the traffic was dreadful so it was great to have the festive cheer to keep me in good spirits.

A lot of people are back in work now or preparing for businesses reopenig tomorrow I'd imagine.

Nice to be working from home today and being able to have Christmas FM on without someone moaning about it

Declan A Walsh

Posy wrote: »

Thanks Declan!

I heard the station's first playing of my favourite song, Stop the Cavalry, yesterday. Delighted with life.

I forgot to include Mark Byrne in the 98FM list - now corrected!

Incidentally, Garvan Rigby, one of the Christmas FM principals, worked behind the scenes in sales on 98FM!

I forgot to include Ryan O'Neill in the East Coast FM list - now corrected!

bmorrissey

Tried tuning in this morning on the way to work, but it seems im in between signals on the radio, cannot get a decent signal either way.

L1011

Where are you, roughly?

All transmitters may not be on yet and there isn't nationwide coverage; albeit its a very high % of population coverage.

marno21

Keith Shanley had a link at 1:40 and the background bed was louder than his voice, and his link was completely unintelligible - then when he played the intro to Last Christmas it was even worse. Other than that the station is sounding absolutely fantastic.

Delighted to have my home area covered with a new relay on 87.7 this year. A good site near Mallow and a very clear frequency means coverage of North Cork, Limerick county, East Kerry and South West Tipp. It covers the M8 until Thurles where the Kilkenny relay kicks in. Fantastic addition.

Props to the engineers too on a fantastic sound from 87.7. Very loud and punchy which helps when the signal gets noisy. Very well synced with 106.7 and 105.0 too which helps with the switching in weaker signal areas.

Declan A Walsh

marno21 wrote: »

Keith Shanley had a link at 1:40 and the background bed was louder than his voice, and his link was completely unintelligible - then when he played the intro to Last Christmas it was even worse. Other than that the station is sounding absolutely fantastic.

Delighted to have my home area covered with a new relay on 87.7 this year. A good site near Mallow and a very clear frequency means coverage of North Cork, Limerick county, East Kerry and South West Tipp. It covers the M8 until Thurles where the Kilkenny relay kicks in. Fantastic addition.

Props to the engineers too on a fantastic sound from 87.7. Very loud and punchy which helps when the signal gets noisy. Very well synced with 106.7 and 105.0 too which helps with the switching in weaker signal areas.

What parts of Ireland are still unable to pick up the station on FM?

bmorrissey

Hmm, im in the mid/north tipp area and cant get much signal, maybe its just my radio so, its not exactly the most up to date car stereo system

ChewChew

So glad to have this station back

Can anyone help me though... How can I get the amazon Alexa to play the station, not the classic one?? I remember seeing a post about it but I can't find it now

mirrorwall14

ChewChew wrote: »

So glad to have this station back

Can anyone help me though... How can I get the amazon Alexa to play the station, not the classic one?? I remember seeing a post about it but I can't find it now

That was me, it was driving me nuts! Ask her for ‘Ireland’s Christmas fm’

radiotrickster

ChewChew wrote: »

So glad to have this station back

Can anyone help me though... How can I get the amazon Alexa to play the station, not the classic one?? I remember seeing a post about it but I can't find it now

Asking for Christmas FM North Pole works for me. The website says to ask Alexa to 'enable Christmas FM' and then say 'start Christmas FM,' but that still just gives me classical.

Loughc

ChewChew wrote: »

So glad to have this station back

Can anyone help me though... How can I get the amazon Alexa to play the station, not the classic one?? I remember seeing a post about it but I can't find it now

Saying “Start ChristmasFM” should work as well.

ChewChew

Loughc wrote: »

Saying “Start ChristmasFM” should work as well.

Thank you!! I knew I read it somewhere

Loughc

What blows my mind is ChristmasFM have live DJs start at 5am right up to 3am, that is serious dedication.

I think I'm going have to stick the headphones in at night and listen to the 10-12am slot to help me to drift off to sleep this week. It'll be like the old cruise to snooze days.

DvB

WFH today so ill be having Christmas FM as my background for the day now... gear!

Loughc

DvB wrote: »

WFH today so ill be having Christmas FM as my background for the day now... gear!

The legendary Ruth Scott is on the 10am - 1pm slot today, I think I'm going to tune in for those 3 hours then take a break from it until my walk tonight.

ChristmasFM on Friday was amazing, it really got me in the Christmas mood.

TRS30

Hit a nice set of songs this morning on the kid drop off. Really set me up for the day. Been humming away to myself since I got home

DvB

Loughc wrote: »

ChristmasFM on Friday was amazing, it really got me in the Christmas mood.

Bizarre, but I agree, as I had said last week I wasnt really feeling it yet, but the official launch over the weekend has helped massively shift my mood. Having the decorations up with it in the background has done the job nicely. Shame work is doing its best to mess it up mind!

SarahLil

I have an appointment early in the morning looking forward to the drive in listening to Christmas fm, I wonder will the hospital have it on

Posy

Good luck with it, SarahLil!

SarahLil

Posy wrote: »

Good luck with it, SarahLil!

Thank you x

DvB

SarahLil wrote: »

I have an appointment early in the morning looking forward to the drive in listening to Christmas fm, I wonder will the hospital have it on

Depending on the hospital they may have their own in house radio.
Best of luck btw!

marno21

bmorrissey wrote: »

Hmm, im in the mid/north tipp area and cant get much signal, maybe its just my radio so, its not exactly the most up to date car stereo system

If you are south of Nenagh terrain starts becoming an issue there blocking the Clare/Limerick frequencies.

Perhaps they may look at Keeper Hill for 2021 and it would let them get rid of their Limerick outlet and cover Limerick and Tipp (and indeed most of the midlands) from one site.

marno21

Declan A Walsh wrote: »

What parts of Ireland are still unable to pick up the station on FM?

In regional terms:

North/West Donegal
Mayo/parts of County Galway
Coastal Kerry/West Cork
Central and South Tipperary
West Waterford

are the main areas. If you are in a car, the signal is very well distributed this year. The main areas that would be next on the list are Mayo (Castlebar transmitter), South Tipp (Clonmel transmitter), West Waterford (Dungarvan transmitter) and West Cork (Nowen Hill). There are other areas with little/no coverage but don't have the population levels of the above

The issue would be towns and villages that have their own fill in where indoor and urban reception might be a challenge, however these areas all have quality broadband and most people these days may use Alexa/streaming rather than FM radios where reception is an issue.

One of the important things I noticed is that with the addition of 87.7 in North Cork, the N20 (Cork-Limerick) and M8 (Dublin-Cork) routes now have end to end coverage. In the context of Christmas travel, that's a massive plus.

Loughc

marno21 wrote: »

In regional terms:

North/West Donegal
Mayo/parts of County Galway
Coastal Kerry/West Cork
Central and South Tipperary
West Waterford

are the main areas. If you are in a car, the signal is very well distributed this year. The main areas that would be next on the list are Mayo (Castlebar transmitter), South Tipp (Clonmel transmitter), West Waterford (Dungarvan transmitter) and West Cork (Nowen Hill). There are other areas with little/no coverage but don't have the population levels of the above

The issue would be towns and villages that have their own fill in where indoor and urban reception might be a challenge, however these areas all have quality broadband and most people these days may use Alexa/streaming rather than FM radios where reception is an issue.

One of the important things I noticed is that with the addition of 87.7 in North Cork, the N20 (Cork-Limerick) and M8 (Dublin-Cork) routes now have end to end coverage. In the context of Christmas travel, that's a massive plus.

So what’s the best frequency to use for M8 if I’m coming from Dublin?

marno21

Loughc wrote: »

So what’s the best frequency to use for M8 if I’m coming from Dublin?

All new cars will switch automatically between frequencies as you travel from one area to another so pop 105.2 on and it will switch as you leave Dublin.

For the journey, it will switch to 88.1 as you approach Kildare county on the N7, then to 104.3 in South West Laois, 87.7 in mid Tipperary and 106.7 as you approach Cork City.

There may be other minor switches e.g. the 103.8 signal from the Carlow/Wexford border may be stronger in certain places or the 101.6 from Cairn Hill but the radio will do the work for you.

Loughc

marno21 wrote: »

All new cars will switch automatically between frequencies as you travel from one area to another so pop 105.2 on and it will switch as you leave Dublin.

For the journey, it will switch to 88.1 as you approach Kildare county on the N7, then to 104.3 in South West Laois, 87.7 in mid Tipperary and 106.7 as you approach Cork City.

There may be other minor switches e.g. the 103.8 signal from the Carlow/Wexford border may be stronger in certain places or the 101.6 from Cairn Hill but the radio will do the work for you.

I have a 191 car but it didn't auto-switch last year for me

marno21

Loughc wrote: »

I have a 191 car but it didn't auto-switch last year for me

I’ll pop you a PM there.

TRS30

Loughc wrote: »

I have a 191 car but it didn't auto-switch last year for me

But it is nice and shinny

Posy

Loughc with a thinly veiled "I have a fancy car" post.

TRS30

Posy wrote: »

Loughc with a thinly veiled "I have a fancy car" post.

I was trying to be more subtle in my dig! :pac:

Loughc

Posy wrote: »

Loughc with a thinly veiled "I have a fancy car" post.

Clearly not fancy if it can’t keep up with ChristmasFM frequencies :pac:

Declan A Walsh

When are Christmas FM giving out car stickers? It would be a good promotional tool.

Declan A Walsh

I have heard Walk Out to Winter by Aztec Camera a couple of times in my local supermarket over the last few days. That's a song that I have never heard played on Christmas FM. I would love to hear it as I think it's a really nice, but slightly different, Christmas oriented tune. Nothing cheesy about it anyway.

Lord Nelson

I gather this year the majority of presenters are doing their shows remotely hence the odd glitch. Ironically this has probably made it easier to broadcast almost 24/7. I'd imagine it's difficult at the best of times to get someone out of bed at 4.00am to drive in cold and rain to a studio for a 5.00am start? Now they just toddle into the spare bedroom five minutes before kick off! Will be interesting to see if this becomes the new norm, particularly for presenters who have to travel to and fro during what would be peak commuting hours?

Loughc

Lord Nelson wrote: »

I gather this year the majority of presenters are doing their shows remotely hence the odd glitch. Ironically this has probably made it easier to broadcast almost 24/7. I'd imagine it's difficult at the best of times to get someone out of bed at 4.00am to drive in cold and rain to a studio for a 5.00am start? Now they just toddle into the spare bedroom five minutes before kick off! Will be interesting to see if this becomes the new norm, particularly for presenters who have to travel to and fro during what would be peak commuting hours?

It certainly opens a world Of possibilities of who now can volunteer their time to do a remote slot for ChristmasFM.

TRS30

Loughc wrote: »

It certainly opens a world Of possibilities of who now can volunteer their time to do a remote slot for ChristmasFM.

I’ll nominate you and maybe Declan can put in a word, he seems to be in the know

DvB

TRS30 wrote: »

I’ll nominate you and maybe Declan can put in a word, he seems to be in the know

I second this motion.

Loughc

TRS30 wrote: »

I’ll nominate you and maybe Declan can put in a word, he seems to be in the know

I was thinking someone more mainstream haha

L1011

Generally anyone already working for a commercial broadcaster full-time is not going to be allowed by their employer to appear on a rival; charitable or not; so don't expect voicetracking to suddenly turn up big name broadcasters

It makes it a lot easier for a celeb who has never done broadcast work to knock out an hour or two, though.

Loughc

L1011 wrote: »

Generally anyone already working for a commercial broadcaster full-time is not going to be allowed by their employer to appear on a rival; charitable or not; so don't expect voicetracking to suddenly turn up big name broadcasters

It makes it a lot easier for a celeb who has never done broadcast work to knock out an hour or two, though.

Ruth Scott is on ChristmasFM and Radio Nova. So even some former mainstream DJs.

L1011

Ruth Scott is not fulltime with Nova; she's weekend part-time. Its not an option for full-time staff; never will be. It being for charity might be an out if it was a once-off but not when its an established decade long operation!

Loughc

L1011 wrote: »

Ruth Scott is not fulltime with Nova; she's weekend part-time. Its not an option for full-time staff; never will be. It being for charity might be an out if it was a once-off but not when its an established decade long operation!

Karl Dawson is full time on 98fm, 10pm-Midnights weekdays and 4-7pm Saturdays and he is doing the 5am breakfast show on ChristmasFM (which is serious commitment in itself!)

TRS30

I feel my knowledge of Irish FM radio is seriously lacking

Declan A Walsh

So far this year, I have heard a lot of presenters that I had not heard before (had seen their names on the website alright!). The ones who come to mind are: Aine O'Neill, Emily Brew, Lar Flynn, Alan Young and Mark Fennell. EDIT: I had already heard Craig McCormish but only because of a pirate relay of Spanish station Real FM!

I just had a look at "Our Team" on the website. There's a lot of names on it! I see Mark Manning has been added to it this time- he must be back on it this year.

radiotrickster

Declan A Walsh wrote: »

So far this year, I have heard a lot of presenters that I had not heard before (had seen their names on the website alright!). The ones who come to mind are: Aine O'Neill, Emily Brew, Lar Flynn, Alan Young and Mark Fennell. EDIT: I had already heard Craig McCormish but only because of a pirate relay of Spanish station Real FM!

Some of them were on the halloween station this year too I think!

Edit: I wonder if they trained people up on the halloween station and it was easier to keep the same people on the Christmas one?

Jude13

The amount of times I have heard Christmas Shoes, who the hell in requesting that thing.