Does our local radio station annoy the hell out of anyone else?

Limerick_Lass

Liam Byrne wrote: »

Would that have any bearing on whether or not anything I've posted makes sense ?

No sorry it doest have any bearing on what you have said, apart from making sense why you are so interested in the types of music ect.

Its just a light hearted thread on all the annoying cringe worthy features of our local station in Limerick

Liam Byrne

Limerick_Lass wrote: »

No sorry it doest have any bearing on what you have said, apart from making sense why you are so interested in the types of music ect.

Its just a light hearted thread on all the annoying cringe worthy features of our local station in Limerick

No "sorry" required.....

And you don't have to be involved in radio to be interested in types of music, etc, or to acknowledge that different people have very different tastes.

I was just giving my two cent - neither excusing/supporting nor slagging off Live 95.......the same issues would apply to most stations across the country, and as I pointed out, even the assessment of Red FM was limited because it reflected a personal preference by the poster who proceeded to dismiss C&I

Personally, I'd love to hear more new Irish acts, more American country, more rock, etc, more (less-mainstream) 70s & 80s, even more of the better "pop" acts like maybe Eliza Doolittle, etc, but the fact is that one station can't possibly simultaneously cover those while also looking after my aunt & uncle who want Foster & Allen or DarkJager who wants to listen to trance.

It just isn't possible.

So - light-hearted discussion as it might well be - it doesn't have to be slagging off the perceived "cringe worthy" aspects; start suggesting what you WOULD like, and if enough posters form a consensus, you never know.

bystarlight

After reading through the 3 and a half pages of this thread it's obvious that most people here do not like Live 95fm, with some good arguments for and against.

I don't like pop music (or C&I), but even if I did I couldn't listen to Live 95fm cos they seem to keep repeating the same small playlist. I prefer rock music, but there's no way I'd listen to a station playing the same 30 rock songs over and over again. No thanks.

So, while I understand it's impossible to cater for everyone's tastes, I don't think it's right to peddle the same lowest common denominator music to their target audience. The reason for this is because a lot of us who don't like the station are subjected to it by our employers (for god knows what reason).

Also, whatever about the music, the DJs are pretty annoying. The word "cringe" comes to mind. Same goes for the jingles.

All that said...Alan Jacques is the exception. His show seems to be there to give upcoming local and national musicians a chance to be heard. They can't rely on pirate stations anymore cos most of them have been shut down. So kudos to Alan Jacques and keep up the good work!

Constructive criticism:
- Mix up the playlist...even if they kept the same genre, add a few new songs from that genre to keep it fresh
- Add some Irish bands to regular rotation (not just U2, Paddy Casey and The Corrs)
- Don't hire annoying DJs
- Throw away all the jingles and buy more

Liam Byrne

bystarlight wrote: »

All that said...Alan Jacques is the exception. His show seems to be there to give upcoming local and national musicians a chance to be heard. They can't rely on pirate stations anymore cos most of them have been shut down. So kudos to Alan Jacques and keep up the good work!

+1 Some other stations do / used to have similar shows It's great that Live 95 still have theirs!

It would also be cool if they spread each week's "top 3" across the whole schedule, though....or even a "track of the week".

irishproduce

If its just music you are after, create your own - www.last.fm
I pay them €3 a month and they help me find songs I never knew existed and if I want, I can stick to what I know and just let it play that stuff

For chat and a bit of news, you can't really beat newstalk
Irish

Vanolder

bystarlight wrote: »

After reading through the 3 and a half pages of this thread it's obvious that most people here do not like Live 95fm, with some good arguments for and against.

I don't like pop music (or C&I), but even if I did I couldn't listen to Live 95fm cos they seem to keep repeating the same small playlist. I prefer rock music, but there's no way I'd listen to a station playing the same 30 rock songs over and over again. No thanks.

So, while I understand it's impossible to cater for everyone's tastes, I don't think it's right to peddle the same lowest common denominator music to their target audience. The reason for this is because a lot of us who don't like the station are subjected to it by our employers (for god knows what reason).

Also, whatever about the music, the DJs are pretty annoying. The word "cringe" comes to mind. Same goes for the jingles.

All that said...Alan Jacques is the exception. His show seems to be there to give upcoming local and national musicians a chance to be heard. They can't rely on pirate stations anymore cos most of them have been shut down. So kudos to Alan Jacques and keep up the good work!

Constructive criticism:
- Mix up the playlist...even if they kept the same genre, add a few new songs from that genre to keep it fresh
- Add some Irish bands to regular rotation (not just U2, Paddy Casey and The Corrs)
- Don't hire annoying DJs
- Throw away all the jingles and buy more

I think they could keep most of the current format.. but introduce categories on an hourly/ certain day basis.

e.g
Indie/rock/ alternative tues + thurs 8-9.30
Dance/ hip hop friday 10-12
Best of Irish old/new Sunday 8-9

I understand the limitations and restrictions of a local station but 4/5 new slots like the above presented by stronger presenters would alter the image of the station immensely without interrupting its general format too much (This also needs to change in how its presented however)

As has been mentioned, they release these absurd figures about their listenership every year yet I fail to see where they get these figures from. Most people I know who listen to it would be 40 plus and have no interest in music as such, its just on in the background while working/ driving etc

JerryHandbag

This station play the kind of songs that annoyed you 10 years ago, that every other station has long since deleted from their playlist. Was in a chipper the other day and heard them playing a Dido song from, oh jaysus I dunno, some time in the last century.

To borrow a quote from the great Mel Gibson rant, Live 95fm "doesnt have a soul, and needs a ****ing brain transplant"

Liam Byrne

JerryHandbag wrote: »

Was in a chipper the other day and heard them playing a Dido song from, oh jaysus I dunno, some time in the last century.

Could actually be true, considering that Dido's first release was in 1999......that song from "some time in the last century" would be what, a whole 11 years old ?

Then again, if it was from her "White Flag" album, it's from this century (released in 2003).

grenache

DarkJager wrote: »

RedFM in Cork do a fine job of catering to all tastes

You're taking the piSs right? Red FM play the same songs every hour, i work in Cork two days a week and my boss forces us to listen to it. You can be sure to hear Florence and the Machine nine times a day. That female voiceover drives me insane as do their highly annoying DJs with that annoying sort of Cork City twang. Red FM also dont seem to know that pop music actually existed before the 21st century, since all their playlists are exclusively from 2000 and onwards. I didn't think it was possible to find a station as bad or worse than 95fm but Red FM ticks all boxes.

We really have it bad in the Mid West when it comes to local radio. Spin and their transition year djs playing Rihanna round the clock for their 15 year old listeners. As for Dive 95, there's been a couple of threads in the last few years about how bad this station is.....we have to have it on in my Limerick work place and my god it is a special case. West Limerick 102 puts it to shame, and its only a community based mainly volunteer radio station! Everything about 95fm is wrong, wrong, wrong! - Copues and his pathetic attempts at humour. JP Dillon sounds like a part-time karaoke dj. Then there's that dinosaur Len Dineen, who style is remeniss of an auld lad talking ****e down the pub rather than a sports presenter, and always finds time to talk about rugby - even when there's no rugby games on! :rolleyes: Dont even get me started on the set-playlist or those irritants in the morning - its really lowest common denominator stuff.

grenache

Berty wrote: »

Was Red FM not previously owned by UTV PLC which Live 95fm still is owned by?

Not sure about RED, but i do know that 96fm used to be owned by UTV.

* And Liam, 96fm doesn't cover any live sport (it does give sport updates in every news bulletin) but its sister station 103fm covers lots of live matches. And that can be picked up anywhere in Cork and in most places in Limerick.

panda100

JerryHandbag wrote: »

This station play the kind of songs that annoyed you 10 years ago, that every other station has long since deleted from their playlist. Was in a chipper the other day and heard them playing a Dido song from, oh jaysus I dunno, some time in the last century.

To borrow a quote from the great Mel Gibson rant, Live 95fm "doesnt have a soul, and needs a ****ing brain transplant"

Haha,yeah they love their Dido on Live 95fm,always playing her.

grenache wrote: »

We really have it bad in the Mid West when it comes to local radio. Spin and their transition year djs playing Rihanna round the clock for their 15 year old listeners. As for Dive 95, there's been a couple of threads in the last few years about how bad this station is.....we have to have it on in my Limerick work place and my god it is a special case. West Limerick 102 puts it to shame, and its only a community based mainly volunteer radio station! Everything about 95fm is wrong, wrong, wrong! - Copues and his pathetic attempts at humour. JP Dillon sounds like a part-time karaoke dj. Then there's that dinosaur Len Dineen, who style is remeniss of an auld lad talking ****e down the pub rather than a sports presenter, and always finds time to talk about rugby - even when there's no rugby games on! :rolleyes: Dont even get me started on the set-playlist or those irritants in the morning - its really lowest common denominator stuff.

West Limerick is really where its at. They have a whole mix of shows to suit everyones taste.
Their sports coverage is great.They talk about a whole range of sports and not just Munster rugby.
News bulletins are nice and short,don't drag on with financial news and death notices.
They play decent music,mostly top 40 songs, when you want to listen to them on your way home and to work.
They have specialised shows for those interested in metal,dance or whatever.
In the evening time they have Irish and evening listening which caters for me mum and dad.

It really does put Live 95 to shame.

JerryHandbag

Liam Byrne wrote: »

Could actually be true, considering that Dido's first release was in 1999......that song from "some time in the last century" would be what, a whole 11 years old ?

Then again, if it was from her "White Flag" album, it's from this century (released in 2003).

Dunno, I'm not a fan. I was being sarcastic, forgot my rolleyes smiley! My point is that its a song you just dont hear on the radio anymore. A one hit wonder from a decade ago (or thereabouts). Yet Live95 keep flogging it like a dead horse, as if it was Queens Bohemian Rhapsody or something. Its like their playlist is the personal preference of one person at the station, and it seems to be repeated ad nauseum.

But then my taste would be alternative/indie so its unlikely ANY radio station would please me!

JerryHandbag

panda100 wrote: »

It really does put Live 95 to shame.

And its all voluntary isnt it? Nobody earns anything, or has that changed. Really says a lot if so.

AnCapaillMor

Was listening to it last night while cooking. I swear i listened to the same playlist on atlantic fm when i was working in a chinese in 97.

Liam Byrne

JerryHandbag wrote: »

My point is that its a song you just dont hear on the radio anymore.

Obviously not the case!

JerryHandbag wrote: »

And its all voluntary isnt it? Nobody earns anything, or has that changed. Really says a lot if so.

It probably does. Without the need to pay wages via adverts they can afford to experiment more and don't have to worry about how many people are actually listening at any time in order to satisfy advertisers and pay said wages.

Look, I'm just adding the realities to the discussion.....I'm not coming down on any side or excusing or recommending any particular approach. I'd love if there was more of a mix of music on-air, or if stations were a little more experimental in what they play.

grenache wrote: »

]And Liam, 96fm doesn't cover any live sport (it does give sport updates in every news bulletin) but its sister station 103fm covers lots of live matches.

That's not particularly relevant. 96fm and 103fm might be related, but they are separate stations with separate schedules (for most of the day) and can offer 2 programmes simultaneously. Originally County Sound was for the north and west of the county only, and 96fm for the city and south of the county, and the overlaps were minimal.

So unless 95fm are given the option of providing a sister station (thereby going some way towards what I said earlier about having 2 stations in Limerick) it's not a fair comparison.

When Heart bid for the licence in Limerick, I would have loved to see the BCI say "OK, let's leave Live95 do their thing, and let's licence the second station that was originally planned in 1988". Unfortunately they didn't.

JerryHandbag

Liam Byrne wrote: »

Obviously not the case!

Very true, Dido must be a member of the board or something

Aidric wrote: »

Ha, what's Gerry up to these days? His internet cafe on William St is gone as well.

Anyone know what this character is at these days? Useda love listening to his late nite show, so much so I took my username from someone ringing in abusing him one night Although in fairness that happened nearly every night. His show was "entertaining" for want of a better word.

Thought I saw him on William St one day and he looked like he lost about 10 stone weight :eek:

omen80

Yip, Limericks live 95fm has to be the most annoying radio station. It's just pure fluff for people with an IQ of less than 50.

Liam Byrne

JerryHandbag wrote: »

Anyone know what this character is at these days? Useda love listening to his late nite show, so much so I took my username from someone ringing in abusing him one night Although in fairness that happened nearly every night. His show was "entertaining" for want of a better word.

OK, we definitely wouldn't listen to the same radio stations, so! That show was absolute airwave pollution. I mightn't listen to Live 95's breakfast show, but given the choice between that and Hannan, there'd be absolutely no contest.

JerryHandbag

Liam Byrne wrote: »

OK, we definitely wouldn't listen to the same radio stations, so! That show was absolute airwave pollution. I mightn't listen to Live 95's breakfast show, but given the choice between that and Hannan, there'd be absolutely no contest.

I didnt really listen to RLO, just his show. Even though it was directed at an older audience, I know a lot of people around my age who would tune in just to see what madness would happen. I realise he wasnt everyones cup of tea, to say the least.

I have a good friend who worked there for a while and she told me all the gossip about the way he operated. Sure God loves a tryer.

Blazer

Refuse to listen to 95fm..it's like listening to scumbags talking shíte

billy the squid

My main bugbears about 95FM are

The way they rehash news from earlier in the week for their weekend news bulletins

The Garda File rseeks help solving crimes that happened weeks previously

The repetitiveness of the playlist

Limerick Today show most of it is about stuff that would be found on a national station. it should be about local issues.

the way specialist shows are put at obscure times . Irish language shows are at Oh My God o clock on a sunday morning.

Declan Copues show has the same old jokes over and over and over .

Spin southwest isnt much better with their Five word weather, and their Minister for Planes, Trains and Automobiles. how stupid do they think young people are?

Millie

I never listen to 95FM and if by chance I accidently tune in in the car in the morning and hear Catriona and the English guy rabbiting on I will near crash the car in the rush to change stations.
It's woeful stuff.....

Aidric

JerryHandbag wrote: »

I didnt really listen to RLO, just his show. Even though it was directed at an older audience, I know a lot of people around my age who would tune in just to see what madness would happen. I realise he wasnt everyones cup of tea, to say the least.

I have a good friend who worked there for a while and she told me all the gossip about the way he operated. Sure God loves a tryer.

It was a good laugh alright. Some of the calls were comedy gold. Suffered from prank call a lot mind you.

RikkFlair

Terrible station...tonite I'm gonna send in a request for Lou Reeds "Metal Machine Music" just to see if they'll play it.

"I'm sorry sir we dont seem to have that on our playlist....Would you like Cotton Eyed Joe instead?"

:rolleyes:

Liam Byrne

Aidric wrote: »

Some of the calls were comedy gold.

Guess this is off-topic, given that it's not related to Live 95, but I did have the misfortune to hear this one night, and the guy who supposedly rang in said "Thanks Gerry; thanks for the call"

If you're gonna stage phone calls to pretend that you're popular, you'd better make damn sure that the person you call is in on the scam!

Daisy Steiner

Can't listen to 95 fm, If I absolutely HAVE to (as in, if there's a 7 mile tail-back) I'll tune in to get the traffic update.

I was one of the thousands of people who used to work in Dell, bastards had 95fm on 24/7.


I can still remember the sense of fear and loneliness at 5am in there, listening to a repeat of the day show, two and a half more hours until knocking off and making the dangerous drive home fighting to stay awake

Also that 'bit' they do in the morning? With the children going: markandcaitríonaonthebreakfast shhhoooooooooooooooooooooooooowwwwwww


Guaranteed to boil the blood :mad:

I remember getting the whole spur to join in and start roaring along with the game . . . gave the 'middle-management' types a bit of a fright.

LucyLouLou

I was flicking thru the radio the other day and on 95fm there was a "garda" doing a crime report kind of thing, anyway crimes included the theft of 2 stop signs, someone throwing a barrel thru a window and the theft of 3 wooden fences, I had to keep listening, It was like a sketch from D'unbelievables, he then went on to tell of a lady who had her purse stolen in mass and remarked how the thief was "up grand and early" as it was 10am mass! It's no wonder people don't listen with that kind of drivel on it.
Oh and on a playlist note they followed it with Counting Crows Mr Jones' , another Gem from their collection.

AnCapaillMor

Daisy Steiner wrote: »

Also that 'bit' they do in the morning? With the children going: markandcaitríonaonthebreakfast shhhoooooooooooooooooooooooooowwwwwww


Guaranteed to boil the blood :mad:

Oh god you've brought back the memories and there was no way to dodge it. We'd try and time our smoke breaks so we'd miss it.

um7y1h83ge06nx

I know we're talking huge population differences so it wouldn't work here but the last time I really enjoyed listening to the radio was driving around California last summer. Because of the huge population there was loads of class specialist stations, ones for rock, rap etc.

That got me thinking about investing in a Wi-fi radio for the kitchen. handy if you have broadband and can listen to stations all around the world. Of course you can do this with a laptop or PC but the radio is handy too.

http://www.wifiradioreview.com/

phill106

Normalperson wrote: »

Woe be Jesus, anyone know if they still play that f-in song-over
"Limer-ick-s nine, nine-y fiiive-FM! Niney-fiiive-FM!"
to Beyonce's "Baby Boy U Scrub My Back" is it, or something???!!!! :eek:

They do, and to whatever other song they can ram it into. I have to change stations immediately if I was listening.

RINO87

there was a thread about this a few years ago too. at athe time i suggested tuning in to the students on Wired. 99.9 fm its off for the summer now tho. Granted there are some pretty god awful shows on there but you get a very varied selection of music and some of the things people come out with on it are just frickin hilarious!!! there was one time when you could hear one of the students was reaching for something at the other side of the room, next thing you hear the chair collapse and a load of cd's hitting the floor, along with the presener roaring AH SH1TE!!! he then comes back to the microphone and says, feck it, shur theres probobly no one listening anyway!! had me in stiches!

Vanolder

It's fair to say we all represent all ages and backgrounds here and we all agree that it is pure muck. I know 90% of people 23 or under listen to spin, so who exactly listens to 95fm?? where do they pull their year in year out most listened to station in the south west figures from??

Insect Overlord

Vanolder wrote: »

where do they pull their year in year out most listened to station in the south west figures from??

This is something I'd love to find out. Are the figures coming from independent surveys, or does the station itself carry out the market research?

panda100

I think its on in so many businesses in town and thats what gives it a rating boost?

The rubberbandits should do a prank call on Declan Copus or that irritating English twat,that would be funnies!

RINO87

They reason they "appear" to have such high ratings is because when ratings are counted for radio, they (the ratings people) generally just go out on to the street and ask people what they listen to. Live95 and most other UTV stations are wise to this and run a competition whereby they also have someone on the street asking what station you listen to. If you are asked by the live95 guys and answer "I listen to Limericks live95" they give you 50 quid!!! So people are definitely going to say they Listen to 95, to be in with a chance of some free moolah!! Thereby completely clouding the real figures

flutered

Insect Overlord wrote: »

This is something I'd love to find out. Are the figures coming from independent surveys, or does the station itself carry out the market research?

surveyer asks the question, do you listen to local radio, they never ask which local radio, or where do you live.

JerryHandbag

Vanolder wrote: »

where do they pull their year in year out most listened to station in the south west figures from??

Well if this thread is anything to go by then thats a load of crap.

Limerick_Lass

The JNRL survey is carried out mainly to provide estimates of audience to various stations to plan advertising schedules. The research found is broken into two main parts:
The Reach the size of the audience reached
The Market Share the share of all minutes listened eg. between 9am to 10am, 10% listened to station x, 40% listened to station y ect ect.


The interesting part is the reach, where it doesnt matter if the listener tuned in for 1 minute or for 5 hours. So basically its the number of people who have heard the station. Considering its on in every business and probably factory floor of Limerick.... they will get a big number of "listeners"!

Raiser

Perception is key.

- If Limerick's Dire 95 FM can purport to have an enormous listernership then their Sales and Marketing Drones will be out in smart suits selling advertising minutes on promises of great riches to their prospective Customers.

This then turns into a vicious circle where duped Businesses pay good money to Brutal FM to encourage them to further pollute the Airwaves with whacky "news" of what the "Cops" are up to and hold staged "conversations" that have all the charm of splintered fingernails on the length of a 30 Metre Blackboard and play really, really bad music.

Its also possibly against the terms of The Geneva Convention to urge People to stab their own eardrums with a long screwdriver.......

highlydebased

Utter muck that station.

Apparently the target audience is a 40 year old woman. Fairly boring 40 yer old woman if so.

JerryHandbag

It also galls me the way they add some celebrity gossip at the end of their news bulletins. How tacky can you get, usually a snippet about Big Brother or somesuch.

Firstly, they assume that everyone in Limerick is a fan of Big Brother.
Secondly, how the hell is such a report considered "Limerick news"??! :rolleyes:

Vanolder

JerryHandbag wrote: »

It also galls me the way they add some celebrity gossip at the end of their news bulletins. How tacky can you get, usually a snippet about Big Brother or somesuch.

Firstly, they assume that everyone in Limerick is a fan of Big Brother.
Secondly, how the hell is such a report considered "Limerick news"??! :rolleyes:

I cant reacall what it was now but I remember them having the news that Jordan was pregnant ahead of far more important stories a few years back.. I was seething on the bus listening to it.

Raiser

Vanolder wrote: »

I cant reacall what it was now but I remember them having the news that Jordan was pregnant ahead of far more important stories a few years back.. I was seething on the bus listening to it.

Was the Fahdder even from Limwreck?

AnCapaillMor

Limerick Radio went down the tubes once John the Man left that time.

Liam Byrne

AnCapaillMor wrote: »

Limerick Radio went down the tubes once John the Man left that time.

"left" ?

gaf1983

billy the squid wrote: »

My main bugbears about 95FM are

The way they rehash news from earlier in the week for their weekend news bulletins

The Garda File rseeks help solving crimes that happened weeks previously

The repetitiveness of the playlist

Limerick Today show most of it is about stuff that would be found on a national station. it should be about local issues.

the way specialist shows are put at obscure times . Irish language shows are at Oh My God o clock on a sunday morning.

Declan Copues show has the same old jokes over and over and over .

Spin southwest isnt much better with their Five word weather, and their Minister for Planes, Trains and Automobiles. how stupid do they think young people are?

Fair points Billy, but in Limerick Today's defence, they cover both national and local issues. It could also be argued that national issues affect local people too. Here's a range of topics covered in the last few days, taken from their Twitter page:

On Tuesday's show, Rathkeale House Hotel closes, learner drivers and more call 061 461995 / 085 1719595
about 12 hours ago via web
Reply Retweet
A look back at the last event in the markets field.
about 12 hours ago via web
coming up Christy Cooney on the show.
about 13 hours ago via web
coming up cruelty to animals in Limerick.
about 14 hours ago via web
Gillian is in the hot seat this week, Joe's on a well deserved break. She's talking about IVF in the 9am hour.
about 15 hours ago via web
On Monday's show, IVF treatment for women, animal cruelty, we may have Jedward!!!!, and lots more from 9am.
1:11 PM Jul 16th via web
Calls to Limerick Today giving out to Joe, Joe's been talking about the markets field and Gary Hoey now on air about golf!
12:36 PM Jul 16th via web
Joan is on air now, she won't pay for a water meter, she says if the government want to install, they can pay
10:55 AM Jul 16th via web
IFA and Limerick County Council on air now about water charges for farmers.
10:40 AM Jul 16th via web
Farmer Micheal on air now talking about water charges.
10:28 AM Jul 16th via web
Call us with what ever you want to talk about 061 461995 / 085 1719595. We're talking about water charges soon
10:11 AM Jul 16th via web
All you need to know about Hayfever now.
12:34 PM Jul 15th via web
coming up later on the show, the family of 27 year old Nicole Ryan Graham, who has come out of a five month coma
10:55 AM Jul 15th via web
Mike Vince on the stolen Cheltenham Gold Cup!
10:45 AM Jul 15th via web
Brian outlines what happened with his family's hotel booking, Michael Kilcoyne from the Consumers Association on air now
10:17 AM Jul 15th via web
On Thursday's show, advice for consumers pre-paying for goods or services in the current economic climate, hayfever, cost of living and more

Liam Byrne

JerryHandbag wrote: »

It also galls me the way they add some celebrity gossip at the end of their news bulletins. How tacky can you get, usually a snippet about Big Brother or somesuch.

This seems to be a trend that - unfortunately - even NewsTalk / Today FM and other stations feel obliged to follow.