Radio News Articles

bbability

Ok folks, a slight change to the forum from today. We have decided that all news articles relating to radio in general are to be posted here. I will make the thread a 'sticky' to keep it on the top page.
Ive also update the forum charter concerning this new thread.

BB

Rubik.

Just a few questions on the purpose of this thread.

Is it a place to post articles without discussion, or are all discussions related to the articles to be confinded to this thread?

I would of though some articles would merit a thread in themselves and articles of particular relevance to the megathreads or other established threads should really be posted in those threads.

bbability

Rubik. wrote: »

Just a few questions on the purpose of this thread.

Is it a place to post articles without discussion, or are all discussions related to the articles to be confinded to this thread?

I would of though some articles would merit a thread in themselves and articles of particular relevance to the megathreads or other established threads should really be posted in those threads.

By all means have discussions about news articles as threads but this is to make the forum flow a bit better and not look entirely like a news article forum. Just a little house keeping that's all.

Lenny Lovett

bbability wrote: »

but this is to make the forum flow a bit better and not look entirely like a news article forum. Just a little house keeping that's all.

There's been just six articles posted out of the last forty or so threads. Does that really make it look like a "news article forum"? They create debate and discussion as well as inform people. If such threads are to be relegated then thats a bit sad IMO.

Bard

IF the articles posted create enough debate and discussion, then they can surely be split off into their own threads. The mods can decide this on a case by case basis.

This isn't a case of "relegation" for news articles at all... much the opposite. They'll always be easily accessible right here in a sticky thread right at the top of the forum.

So please, as asked already - if you have an article you want to quote on the forum, post it in this thread. Thanks.

Fago!

Jesus Bard you're a mod now? Awesome. Congrats

Lenny Lovett

From The Tribune

RTÉ 2fm has apparently abandoned the weekday youth market which was once its key target and has launched a new schedule in which the average age of its presenters is over 45. Ryan Tubridy, at 37, is now the station's youngest daytime presenter.


Speaking to the Sunday Tribune, Tubridy disregarded the issue of age at the station saying, "My concern isn't about market and audience [in terms of age]. I've got a job to do and I want to do good radio. I don't care who you are, or how old you are as long as you're doing good radio. If my mother likes it or my nephew likes it, either way I'm happy," he said, adding, "I just want to get on with it."


While weekend slots at the station, which are less important in terms of advertising revenue, are now populated by DJs in their late twenties and thirties (Paddy McKenna and Jenny Greene, both 28, are now the station's youngest presenters), most of 2fm's daytime presenters are now in their late thirties and forties.


Breakfast presenter Colm Hayes is in his late forties, with Dave Fanning 55 years old and the ever popular Larry Gogan truly earning the title of 'veteran' at 72.


However 2fm bosses must be encouraged that Tubridy, a prolific user of Twitter, is bringing some savviness in the world of social media to the station, an area in which it is lacking despite the enthusiasm of fellow presenter Rick O'Shea. Indeed, Tubridy tweeted about his return to the airwaves on Thursday night ahead of his 'surprise' takeover of the slot on Friday morning.


Tubridy told the Sunday Tribune that he felt "drained" after his first slot on Friday.


"I had been thinking about the show all week and there was clearly an emotional connection to it with Gerry," Tubridy said. "I felt under great pressure to keep his listeners happy and comfortable, and I was conscious of Gerry and his family, and conscious of my own performance." He described the show as "okay", adding, "I don't think I got it right, but we did okay, with a view to major improvement personally."


2fm previously targeted the 15-34 demographic, but has begun to re-position in order to target the competitive 20-44-year-old market, of which Today FM already has a large slice.


While Tubridy is under a lot of pressure to bring in a huge audience, he said he was "happy" with the rest of the schedule changes at the station. "I think it's good for 2fm; it was getting a bit tired sounding," he said.


"I think the personality people will hear of me on the radio will be new. I've been quite restricted in my recent jobs, in The Late Late Show and on Radio One, you're not allowed let loose, you can't be the same guy you are in the pub or coffee shop."


Meanwhile, RTÉ will focus on gathering younger and more music savvy listeners as it continues to expand its digital service, especially the music-driven 2XM, although many are questioning how the broadcaster can sustain progress in that area without some injection of revenue or at the very least paying the DJs on their six digital stations.


Living the life...



Hector O hEochagáin (7 to 9) 41


Ryan Tubridy (9 to 11) 37


Colm Hayes (11 to 1) late 40s


Larry Gogan (1 to 2) 72


Rick O'Shea (2 to 4.30) 37


Will Leahy (4.30 to 7) 39


Dave Fanning (7 to 9) 55

Lenny Lovett

.

IRELAND's 'independent' local radio stations suffered an 18pc fall in centralised agency sales over the first half of the year, despite the supposed recovery in the advertising sector.
The figures were revealed at a recent board meeting of Independent Radio Sales (IRS), which handles some agency sales for a group of 18 local and regional stations.
Board members were told that just four of IRS's member stations had seen their agency sales revenue rise over the first six months.
The four -- Red FM, i105-107, i102-104 and Spin South West -- are understood to have grown their IRS revenue by a combined 19pc over the period.
Bleakest
The 14 other local stations are understood to have drawn in less IRS revenue in the first half of this year than they did in the same period in 2009, which was one of the bleakest years in radio's history.
IRS chief executive Dan Healy yesterday declined to comment on the figures, insisting that matters discussed at board meetings were "confidential".
The figures are understood to have been prepared as part of a plan to change the way IRS prices for its airtime.
The independent radio sales house is also believed to be preparing for a major autumn push aimed at highlighting recent listenership gains across the IRS stations.
The push, armed with specially commissioned research, will see IRS pit itself against UTV's Urban Access package, which sells airtime across its eight stations.
News of IRS's figures for the first half of the year comes after UTV reported a 5pc fall in its Irish radio ad revenue in the first four months of the year.
The Belfast media giant had expected the like-for-like falls in Irish ad revenue to be confined to 3pc for May and June -- the accuracy of that prediction will be revealed on Thursday when the PLC reveals first-half results.
IRS's bundles packages of airtime across its stations for agency sales, however many of its stations also sell some ads to agencies on an individual basis.
Local and regional radio stations also get a substantial portion of their revenue from non-agency sales, largely businesses and services in their own communities.
- Laura Noonan
Irish Independent

Lenny Lovett

How times change! Twenty years ago some of us were involved in campaigning against Government censorship of the media in South Africa. The Apartheid Government were subsequently replaced by the predominately black ANC led by Nelson Mandela. The world media were (rightly) widely praised at the time for highlighting the injustices of the Apartheid Government. However times have changed and the long serving ANC Government are now looking to renew the media censorship laws that were in place during Apartheid and to censor information broadcast and published in the country. More information here:
http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/south-africa/100824/press-freedom-under-threat

Already journalists have been arrested for putting certain stories in the public domain. This goes against all the principals fought for by Mandela et al.

An online petition will be up shortly and I will put the details here and would appreciate it if anyone who supports free speech and freedom of information would support it.

Bard

UTV forecasts revenue boost for radio sector
From The Irish Independent (Peter Flanagan)

THE IRISH radio industry may be beginning to recover, according to one of the largest media groups in the country.

UTV, which also runs Dublin's FM104, Q102 and a host of other radio stations, said it was forecasting a 3pc increase in revenues from its Irish radio stations in the third quarter of this year, after declines of 7pc and 3pc in the first and second quarter respectively.

UTV's commercial director, Jim Downey, was cautiously optimistic about the outlook in the media industry in Ireland.

"We've been through tough times but we saw growth in the three months from June to August and that is before the fourth quarter, which is traditionally our big period," he said.

"Surprisingly, much of the growth in advertising revenue was driven by Q102, which has been regarded in the past as a 'level 2' station but has moved up to the top tier," he added.

Mr Downey was speaking after UTV had released interim results for the first half of the year showing group operating profit had increased by 9pc to £12.2m (€14.74m) on the back of revenue that had increased to £59.2m from £54.4m a year ago. Diluted adjusted EPS jumped 16pc to 7.36p. A dividend has been reinstated of 1p.

The company said most of the growth was driven by the recovery in the advertising market in the UK, which was supplemented by the traditional spike in ad spend that comes with the World Cup.

That increase in ad spend was not reflected in Ireland, mainly due to the fact that Ireland did not qualify for the tournament.

Davy stockbrokers' Simon McGrotty described the results as "impressive" and added that forecasts for the Irish radio and television sectors would be upgraded.

Bard

Aidan finds new home on 98fm breakfast show
From The Evening Herald (Lorna Nolan)

RTE star Aidan Power is set to make the leap from television to radio after landing a new gig with 98fm.

The Herald can exclusively reveal that the former host of RTE's The Cafe will add a new credential to his CV later this month when he takes to the radio airwaves to co-host his own show.

Aidan (31), who has had a steady television broadcasting career with the national broadcaster since joining the station almost 10 years ago, is set to join former Spin presenter Claire Solan to host 98's breakfast show.

The pair have worked together in the past given that Claire was a regular contributor to RTE's The Cafe before it was axed earlier this year when RTE chiefs decided to overhaul their children's programming schedule.

Popular breakfast duo Dermot Whelan and Dave Moore, meanwhile, will be making the move to an afternoon slot.

The pair have hosted the morning show for the last eight years and are currently double-jobbing as they present both their old show and their new programme until Aidan and Claire take over.

A spokesperson for 98fm declined to comment on the changes to their schedule when contacted.

However, insiders have revealed that station bosses are planning to make an official announcement before the end of the week.

"Everyone's very excited to have Aidan and Claire joining the line-up and the heads of the station are confident that they're going to be a great success on air together," said a 98 insider.

"It's a great coup to get Aidan on board given that he's such a recognisable face through his television work."

Aidan is also due to take part in the forthcoming series of RTE's Celebrity Bainisteoir this autumn alongside a host of well known names including Blathnaid Ni Chofaigh, Today FM presenter Mairead Farrell, Apprentice star Breffny Morgan, Dragon's Den businessman Gavin Duffy and renowned wedding planner Franc, aka Peter Kelly.

Speaking about the reality show, Aidan said his participation in Celebrity Bainisteoir did not mean that he wanted his career to take a different direction.

"It's not about moving away from anything or going back to anything. It's about diversifying, doing projects that interest you," he said.

The popular presenter is also recording a new talent show, SuperCrew, which will be on RTE this autumn.

It will follow a new hip-hop crew as they get coached alongside Jedward for an appearance in the Christmas Pantomime Cinderella, playing at the Olympia in December.

Bard

D'Arcy was lined up to replace Gerry, says Today FM
From The Sunday Independent (Richie Taylor), September 12 2010

Independent radio station Today FM has claimed that Ray D'Arcy was asked to replace Gerry Ryan on 2fm -- before Ryan Tubridy was given the slot.

Ray, who celebrated 10 years of his radio programme with a big party in the Mansion House in Dublin during the week, said: "Yes, I was approached by RTE in the wake of Gerry's death. But I have been approached by them several times down through the years as well."

Today FM boss Willie O'Reilly added: "RTE came a-courting, but Ray decided to stay true and we're delighted. So we're throwing a party to celebrate his show's big birthday."

Ray was stunned when RTE radio boss Clare Duignan and 2fm chief John McMahon turned up on his doorstep to make him an offer to join the station to replace Gerry.

D'Arcy was offered more money but the sticking point was that if he jumped ship to Montrose he insisted he would have to take his own radio crew with him.

He subsequently met Willie O'Reilly and investor Denis O'Brien for coffee to talk over the offer he had received. At the time RTE apparently wanted to keep Ryan Tubridy on Radio One and get Ray in to do the mid-morning slot on 2fm.

A Today FM insider said: "Ray decided to remain at Today FM as he has really enjoyed his time there to date and has built up his audience. He didn't ask Willie or Denis for any extra money, just for a few more days' holidays every year. The main thing he wanted was better conditions for his team, who he really credits with helping the programme work so well. His wife Jenny is also a part of the team. He also wanted a bit more promotion.

"Ray was definitely approached before Ryan Tubridy. He didn't seem particularly surprised as attempts have been made to lure him away from Today FM over the years. But Ray is very easy-going and takes it all in his stride."

And Today FM threw a huge 10th anniversary no-expenses-spared party for him last Thursday, with money men Denis O'Brien and John McColgan attending.

Fellow DJ Ian Dempsey lauded him from the stage, while pop band The Coronas and singer-songwriters Mundy and Declan O'Rourke performed.

But an RTE spokesman last night insisted that Ryan Tubridy was always first choice to replace Gerry. He said: "Sure, we spoke to lots of other people about different slots. You could include Ray in that. But it was always going to be Ryan in the mid-morning slot on 2fm. We thought it was interesting that the day we announced Ryan was taking over, Today FM ran a piece on their news claiming that we had failed to lure Ray away from them."

2fm chief John McMahon recently declared that moves to entice Tubridy back to 2fm had been on the cards since last year.

He said: "When Gerry was there it was a station with one huge star, and I wanted to have three or four huge stars. We then lost our biggest star, but Ryan is no replacement for Gerry. You can't replace Gerry."

duploelabs

Marian Finnucan gets paid €250k a year and needs a team of 9 producers to do a show as she can't even touch a button or research a story. Brendan Balfe is a one man show, with no extra help,gets exactly the same listenership and gets €50k a year. For his 65 birthday next weekend, he is being made retire from a job that he does want, or can't afford, to leave.
He was the first voice on 2FM and the last broadcast voice on Medium wave and is getting screwed by his employer of over 40 years.

http://www.independent.ie/entertainment/tv-radio/end-of-an-era-for-our-own-irish-voice-balfe-2334634.html

By Aengus Fanning
Sunday September 12 2010
ONE of our greatest radio broadcasters, Brendan Balfe, is to hang up his boots next Sunday after an illustrious 46-year career in Radio Eireann, and later RTE.

It might seem astonishing to anyone who, like myself, is dismayed at the dearth of genuine broadcasting talent in RTE that, at this moment, nothing has been found in the schedules for the veteran "musicians' broadcaster".

I am a daily listener to Lyric FM and while the music is often good and sometimes marvellous, there is a great deal of bland and even inane commentary between the records. (Marty Whelan, George Hamilton, Eamonn Lawlor and Donald Helme are notable exceptions.)

It is truly inexplicable that a broadcaster of Balfe's genius cannot, it seems, be given a programme on Lyric.

One piece of good news is that Gay Byrne's marvellous programme Sunday with Gay Byrne is returning on October 3 (2-4pm). Gay is an old friend of Balfe's and he is as incensed as I am at the failure of the RTE management to come up with some ideas for him.

"Brendan is a truly superb broadcaster and his knowledge of music is encyclopaedic," said Gay.

"He is at present doing a wonderful show on Saturdays on RTE Radio One, The Irish Voice, which is a sort of a Reeling in the Years with music," he added. "It is a plain fact and something that should never be forgotten -- only a talent like Brendan could do such a show.''

Balfe was a freelance broadcaster for much of his career, but was staffed by RTE about 10 years ago. The Irish Voice ends next Saturday and is a brilliant compilation of culture, music and poetry.

- Aengus Fanning

Sunday Independent

Bard

There's a thread for radio news articles. I'm merging this into it.

duploelabs

Bard wrote: »

There's a thread for radio news articles. I'm merging this into it.

Cool

Bard

Ryan honoured for 'unrivalled broadcasting'
From The Irish Independent (Grainne Cunningham), Monday September 13 2010

THE late Gerry Ryan has been posthumously awarded for his unique contribution to Irish radio over 30 years at a star-studded ceremony hosted by Grainne Seoige.

The legendary Ryan, who died suddenly in April, was honoured with a People of the Year Award for his "unrivalled broadcasting skills which ranged effortlessly from the utterly sensitive and intimate to the fantastically flamboyant and theatrical".

The award was presented by friend and 2fm colleague, Dave Fanning, to two of Gerry's children, Lottie and Rex, at Dublin's Citywest Hotel on Saturday night.

A spokeswoman for the family said they appreciated the acknowledgement of what their dad meant to so many people.

Other recipients of the annual awards included golfing champion Graeme McDowell who was honoured for his stunning win at the 110th US Open, one of the world's four major golf championships. The Portrush player was the first Irishman, and the first European since 1970, to lift the trophy.

Judge Catherine McGuinness was honoured for her pioneering contribution to Irish life, as a judge, as President of the Law Reform Commission and as an advocate for children's rights reform.

The families of victims of Bloody Sunday were granted an award for their 38-year struggle to establish their loved ones' innocence while another went to the Gay and Lesbian Equality Network for its tireless work towards creating a fairer and more open-minded society.

Teenager Owen O'Keeffe (16), from Fermoy, Co Cork was named Young Person of the Year after becoming the youngest person to swim the English Channel, in honour of his grandmother.

Limerick's garda community policing unit was presented with the Garda of the Year Award for its efforts to make the city safer, and Rio Hogarty (73) received the Inspiring Mum of the Year Award for caring for her two children, and 140 foster children over 40 years.

Bard

Just how lyrical is Lyric?
From The Irish Times (Arminta Wallace), Wednesday September 15th 2010

The little sister of the RTÉ stable, classical music station Lyric FM has been broadcasting for just over a decade. But does it provide enough for its listeners? Arminta Wallace tunes in for a fortnight to see what’s on offer

WHAT WITH all the hoo-ha surrounding Ryan Tubridy becoming the new Gerry Ryan and John Murray becoming the new Ryan Tubridy on RTÉ 2FM and Radio 1 respectively, the new autumn schedule on Lyric FM slipped under the media radar. By comparison with its sister stations, of course, Lyric operates in a quiet airwave suburb. But is that suburb a communications cul de sac? Or has Lyric FM evolved and changed since it began broadcasting just over a decade ago?

“Evolved, definitely. Changed, no,” says Lyric’s station head Aodán Ó Dubhghaill. “I wouldn’t say it has changed since we began planning the station in 1999. The presenters have changed, and presentation styles have changed – but we’re basically doing what we set out to do, which is to provide a good wide brief of music to an audience that a lot of people would have thought was very small and very niche.”

There’s more to the station, Ó Dubhghaill points out, than many people realise. Lyric has a record label which brings Irish composers and performers to an international audience; it has an outreach programme that regularly visits 35 schools across Ireland; it has a composer-in-residence, Elaine Agnew; and as well as organising live events, it’s a sponsor of such high-profile musical happenings as the Festival of World Cultures.

When people switch on their radios, of course, they don’t hear any of that. What they’ll hear from October onwards is Marty Whelan’s new breakfast show Marty in the Morning , followed by Paul Herriott’s In Tempo at 10am, with a new Lunchtime Classics show presented by Liz Nolan leading through the John Kelly Ensemble to Niall Carroll’s Drivetime at 4 pm.

The latter is Lyric’s most popular show, bringing in more than 50,000 listeners every day. “We’re very pleased with the latest listenership figures, which say that 296,000 people tune in to Lyric on a weekly basis,” says Ó Dubhghaill. “Other stations have seen slippage in their listenership. Ours has been constant; over the 10 years, we’ve never really had a huge drop.”

Lyric’s audience has something else going for it, as the Sunday Business Post ’s radio critic, Jonathan O’Brien, points out: “It’s not a big listenership but it’s a very, very affluent one,” he says. “It’s around 72 per cent ABC1.” This ought to translate straight into advertising revenue but – as yet – hasn’t. What it does create, however, is prestige.

“When Lyric started up, there were a lot of stories in the media about how it wasn’t making money. But I think RTÉ has copped on to the fact that the benefits of a station like Lyric far outweigh the fact that it’s not a money-generating machine. Having an unashamedly middlebrow, or highbrow, station in the stable looks good on the prospectus.”

What, though, of the programmes?

Confession time. Apart from the odd foray into Paul Herriott’s In Tempo and the John Kelly Ensemble , this reporter has not been a regular listener to Lyric of late. Podcasts are partly to blame – the iPod fills up so fast with episodes of This American Life , The Philosopher’s Zone , Guardian Science Weekly and whatever else, that it’s hard to keep up. And if I switch on the radio and hear Bach’s Air on the G String , or something from Carmen , or absolutely anything by Johann Strauss, I’ll switch it right off again.

So, as an experiment, over the past fortnight I’ve made a point of tuning to Lyric at times when I’d never normally think of doing so. At 9.30 on a Saturday morning, for instance.

The first thing I hear are the unmistakeably perky tones of George Hamilton. Eeek: has Lyric started doing footie commentaries, or have I got the wrong wavelength? As it turns out, the Hamilton Scores has been a fixture on Lyric for years – and boy, does George Hamilton know his music. His playlists are mostly of the four-four-two variety, using older recordings and well-known names, but the music is put together with wit and creativity and the odd moment of Messi-like genius. Crucially, he puts me into such ferocious good humour that when he plays Bach’s Air on the G String, I’m able to stick with it – and am rewarded with, say, a glorious movement from a piano trio by Arensky.

There were more pleasant surprises to come. Rachel Blech’s Magic Carpet (Saturday, 2pm) will definitely be on my headphones from now on – in one episode she plays the Algerian Übersinger Khaled, the fantastic guitarist Avishai Cohen and Jackie Oates singing a Sugarcubes song.

Same goes for the Lyric Feature (Saturday, 7pm), documentaries which cover everything from Irish choirs through the Traveller singing tradition to Leonard Cohen.

I’ll still be reaching for the off switch every now and again. I’ll never be a lunchtime or drivetime listener. I don’t get the concept of background music – either listen properly, or turn it off, for goodness’ sake – and if I want a Radox bath, I’ll take a real one (with water, not music), thanks very much.

“They do have some very middle-of-the-road programmes, ” agrees O’Brien. “The Marty Whelan show is very white-bread, straight down the middle, Tony-Bennett-meets-Beethoven kind of stuff.

“His kind of style, if it’s done wrongly, it would set your teeth on edge – and I know people who can’t stand him. But I actually kind of like it.”

Most of the Lyric presenters are, O’Brien adds, pretty impressive in terms of diction. He singles out Liz Nolan, who’ll shortly take over the lunchtime slot, for special praise. “In terms of sounding good on air – enunciating her words and all that – she’s probably the best broadcaster in the country.”

OVERALL, I’D HAVE TO SAY I’m impressed by the variety of music on offer from Lyric.

And variety, says Ó Dubhghaill, is the name of Lyric’s game. “There’s a full opera every Saturday night and a full concert every weekday evening, which might come from anywhere in Europe. We broadcast live from the National Concert Hall every Friday night during the National Symphony Orchestra season. But there are also regular slots for world music, jazz, traditional, music from movies and musicals, contemporary classical, and electronic and experimental.”

The latter is Bernard Clarke’s Nova on Sunday nights, described by Jonathan O’Brien as “uncompromising avant-garde weird German stuff” and which (typically) this reporter loves to bits. I’m not the only one, though. Up to 20,000 listeners tune in on a regular basis, and if you want to know what’s really going on in music right now, rather than 200 years ago, Nova is a great place to start.

The balance between broad appeal and niche programming is a tricky one for any radio station, but even trickier for a station such as Lyric, which is classically based. “People who love jazz may not like traditional music,” says Ó Dubhghaill. “So it’s difficult to tie them all together – but it’s really all down to the style of presentation.”

In fairness to Lyric, the plummy, patronising, I-know-far-more-than-you-about-Von-Karajan style of classical music presentation has all but disappeared from its schedules.

Which is not to say it’s perfect.

“It could be a bit more adventurous, and the weekend schedule needs a good kick up the ass,” says O’Brien. “It also seems to suffer more than other stations from minor glitches like patching through to presenters who aren’t there, or leaving a 15-second gap between the fanfare and the news coming on, or whatever. But most of the time, it’s a very good station. I would say that even on a bad day, it’s better than the vast majority of the competition.”

Tune in, tune out

Five pieces I just heard on lyric and loved:

Nicholas Hodges China Gates (on the John Kelly Ensemble ); Schumann Op 113, piece for viola and piano (on the Hamilton Scores);

Scott Joplin’s Maple Leaf Rag played on the xylophone (on the Hamilton Scores );

Dvorak’s Bible Song sung by Susanne Bernhard (on Gloria );

Rollers/Sparkers’ Mounted Bishops Pursuing a Herd of Deacons (on Nova ).

Five pieces I’d just love to never hear on radio again

Pachelbel’s Canon ;

Rimsky-Korsakov’s The Flight of the Bumble-Bee ;

Ravel’s Bolero ;

Puccini’s Che Gelida Manina ;

Mozart’s Rondo alla Turca .

---

In yesterday’s article on the Dublin Review a celebration tonight for the magazine’s 40th issue was mentioned. This event has been cancelled