WLR FM Again

nkay1985

WLR is shocking. I can safely say that I never listen to it. It embarasses me to think that this is our local radio station! It seems like it's stuck sometime thirty or forty years ago. And don't get me started on the sanctimonious *bleep* that is Billy McCarthy.

STIG83

Oliver Carroll i cant stand!! His voice gets under my skin :mad:

Flyin Irishman

I think WLR, and what they provide, is important. Its very community-based, and acccessible. Thats why so many people listen to it.

Personally I dont like it though, its all a little too wholesome and granny-friendly. I get a terrible Eoin McLove vibe when I listen to it....

Godsentme

Flyin Irishman wrote: »

I think WLR, and what they provide, is important. Its very community-based, and acccessible. Thats why so many people listen to it.


The only reason people listen to wlr is they may here some local news or snippets, not because Queen billy is unmissable.

All the National stations are accessable. Joe Duffy/ Moncrief/ G.Hook etc. And they are not afraid to read out adverse comments about themselves unlike that bitch we have.

deisemum

I used to like listening to Timmy and Nicola's breakfast show but when Nicola left and Ms. Aoibhin "I'm so bloody perfect" Fallon took over I switched to Todayfm and Newstalk.

Jaysus but she's painful and so full of it.

Scaldy Ned

Driving up the country will show that most Local stations are if anything worse than WLR ....Who listens to Irish country music ??? I;ve never actually met anyone that does. This is the music i usually hear on a lot of them.
Nevertheless that's not an excuse.
Im 48 and proud to be a Warerfordian because growing up we always felt that Waterford always had an edge to it..... probably resisting the culchee tag that always annoyed us

There were skinheads, suede heads,boot boys,Punks,Mods......you name it we had it and power to the FreeWheelers who also gave an edge to that particular scene.....It seemed that most people were part of something at some stage


So how did WLR emerge from this tradition or sub culture ????

They didn't and to be honest have never catered to any of them except with some tokenism now and again. The fact is that WLR is probably managed and comprised of mainly the same people now as it was then......The tweed jacket wearing 22 year olds who have now probably become the Merc driving conservatives they were always aspiring to be.
This their problem...No edge and have never managed to tap into the rich and varied subculture that has always been part of the Waterford youth Pshycy......

Scaldy

SillyMcCarthy

What other radio station would feature a Trans-Gender Group as part of their news bulletin! That in my view speaks VOLUMES for what's running the place.

STIG83

Some unhappy listeners ringing into Billy MacCarthy today, complaining about the sex scenes in Spartacus and Shameless!! one listener said oh its "soft porn"

Asmodean

To be completely honest the ONLY reason I ever tune into WLR is that because it reminds me of home and at times the usual jingle/advertisements etc can be kind of comforting, but thats about it to be honest.
It's like that annoying friend everyone has but you don't want to tell him to **** off because he used to be cool and you have a lot of good memories together

ziedth

STIG83 wrote: »

Some unhappy listeners ringing into Billy MacCarthy today, complaining about the sex scenes in Spartacus and Shameless!! one listener said oh its "soft porn"

They are of course right.

It's on after the watershed, it is kinda what Rome was like, if you don't like it don't watch it. Otherwise piss off like.

STIG83

^Somebody said that too, if you dont like it, dont watch it.
Not sure was another caller male or female and they said they were going to start recording it on Monday nights from now on, to brighten up their Monday nights!!

Boooourns

jimmyw wrote: »

I am not jumping on the band wagon here but, I have to say this station are really amateurs when it come to radio.First of all one of my bugbears is the news, firstly nearly without fail there is always gaps in it whereby there is no sound at all and sounds of other stuff coming in, really annoying.

Next Billy McCarthy only wants views the same as his own, no one else's matter. Marie McCann is like a teenager with all her giggling every five minutes, jeez it really gets up my nose, you are supposed to be professional..Ian Noctors show is boring with boring topics, and his voice is annoying too. No comparison with Cooper, Hook and even Wilson is easier to listen to.Some one mentioned Roddy Cleere is gone:eek:, is that true WTF! Jeff/Geoff Harris whatever, seems to be stuck in everthing.

I think there is click there with McCarthy,Harris, Reddy (I am a relation of hers!) and others there.That newsreader Sinead Aherne is hard to listen to aswell.( Where is that other new girl gone?)I do think Karen Doyle is the best, even though she is only rarely on.They also keep banging on about the glass factory, WIT uni status :rolleyes:YAWN YAWN.Get over it.

Before you say it, KCLR are just as bad with all the bloody sport so I dont listen to it either if I can avoid either of them, only reason is someone else is listening to them and i am doing stuff in the same room.Otherwise I listen to Newstslk, Radio 1 or todayfm sometimes.

I mentioned it mate, hope someone else can confirm it but i heard he was given the boot as they wanted to shake up the station. Disgraceful treatment as he's given so much to the local music scene.
I think there's a night (or i missed it) in the Forum dedicated to him as a thanks from the music scene.

dayshah

STIG83 wrote: »

Some unhappy listeners ringing into Billy MacCarthy today, complaining about the sex scenes in Spartacus and Shameless!! one listener said oh its "soft porn"

They should watch Caligula

In fairness its such a boring movie it would turn you off porno.

Professey Chin

STIG83 wrote: »

Some unhappy listeners ringing into Billy MacCarthy today, complaining about the sex scenes in Spartacus and Shameless!! one listener said oh its "soft porn"

Spartacus is pretty much to be fair.
Except I dont see a reason to complain about it :pac:

SillyMcCarthy

No one rang in to complain!
That was just Fr. Billy throwing his own spin just to
give some controversy to his own banality!

I think the above poll reflects actual reality!

dayshah

Boooourns wrote: »

Musically the radiostation is butal, didn't they recently get rid of Roddy Cleere who actually had a decent radio show promoting new Irish music.

Well, I'm listening to Decades with Roddy Cleere now.

MitchKoobski

In fairness to em I was listening to the "Easy Listening on Sundays" with Timmy Ryan earlier and I fair enjoyed meself.

doublejj

too be honest it caters for certain age.group category....i never liked it esp when a number of years ago they put the small court cases that were on in the district court on every friday....yes you can report in the media but the inaccuriccies were awful....my brother done something very minor(drunk and abusive)and they reported it all day long.......he endured a terrible time in work and on appeal it was quashed......i like timmy ryan,but the click there is unbelievable.....liz reddy dont get me started

abouttobebanned

Timmy Ryan & Geoff Harris are two diamonds in the rough. My problem with WLR has always been its ultra conservatism which, I suppose is prevalent in most provincial stations but the amount of rules and regulations for what they can and can't say is just ridiculous.

Then again, I don't listen to much radio these days. I find that I turn into a cranky old man.

200motels

I listen to WLR a bit and it's not that bad, but it needs an overhaul of DJ'S and a show to cater for rock music.

Boooourns

dayshah wrote: »

Well, I'm listening to Decades with Roddy Cleere now.

It was the Irish indie music show that was cancelled, a great show that promoted local bands.

scout353

I think that once you realise that WLR is a local radio station for a local community then you can accept it for what it does! And it does a good job in that genre. Obviously it doesnt have the resources of a Newstalk or RTE but I think it does a good job. There are major problems there too....

Billy McCarthy has rested on his laurels for far too long and he does need to shake it up or be shaken. Even when Maria McCann is on for him (as in today) she seems to be completely tied by the protocols that perhaps BmcC has laid down for his replacement!

News is a serious issue there - there are too many times when it seems to be a happy love in with the local politicians, The quality of news reports is very poor and that responsibility rests with the head of news which is Liz Reddy. Granted her own delivery is excellent but Mark Power has been there for a long time and still sounds as if he only just started yesterday. The other girls are also poor but there never seems to be improvement.

Sport is one area that can make or break a station and I think WLR does an ok job but could be way better! Their live soccer and GAA coverage is very good but they tend to fall down in everything else. Even for instance last Friday was the start of the new League of Ireland and yet there was little coverage of the Blues cos of the Hurling at WIT!

The Saturday show with Matt Keane and the other guy(name escapes me) seems to be a little strained between the two guys ( which begs the question, why are they paying two people to do the same show!)

BTW the Noctor show is probably the worst radio show in the universe!

As for the music, it is targetted at an older audience so the younger ones can listen to Beat. I used to really enjoy Roddy Cleere's Irish show on a Friday evening and even liked the musicals show on Sunday evening - don'y like Billy McC doing it - much prefered the two girls before him. As for the others I can take or leave them but all in all I think WLR is not the worst and while there is plenty of room for improvement it achieves the aim of providing a decent local station.

If I had one message for the powers that be at the place it would be to start to believe your slogan and work on being "First for Waterford" cos you're not quite there yet!

nkay1985

scout353 wrote: »

As for the music, it is targetted at an older audience so the younger ones can listen to Beat. I used to really enjoy Roddy Cleere's Irish show on a Friday evening and even liked the musicals show on Sunday evening - don'y like Billy McC doing it - much prefered the two girls before him. As for the others I can take or leave them but all in all I think WLR is not the worst and while there is plenty of room for improvement it achieves the aim of providing a decent local station.

Here is where I have a major issue with WLR. If you don't like music from 50 years ago, you must like Lady GaGa, Beyonce and whatever other shite Beat play. There's no variety there for the most part.

Totally agree with you about the Musicals show with Billy McCarthy doing it: used to really enjoy it, not so much now.