All new Phantom mid Sept. '13???

Ultimate Ultan

Just heard Richie McCormack say that Phantom will be playing more music from Fugazi from the 16th of September on. I wonder are they going for the greying Indie market?

RichieMc

Aren't you a wee Curious George....

windowcleaner

Too little, too late

RichieMc

windowcleaner wrote: »

Too little, too late

Yet still you continue to comment here....

Ultimate Ultan

Still the best station for music the country has, by a long shot.

KingOfFairview

So was this just a flip remark, or is there a major change on the way?

Ultimate Ultan

Nope, something's going to happen. The two Richie's mentioned it last night. As I remember it, RMC said that RR was in early as he had to write up a press release for the big change in Sept. Maybe RMC, who commented above, could throw some us a bone? Eh? Richie? G'wan! We won't tell anyone.

Fingers crossed that part of the change is a much broader play list. Sick of hearing Vampire Weekend all the time.
(Okay, well it seems like all the time to me...)

ghostdancer

mid-September seems to be contract expiring time in Phantom, going on previous departures...

hopefully it's not going for the "greying indie market" tbh. the listening figures would dwindle even further, although i'm not sure how much smaller they can possibly get, going on recent piss-poor JNLR figures....

Ultimate Ultan

Well I have to say, in fairness, that I had a JNLR canvasser turn up at my door, but I was too old to fit their criteria. Were I the right age, Phantom's listener ship figures would have been through the roof. So realise that JNLR is a random role of the dice. (I'm not making this up, I really did.)

I repeat what I said earlier, Phantom is the best station for music in Ireland, bar none.

I will admit that a "greying indie market" does not seem like a market to go for , but think of how many great Bowie, Stones, Kinks, Waits etc., tunes are never heard any more? They're are as inspirational now as they have ever been, and were Phantom to play them, then they would have an appreciative audience. (Now realistically, I don't expect back to back classics, but were they to introduce classics to their every dwindling play list, I'd be more than happy.)

toastedpickles

^+1 on this, if you go to any other radio station it's just chart drivel, at least these guys play decent songs

In regards to the new phantom I'm all for seeing what happens, maybe the dear John Caddell will play some bon jovi on powerhouse? :pac::pac:

Ultimate Ultan

toastedpickles wrote: »

^+1 on this, if you go to any other radio station it's just chart drivel, at least these guys play decent songs

In regards to the new phantom I'm all for seeing what happens, maybe the dear John Caddell will play some bon jovi on powerhouse? :pac::pac:

No F****ing way. Jovi can stay on Nova!

toastedpickles

Ultimate Ultan wrote: »

No F****ing way. Jovi can stay on Nova!

Ahahahaha

Haha look at them there, Bon jovi, a great bunch of lads

Said nobody ever

RichieMc

ghostdancer wrote: »

mid-September seems to be contract expiring time in Phantom, going on previous departures...

hopefully it's not going for the "greying indie market" tbh. the listening figures would dwindle even further, although i'm not sure how much smaller they can possibly get, going on recent piss-poor JNLR figures....

You judge a station based on JNLR figures? Well then, one can only presume, given her astonishing sales, that you're a massive Emeli Sandé fan, and that Phantom isn't for you.

Or maybe, that you wouldn't find us entertaining as Mrs Brown's Boys is a top-rated comedy here, and that's not really 'us'. Also, given its attendance, you think the Liverpool-Celtic friendly at Lansdowne was the most important game played on this isle in a decade?

Figures don't denote quality, we are damned good at what we do.

One gets the impression, coming here, that absolutely nothing would make the sobriquet-wielding residents of Boards happy, so why they seem to hold a bizarre sense of entitlement over a radio station baffles me.

If any of you, being adults and using actual names, have anything constructive to add, i'd be delighted to hear it.

Warmest regards

Richie

KingOfFairview

It's the best station on the air IMO, but there are some puzzling decisions regarding what gets heavy airplay. BTW is Cinerama still going?

Ultimate Ultan

WHAT? They can't let Cinerama go!!!

KingOfFairview

Ultimate Ultan wrote: »

WHAT? They can't let Cinerama go!!!

No, I mean is it still on?

Ultimate Ultan

KingOfFairview wrote: »

No, I mean is it still on?

Phew... Yeah, Thursday night, 7 till 8.

ghostdancer

RichieMc wrote: »

You judge a station based on JNLR figures? Well then, one can only presume, given her astonishing sales, that you're a massive Emeli Sandé fan, and that Phantom isn't for you.

Or maybe, that you wouldn't find us entertaining as Mrs Brown's Boys is a top-rated comedy here, and that's not really 'us'. Also, given its attendance, you think the Liverpool-Celtic friendly at Lansdowne was the most important game played on this isle in a decade?

Figures don't denote quality, we are damned good at what we do.

One gets the impression, coming here, that absolutely nothing would make the sobriquet-wielding residents of Boards happy, so why they seem to hold a bizarre sense of entitlement over a radio station baffles me.

If any of you, being adults and using actual names, have anything constructive to add, i'd be delighted to hear it.

Warmest regards

Richie

of course i don't judge a station on JNLR figures, but they provide an indication of people's general attitude to the station, not least they're one of the indicators that matter to management when making scheduling choices, and deciding the station's future, as you well know.

Phantom has fallen off a cliff over the last few years in terms of listeners. I have no doubt that individual staff at the station do an excellent job and are great at what they do, but if you're(ie. Phantom) so damned good at what you (pl) do, then why are so many people tuning out?
you can pretend that everything is rosey in the garden, but as someone who had/has friends both on, and off-air on the top floor, i know that's not the case.

i've said multiple times here that the station's general music policy is the reason for the decline IMO. 7am-7pm it's boring, bland and predictable "indie".
there's so much great music out there, both old and new, and what are Phantom doing? playing Kodaline and Bastille every fukcing hour.
the same bands appearing again and again and again on the playlist over the last 5+ years whenever they have a single out.
the only non-indie acts being predictable choices like the Chemical Brothers, Daft Punk and Kanye West.
in this day and age when people have the internet to discover all manner of new artists and genres, Phantom is hopelessly behind the times.

there's some shows, like Derek's, Dee and Claire's Sunday morning ones, and to an extent The Weekender, that I enjoy and actually branch out and don't play the same plodding rubbish as the 7am-7pm weekday shows.

i'm sure you'll just dismiss that all as my personal tastes/opinions, and you're right, that's all they are, but as someone who barely listens to Phantom any more, those are the reasons why. I know several friends are the same.

sense of entitlement? no, just trying to offer some constructive criticism that would hopefully see Phantom thrive and be successful, instead of the downward spiral of the last couple of years, before even more people lose their jobs and the station gets pulled.

hopefully if there is a big change coming in September, it will be breathe new life back into Phantom and it can be as successful as it could and should be. otherwise there mightn't even be a station to discuss this time next year.

Colmkeegan

RichieMc wrote: »

You judge a station based on JNLR figures? Well then, one can only presume, given her astonishing sales, that you're a massive Emeli Sandé fan, and that Phantom isn't for you.

Or maybe, that you wouldn't find us entertaining as Mrs Brown's Boys is a top-rated comedy here, and that's not really 'us'. Also, given its attendance, you think the Liverpool-Celtic friendly at Lansdowne was the most important game played on this isle in a decade?

Figures don't denote quality, we are damned good at what we do.

One gets the impression, coming here, that absolutely nothing would make the sobriquet-wielding residents of Boards happy, so why they seem to hold a bizarre sense of entitlement over a radio station baffles me.

If any of you, being adults and using actual names, have anything constructive to add, i'd be delighted to hear it.

Warmest regards

Richie

Richie you asked for actual real names so here I am. I post in the radio forums and elsewhere but this is me posting as myself.

Ghostdancer below has actually said much of what I wanted to say in this post. It is very well written and I feel sums up much of what people think of Phantom nowadays. It's a sad reality of what Phantom is now.

I don't judge Phantom based on JNLR numbers but in fairness they are a good barometer of the dropoff of interest in Phantom. The problem at Phantom is that not just the numbers have dropped but the quality has too. You say that "we are damned good at what we do" but that needs to be challenged. It is easy to dismiss the listenership figures/boards comments/facebook comments etc but at some point you have to accept that perhaps the problem is not just the JNLR or Boards.ie or people on Facebook criticising the station but perhaps there might be a problem with the stations output that is causing the serious drop off in audience and the online criticism?

Phantom was essential listening three or four years ago but it's now a safe indie station with the odd flashes of what made Phantom interesting in the past. There is no way that a station like Phantom can shed so many of it's good staff and expect to maintain the same level of quality as before. Current Phantom is a big improvement on the mess that it was a year or two ago but it is still coming from a pretty low base. The four hours of ****e in the mornings are followed by better presenters but an only occasionally interesting music selection. The butchering of the weekends has not helped at all.

It's good to see you up for the fight Richie and doubtless there are others in there that think the same as you but that is rarely reflected on air.

Ultimate Ultan

Well it seems to me that there are two things that are coming out of this thread:

1. People want to see Phantom succeed. They know that it is the best/only station for decent music in the land.
2. There needs to be a greater variety in the music played. Too often the same stuff is played to death, when there is a lot of great stuff that isn't getting a chance.

I do hope that both of these things happen. Whenever I go back home to Galway, the stations available to me there, makes me realise how lucky Dublin is to have Phantom, and long may it last.

(No broadband in the family home, so can't listen on line.)

lordgoat

Ultimate Ultan wrote: »

Well it seems to me that there are two things that are coming out of this thread:

1. People want to see Phantom succeed. They know that it is the best/only station for decent music in the land.
2. There needs to be a greater variety in the music played. Too often the same stuff is played to death, when there is a lot of great stuff that isn't getting a chance.

I do hope that both of these things happen. Whenever I go back home to Galway, the stations available to me there, makes me realise how lucky Dublin is to have Phantom, and long may it last.

(No broadband in the family home, so can't listen on line.)

Have you tried flirtfm? The nuig station? Been a few years since i tuned in but from memory they have some good indie shows.

On the hole phantom thing, I think the playlist is way too small. And some of the presenters talk a) too much between tracks and b) over the start/end of a track.

I do think so of the evening shows are excellent but if it's during the day time, I'll listen to Dub City Fm or Newstalk.

Imo LiveDrive from 4-7 has the best playlist for daytime radio. Oddly I'd rather listen to traffic reports than inane chitchat or kookie questions to text in about.

KingOfFairview

I love Phantom, I do think it's the best around and I like all the DJs, but some very odd choices are made for rotation. Laura Marling was being played around the clock, at the same time Queens of the Stone Age were getting only the odd play, college (admittedly an obscure act) had a new one out with no plays at all and so on. I just think some of the choices are odd and seem conspicuously designed to draw in more casual listeners. I understand that, cause the bills have to be paid. But at the same time, I can't help wondering if every play of Adele drives away 3 listeners for every one it brings in.

Nonetheless, it's the only station I listen to, the rest tend to be brutal by comparison.

ghostdancer

the 2 Richies will be hosting a show Mon-Thurs, 7pm-10pm, starting in mid-September, and "will have news, reviews, film, sessions, fully-fledged arguments and is 100% unplaylisted."

KingOfFairview

100% unplaylisted has me intermolested

Eggonyerface

ghostdancer wrote: »

the 2 Richies will be hosting a show Mon-Thurs, 7pm-10pm, starting in mid-September, and "will have news, reviews, film, sessions, fully-fledged arguments and is 100% unplaylisted."

This sounds good.....

Adiaga 2

I wouldnt mind seeing phantom make a play for the greying indie market tbh. Give me teenage fanclub over 2 door cinema club any day.

SebBerkovich

ghostdancer wrote: »

the 2 Richies will be hosting a show Mon-Thurs, 7pm-10pm, starting in mid-September, and "will have news, reviews, film, sessions, fully-fledged arguments and is 100% unplaylisted."

Thats actually, really good news... looking forward

chris_d

that sounds promising, i have always enjoyed those two when they worked together.

recently been noticing a few green shoots in the daytime slot. john caddell seems to start each show with a personal choice and richie mccormack & recently jack hyland have been coming on to caddell's show to shoot the breeze and recommend a forgotten gem. steps in the right direction for sure.

i just really wish they would play a lot more homegrown stuff.

as always, recommend live drive on dublin city and dan hegarty on 2xm for anyone needing a change from phantom.

windowcleaner

RichieMc wrote: »

Yet still you continue to comment here....

saves me having to listen, I suppose.

station gone to the dogs and you know it.

and I hope you have the courtesy to respond in full to Colm Keegan's excellent, considered comment above rather than be flippant

RichieMc

windowcleaner wrote: »

saves me having to listen, I suppose.

station gone to the dogs and you know it.

and I hope you have the courtesy to respond in full to Colm Keegan's excellent, considered comment above rather than be flippant

http://youtu.be/pWdd6_ZxX8c

windowcleaner

Telling that you didn't reply to the considered, thoughtful views of Colm Keegan above. Sad too.