Will Leahy show axed

LizT

Am a huge fan of Rick O'Shea and I'd stay tuned into Will for the afternoon. Can't stand Colm, find him too preachy and serious. Don't think he's suited to the drivetime slot, I won't be rushing to tune in anyway. Don't like the way they're focusing purely on Dublin listeners (or seem to be).

Really sorry for Will

Firedance

Sweaty Betty wrote: »

Am a huge fan of Rick O'Shea and I'd stay tuned into Will for the afternoon. Can't stand Colm, find him too preachy and serious. Don't think he's suited to the drivetime slot, I won't be rushing to tune in anyway. Don't like the way they're focusing purely on Dublin listeners (or seem to be).

Really sorry for Will

As a Dublin listener I'm equally unimpressed, sorry but the shows do not need to be based in Dublin to work, how does location matter to a radio show? Will is brilliant and obviously much loved by his fans judging by this response!! I hope he's seeing all of this outrage. His was the last 2fm show I still tuned in to, I'll be switching off after tomorrow!

Leitrim Lady

I wonder will the new show continue with the "Special song"...I have an email sent in since early last year for May this year.Ill be really disappointed if they axed this.It'llleave a lot of people upset.
It's the sentiment that's attached to a lot of these letters that matter so would be very disappointing...:mad:

Eoin 19

I am absolutely disgusted, enraged and disappointed over the decision to demote Will Leahy from his weekday show. I don't even know where to begin..

I am just sickened to the pit of my stomach that Colm Hayes is taking over. I had a feeling they were going to pull the plug on Will's show - but the fact he is being replaced by that yoke is just baffling!! Will swapping slots with Ruth & Paddy would have been fine but Colm Hayes just turns my stomach!!

Will had 110,000 Daily Listners and his rival on Today FM Matt Cooper had 160,000. They were two very different shows (one music driven, the other talk driven). Will's show was the most popular on 2fm among Under 35's (only to be pipped to the post by Hector last week when he gained 12,000 new listeners (YET, HE WAS ALSO GIVEN THE BOOT!!!!)

If Dan Healy (whom I had high hopes for) thinks that replacing Will Leahy with... Colm Hayes... is going to drive the ratings up in that time slot well he is in for some shock.

The notion of 2fm trying to appeal to the audiences already hogged by FM104, Spin, 98fm is so laughable! Those 'Dublin Listeners' that Dan Healy is craving are not going next to near 2fm anytime soon - they abandoned the station years and years ago. However, the incredibly loyal listeners from all over the country (including some in Dublin too!) who were devoted to shows on 2fm like Hector, Larry Gogan and Will Leahy, are going to flee the station in their droves. I am an 19 year old who lives in Meath. I have listened to 2fm religiously - only tuning into other stations for bits of news and music I liked. I loved Hector and Larry Gogan but Will Leahy's show was unmissable. I have listened from day 1 when I was in 6th Class in Primary School. Will Leahy's show has been there in the background after school for 6 years - now it's been taken off the air for no reason!!!

In a years time when Dan Healy sits down to assess the damage he has done to 2fm, I can predict almost perfectly what the scenario will be..

-- Bernard, Jennifer and Keith drop from the 136,000 listeners to around 110,000 after not picking up any new listeners from 'Dublin' and having lost a huge amount of people who loved Hector's show.

-- Tubridy still flat around the 140,000/ 150,000 mark. He is such an insufferable snob and his attempts to talk to 'ordinary people' about 'ordinary issues' are pathetic and cringeworthy.

-- Nicky Bryne. His 3 HOUR slot with that bimbo Lottie Ryan will be a gigantic FLOP. He has no presence. His voice is like a drill in one's head and he is completely unsuited to the type of show they are trying to create. He will lose listeners and pick up no new ones.

-- Colm Hayes. I just despise this man. His 'Man Utd' 'Up The Dubs' style is vile. He will drop to under 100,000. Between him coughing and spluttering from having been smoking all day and his endless drivel, he has no hope of matching Will.

I give the "new2fm" 18 Months. Then Dan Healy will resign/ be sacked and back to the drawing board AGAIN!

I really don't get the logic behind this awful decision. How does moving all of the shows from regional centres like Galway and Limerick back to Donnybrook make 2fm any more appealing to Dublin listeners??

Eoin 19

Will Leahy won't be long about leaving 2fm. He will be snapped up by the likes of Today FM or a big regional station. He is so warm, cheerful, pleasant on the radio and is somebody people can relate to. He comes across as very intelligent and well informed on issues so could slot in very well to a talk show.

Insulting the man by handing him the graveyard shift of 5-7 on a Saturday and Sunday and nobody is tuning into the radio is just appalling.

L1011

Eoin 19 wrote: »

Will Leahy won't be long about leaving 2fm. He will be snapped up by the likes of Today FM or a big regional station. He is so warm, cheerful, pleasant on the radio and is somebody people can relate to. He comes across as very intelligent and well informed on issues so could slot in very well to a talk show.

Insulting the man by handing him the graveyard shift of 5-7 on a Saturday and Sunday and nobody is tuning into the radio is just appalling.

Will Leahy has a weekday job which he has zero intent of leaving. As mentioned on the other thread, he needs to work from a studio in Limerick - something only RTE, Spin SW and Live95 definitely have access to. Communicorp or UTV may be able to use their group facilities there, but not guaranteed.

http://www.leahyandpartners.com/profile.html

whomitconcerns

never knew that...fair play to him.

tony1980

MYOB wrote: »

Will Leahy has a weekday job which he has zero intent of leaving. As mentioned on the other thread, he needs to work from a studio in Limerick - something only RTE, Spin SW and Live95 definitely have access to. Communicorp or UTV may be able to use their group facilities there, but not guaranteed.

http://www.leahyandpartners.com/profile.html

Anyone else think your man Alec Gabbett from the link above is the head off Jason Alexander from Seinfeld

ford fiesta

Is John Clarke the producer of the Will Leahy show..If so, will he producing Colm Hayes show?

bbability

ford fiesta wrote: »

Is John Clarke the producer of the Will Leahy show..If so, will he producing Colm Hayes show?

I believe its John's daughter Lindy.

Let be honest here and get to the root of the issue. The new boss has made changes which will be welcomed like a lead balloon. The fact is national radio is changing and turing into a place of how many twitter followers you have rather than promote the guys and girls from the indies.
It's not "who you know" these days it's "who you are". It's only the start of the changing culture. The young ones nowadays on Spin and IRadio will need more than the college cert and experience on air, looks like they'll need dancing lessons, boy band experience and other means and ways of pimping their public image.

hufpc8w3adnk65

Will must have mentioned all the free time hes going too have about 10 times

L1011

Interesting bitching session about the licence fee there earlier!

ford fiesta

Lindy Clarke currently produces the golden hour. John produces will leahy from dublin

testarossa40

ford fiesta wrote: »

Lindy Clarke currently produces the golden hour. John produces will leahy from dublin

Thought Mike Cahill produced Will Leahy?

dr Golden

testarossa40 wrote: »

Thought Mike Cahill produced Will Leahy?

He used too but he moved to the Rick O'Shea show

GSF

bbability wrote: »

I believe its John's daughter Lindy.

Is everybody working in 2fm related to everyone else?

Eoin 19

Like do they seriously think they are going to boost ratings in the 4.30pm - 7pm slot by dumping Will Leahy and installing this yoke as his replacement....



I don't mean to sound so personal but he makes my skin crawl... his 'Up the Dubs' 'Hon United' 'COYBIG' attitute is horrible....

BNMC

Can't stand that tool either.

Listened to Will Leahy every evening on my way home from work, he was good fun without being over bearing and he didn't seem to up his own arse.

I'll especially miss the security guard's jokes and special song.

ford fiesta

GSF wrote: »

Is everybody working in 2fm related to everyone else?

Slightly off topic - does Mike Ryan (Gerry's brother) produce a show on 2FM?? Does he put together the overnight output??. I know he still works in RTE radio anyway.

What shows does Aidan Leonard produce?

Eoin 19

I can say 100% I won't be listening to 2fm Monday-Friday. If Chris Greene & Ciara King are on at night I might dip in and out though..

Apart from that there is nothing there for me.. Overall the new schedule is cold and full of utter arseholes who are so far detached from reality. The sense of community that was there on the station from Hector's show and Will's show is just gone. The station is just, in one word, COLD.

The breakfast show will just be sneery and uncomfortable to listen to. Tubridy is as snobby and distant as usual. Listening to him today being so awfully patronising towards Larry Gogan and his "milk man dropping the bottle of milk on the doorstep" was ridiculous. Nicky Byrne's show has disaster written all over it. Rick O'Shea is alright but I find him difficult to listen to at times. Colm Hayes then is just vile. Absolutely vile. I'm assuming going by reports the rest of the evening will be Game On with another Dub Damien O'Meara!! He will I presume be followed by that Louise McSharry who is ok but don't see anything special there... Chris Greene and Ciara King are fine, I'll tune into them.

Weekend look great on the other hand with Will, Ruth & Paddy and Larry - all my favourite hosts because they are warm, cheery and easy to listen to. Wasted at the weekend.

Dan Healy - you have destroyed 2fm for me. I always defended the station because I enjoyed listening to it. Now, I'm gone.

This wave of criticisim you are getting for this "'#new2fm" is not going to go away or settle. It is going to persist and will result in thousands and thousands of people from outside of Dublin, who were loyal to the station, abandoning it in their droves. The new listeners in Dublin you were hoping to attract are not going to be tuning into 2fm anytime soon - then you'll have created a right fine mess for yourself!

blue4ever

Eoin 19 wrote: »

'Up the Dubs'

Nothing wrong with that [say's Blue 4 Ever !!]

greengirl31

blue4ever wrote: »

Nothing wrong with that [say's Blue 4 Ever !!]

No there isn't ... If your a Dublin station. But when you're a nationwide broadcaster it may grate on everybody that's not from Dublin. I'm a Dub too and it grates on me a bit too

QuiteInterestin

Leitrim Lady wrote: »

I wonder will the new show continue with the "Special song"...I have an email sent in since early last year for May this year.Ill be really disappointed if they axed this.It'llleave a lot of people upset.
It's the sentiment that's attached to a lot of these letters that matter so would be very disappointing...:mad:

To be honest I hope they get rid of it, not because it isn't a good part of the show (I really like it) but I hate to think of Colm Hayes getting listeners in on a part of the show that was introduced and built up by Will Leahy. If he's so great, let him come up with his own ways to bring in listeners.

Ash.J.Williams

why are all the performers moved or fired and tubridy the biggest listener loser remains safe?

JoeA3

QuiteInterestin wrote: »

To be honest I hope they get rid of it, not because it isn't a good part of the show (I really like it) but I hate to think of Colm Hayes getting listeners in on a part of the show that was introduced and built up by Will Leahy. If he's so great, let him come up with his own ways to bring in listeners.

While it was a nice fluffy feature, it was hardly unique or original. Gareth cheesy O'Callaghan was doing a similar feature on his afternoon show 20 years ago

Ash.J.Williams

i new something terrible was happening at 2fm when the new boss announced that there will be no more music from before 2000 on the the playlist!!

blue4ever

greengirl31 wrote: »

No there isn't ... If your a Dublin station. But when you're a nationwide broadcaster it may grate on everybody that's not from Dublin. I'm a Dub too and it grates on me a bit too

And i agree (very sensitive souls here today!)

But, see the attached - that's what is fixating the station bosses and it's their remedy.

It becomes even more pronounced when you look at how they do in the regional franchises - then compare that to the Dublin Market.

http://www.ilevel.ie/media-blog/radio/regional-stations-2013-q4

C

Eoin 19

I think 2fm will have to at some point at least address what is going on..

On the Official 2fm Facebook Page and Will Leahy's own page, 99.9% of the comments are extremely negative.

The facebook page calling for Will Leahy to be re-instated has now over 5,500 likes. 5,500 Facebook likes would in my mind represent 10,000 - 15,000 listeners that will abandon the slot and the station.

I think they are making a huge mistake and I am sure Today FM are just rubbing their hands with glee at this stage!

JoeA3

Eoin 19 wrote: »

I think 2fm will have to at some point at least address what is going on..

On the Official 2fm Facebook Page and Will Leahy's own page, 99.9% of the comments are extremely negative.

The facebook page calling for Will Leahy to be re-instated has now over 5,500 likes. 5,500 Facebook likes would in my mind represent 10,000 - 15,000 listeners that will abandon the slot and the station.

I think they are making a huge mistake and I am sure Today FM are just rubbing their hands with glee at this stage!

Yeah, but in a few days it'll all be forgotten about and the Facebook keyboard warriors will have something else to vent their outrage about

reg114

Eoin 19 wrote: »

I think 2fm will have to at some point at least address what is going on..

On the Official 2fm Facebook Page and Will Leahy's own page, 99.9% of the comments are extremely negative.

The facebook page calling for Will Leahy to be re-instated has now over 5,500 likes. 5,500 Facebook likes would in my mind represent 10,000 - 15,000 listeners that will abandon the slot and the station.

I think they are making a huge mistake and I am sure Today FM are just rubbing their hands with glee at this stage!

Today fm ? How exactly ? Will Leahy is based in limerick, Today fm are based in Dublin. It wont make a blind bit of difference to Today fm what happens to Will leahy. 2FM have been losing 1000's of listeners every month for years, the current schedule changes will continue this trend, and dont think there will be any consequences for 2fm management becasue there wont.

What id love to know is where is jenny greene in the new schedule? Dan healy last summer couldnt speak highly enough of her, she's easily one of the most credible presenters on radio in the country, was Dan Healy just talking bluster as seems to be his manner ?

stop animal cruelty

Can't believe its over :,( good song choice tho...really is an end of an era....

Addle

stop animal cruelty wrote: »

Can't believe its over :,( good song choice tho...really is an end of an era....

What was the last song?

hufpc8w3adnk65

stop animal cruelty wrote: »

Can't believe its over :,( good song choice tho...really is an end of an era....

This...


Also gareth o Callaghan laid into the 2fm higher arcy on his show a bit earlyier!

QuiteInterestin

Was it ever explained why the show was ending today when his new show doesn't start for a few weeks? Why was it axed with 3 days notice and then have Paddy McKenna filling in while they sort out the new schedule? Could they not have left it how it was until the new schedule started?

Skuxx

Addle wrote: »

What was the last song?

Drive by The Cars was the last song!

I think this will be a big mistake by 2fm, I'll be back to my iPod for the drive home in the evenins from now on! I used to look forward to a long drive knowing Will would be on!
Such a shame 2fm!

bbability

I must commend Will Leahy on a most dignified show and ending this evening. Let's be all aware that he is not leaving by choice and that Colm Hayes moves to this slot in a few weeks not by choice so let time be the judge of this shambolic new schedule. I thought Will's last link was very professional and his song choice was hit the nail on the head "Can't go on, thinking Nothings wrong". Really and truly I just can't see anything changing for the better.

hufpc8w3adnk65

http://youtu.be/DrgSzcctUyY Will's final song. Great choice. Although hes in trouble now for playing a song before the year 2000 I'd imagine ha ha!! top class broadcaster and if hes going too be the lead into Jenny greenes electric disco each sat then 2fm will be on 2 earlyier on a sat evening in my car!

flutered

Patty O Furniture wrote: »

They dont know what they're doing in that station as Fanning & Gogan were already on w/ends before they got shifted to weekdays



It was a shock when i saw a twitter link here & press release here

I haven't listened to Will Leahy in a long while, as someone else has Todayfm on in the background, but he wasn't the worst, i'd have moved that big ballbag that is Hayes to w/ends.

Its gonna be called now The Less Music Drive/More Drivel Show

Here's what the official 2fm facebook page says

It's a good thing Will has a side job as he was a solicitor before radio,

leahy is still a practicing solicitor, he handles the jucey limerick co. council portifolio, he also works, or did as a dj for live95fm in limerick, no fear of our will.

Warningsign

bbability wrote: »

I must commend Will Leahy on a most dignified show and ending this evening. Let's be all aware that he is not leaving by choice and that Colm Hayes moves to this slot in a few weeks not by choice so let time be the judge of this shambolic new schedule. I thought Will's last link was very professional and his song choice was hit the nail on the head "Can't go on, thinking Nothings wrong". Really and truly I just can't see anything changing for the better.

You changed your tune....

downonthefarm

dpofloinn wrote: »

So which one of the Donnybrook luvvies will take over?

What's laura woods doing this weather

dr Golden

Tbh i don't understand why Will Leahy was so upset ! He still has a full-time day job as well as weekend radio job.

stop animal cruelty

dr Golden wrote: »

Tbh i don't understand why Will Leahy was so upset ! He still has a full-time day job as well as weekend radio job.

maybe cause he really loved the job and felt it wasn't time to go?

Doodah7

flutered wrote: »

leahy is still a practicing solicitor, he handles the jucey limerick co. council portifolio, he also works, or did as a dj for live95fm in limerick, no fear of our will.

What's this got to do with anything??

dr Golden

At least he isn't going to have to depend on the dole to feed himself and his family like marty Whelan in the early 90s

greenfield21

I'll never listen to 2fm from next week on bloody disgrace no need for it. One thing they done right was axing Larry gogan from weekdays, his music choice was awful one minute 70s music then new music. Bring back will Leahy.

Rock Solid

I was listening to him yesterday and he did sound upset, and I can understand why, he loved the show and put his all into it, people should text John Clarke tomorrow during his show as he was the producer for Will, maybe that will have some positive result in Rte reversing the situation. I wont be listening to Colm Hayes on Monday just dont like the guy.

Max_Charger

Had to laugh when Will said someone in studio "came down for the funeral".

purplecow1977

Was it not true then when he said he knew it was coming for a while, or was it sprung upon him?

stop animal cruelty

purplecow1977 wrote: »

Was it not true then when he said he knew it was coming for a while, or was it sprung upon him?

I heard about it, the week before last, so ld say hes defo knew 2-3 weeks before hand...

Anyone see the fb page "keep will leahy on drivetime" they posted this...

"Right guys this page is definitely causing serious shock waves at 2fm...and I can say that a return might not be completely out of the question...keep up the pressure

‪#‎bringbackwill‬"

A bit of hope....

purplecow1977

Yep saw that post.
As someone else posted further down (I've been reading and liking a lot of comments!) though, Will is a proud man and I doubt he'd come back to weekday just now because of a petition etc. I will definitely be trying to catch a listen at the weekends but doesn't really suit me to listen to the radio then - I'll have to catch a podcast! I'm really disappointed and couldn't believe it when he announced it.