Today FM Megathread Mod warning post #1 / #1401

Breaston Plants

Muireann O' Connell's fake laugh and fake enthusiasm is AMAZING.

MikeyTaylor

Breaston Plants wrote: »

Muireann O' Connell's fake laugh and fake enthusiasm is AMAZING.

I wouldn't have her on a hospital station let alone a national one.

threein99

johnire wrote: »

Isn’t he dreadful? He’s an absolute pain to listen to.

I gave up, 20k is not worth listening to him

BPKS

I was in the car Saturday evening/night for a good bit - and it just confirmed that the best music shows by far on Today FM are on at weekends.

The new show at 6 on Saturdays, Block Rockin Beats is decent. Kelly Anne Byrne's show is brilliant - but I probably didnt need to tell you that.

And on Sundays then you have the unbeatable Eds Songs of Praise. I usually listen back to Nadine O Regans show during the week and its often a really good listen too.

A bit disappointed that Delemere is leaving Sunday morning - it was always grand background noise having a cup of coffee and reading the paper or travelling to a match on Sunday mornings.

johnire

Yea- I have to say she’s incredibly irritating. Everything or everyone is amazing or wonderful. It’s just too much. She’s really difficult to listen to.

Breaston Plants wrote: »

Muireann O' Connell's fake laugh and fake enthusiasm is AMAZING.

Claude Burgundy

MikeyTaylor wrote: »

I wouldn't have her on a hospital station let alone a national one.

Hmmmm I wonder who you'd put in her place

Claude Burgundy

BPKS wrote: »

I was in the car Saturday evening/night for a good bit - and it just confirmed that the best music shows by far on Today FM are on at weekends.

The new show at 6 on Saturdays, Block Rockin Beats is decent. Kelly Anne Byrne's show is brilliant - but I probably didnt need to tell you that.

And on Sundays then you have the unbeatable Eds Songs of Praise. I usually listen back to Nadine O Regans show during the week and its often a really good listen too.

A bit disappointed that Delemere is leaving Sunday morning - it was always grand background noise having a cup of coffee and reading the paper or travelling to a match on Sunday mornings.

Its the best show on radio for me, the mix of music is on no other show.

MikeyTaylor

Claude Burgundy wrote: »

Hmmmm I wonder who you'd put in her place

Brian Maher or Eoghan McDermott

Claude Burgundy

MikeyTaylor wrote: »

Brian Maher or Eoghan McDermott

Is the love affair over ???

Skid X

I got a survey from Today FM today asking my opinions on names for Digital Radio Stations.

There were proposed names for Eighties, Nineties, Noughties and Alternative channels.

It would be interesting to see them launch one or more new stations.

wnolan1992

Y'know, everyone who's into radio always says the best shows are at weekends. Mostly, IMO, because presenters seem to have a greater degree of freedom and can play more niche music off playlist.

I would genuinely love to know what the reception would be to a weekday daytime show that was produced with that same spirit. Just let the DJ do what they want (within the broad format of the station obviously).

Like, taking Today FM as an example, Ray D'Arcy was very successful despite his show not slotting neatly into the format (missing the odd song slot, segments running long, more diverse music (in the early days) than the rest of the station). Ray Foley has yet to be surpassed in the lunchtime slot in terms of listeners, and he'd often do shows where he, JP, Ann and Adele would talk nonsense from 12:10 when the news ended until 12:30 when they'd suddenly realise they'd been talking for ages and would slap on a song.

Maybe I'm just an idealistic old fool, but I honestly don't get WHY radio stations have adopted the "focus-group-a-show-to-death" route with rigid playlists and tight time-limited segments.

gamecube

wnolan1992......Is it because the station bosses are too afraid to take a chance on these type of shows during the week?

Where are all of the listeners that used to listen to Today fm 10 years ago gone to? 2fm & a mix of the local stations or is it that there are more stations today to take these listeners?

I suppose with Dan Healy & 2fm being successful with their set play list Today fm management don't want to steer to far away from that template in case they lose more listeners during the week? Cause it's Monday-Friday that really makes the money from advertisers I take it?

carq

How is muireann o connell on the air?
It has to be the worst show i have ever heard.

1 whole week of ' what should my new name be ?'

Her 'hilarious' 5 minute stories of daily non events that happen to fill up time before playing hudson taylor or Picture this AGAIN

It really sounds like she is winging it desperately trying to fill up time , scratching around drawn out anecdotes .

I think we have reached peak 'must get a woman dj for any vacant role' as she cannot have gotten the post on merit .

redbuck

Muireann has been inflicted on me at work this week.

Monday: fine.

Tuesday: getting a little annoying.

Wednesday: very annoying.

Thursday: *radio flies out the window*.

PopePalpatine

gamecube wrote: »

wnolan1992......Is it because the station bosses are too afraid to take a chance on these type of shows during the week?

Where are all of the listeners that used to listen to Today fm 10 years ago gone to? 2fm & a mix of the local stations or is it that there are more stations today to take these listeners?

I suppose with Dan Healy & 2fm being successful with their set play list Today fm management don't want to steer to far away from that template in case they lose more listeners during the week? Cause it's Monday-Friday that really makes the money from advertisers I take it?

That would be my theory, 10 years ago you didn't have music streaming services like Spotify. At that time I had a little Nokia flip phone that had 32MB of storage, so it was either use the FM radio app or leave no room for photos.

gamecube

What year do people here think was the golden age of Today FM? (Monday-Friday daytime schedule)

hullaballoo

Lads, we're all just getting older. Today FM used to have content that we all loved because it was targeted at us. Now, it's targeted at people younger than us so the content is for them, not for us.

The brain floss that's been on Spin for years is now migrating over to the main national stations because that's what their target audiences are after now. That's why you've got shoite like the 5@5 on TLW.

Ugh. It's the same all over the old media. They are trying to reinvent themselves because they can no longer make the money they used to. The result is that quality and integrity have gone out the window and it's all formula-based, vacuous and populist.

I will look very old for saying this but the target audience are not interested in engaging with "heavier" topics or anything that might challenge them intellectually so the content has to be pitched at their level to get them to tune in.

All that said, I still cannot reason out the weekday playlist because it makes no sense to anyone.

ford fiesta

gamecube wrote: »

What year do people here think was the golden age of Today FM? (Monday-Friday daytime schedule)

depends on your age but i would say 2001

wnolan1992

gamecube wrote: »

wnolan1992......Is it because the station bosses are too afraid to take a chance on these type of shows during the week?

Where are all of the listeners that used to listen to Today fm 10 years ago gone to? 2fm & a mix of the local stations or is it that there are more stations today to take these listeners?

I suppose with Dan Healy & 2fm being successful with their set play list Today fm management don't want to steer to far away from that template in case they lose more listeners during the week? Cause it's Monday-Friday that really makes the money from advertisers I take it?

But like, what I was trying to get at is that I don't understand why management are so afraid to take chances and let shows off the leash a bit. If it had utterly tanked the station when they had shows that were doing that, I'd understand it. But it's the opposite. When the daytime shows had a degree of freedom the station was a runaway success. When they started tightening up and imposing a strict format and rigid playlists, listenership began to fall.

Admittedly, this is the perspective of a listener, so I don't know what's happening in the background, but it just seems to me that they seem to be doing the exact opposite of what made them a success IMO.

gamecube wrote: »

What year do people here think was the golden age of Today FM? (Monday-Friday daytime schedule)

I think 2007-2011 is hard to top. There were better periods for individual shows (Ray D'Arcy and Ian Dempsey were better in the 2001-2005 era) but as a whole I think the station thrived in the late noughties.

You'd Ian on Breakfast, Ray D'Arcy still upbeat enough (definitely beginning to decline as the recession set in, but still decent as opposed to what he became in 2011-2014), Ray Foley smashing it on lunchtimes, Tony Fenton on afternoons and Matt Cooper on drive followed by Tom Dunne and later Paul McLoone doing alternative stuff.

In those days it was truly a station you could leave on from first thing in the morning until last thing at night.

2007-2008 would have been the absolute best, as Tom Dunne was still presenting Pet Sounds to round off the day.

Declan A Walsh

gamecube wrote: »

What year do people here think was the golden age of Today FM? (Monday-Friday daytime schedule)

For me, it was 1997 - 1998, i.e. its first year. Radio Ireland/Today FM was at its most innovative stage then.

It had a variety of specialist music programs, e.g. The River of Soul (Karl Tsigdinos), The Eclectic Ballroom (John Kelly), The Celtic Reel (Ita Ryan), The Cream of Irish (Paul Power) and a dance show presented by Mark Kavanagh, and unusual talk-based shows, e.g. Murray and Mackey, The Sunday Supplement presented by John Ryan and The Last Word presented by Eamon Dunphy. You had Philip Boucher-Hayes with his midday entertainment-oriented show.

It was an exciting period in the history of the station.

gamecube

Ray Foley putting the boot into Today FM on his NTN podcast was a really dumb mistake, if he had said nothing he could be back on the station again today but he has truly burned those bridges forever

Maybe we are getting too old and looking back on Today FM with rose tinted glasses, would younger listeners today listen to the shows we listened to 10 years ago?

(wnolan1992 is you could upload those NTN podcasts i'd love to listen to them again!)

threein99

gamecube wrote: »

Ray Foley putting the boot into Today FM on his NTN podcast was a really dumb mistake, if he had said nothing he could be back on the station again today but he has truly burned those bridges forever

Maybe we are getting too old and looking back on Today FM with rose tinted glasses, would younger listeners today listen to the shows we listened to 10 years ago?

(wnolan1992 is you could upload those NTN podcasts i'd love to listen to them again!)

What did he say ?

threein99

Muireann sounds like she had a big snow day sesh yesterday

scrimpinsave

gamecube wrote: »

Ray Foley putting the boot into Today FM on his NTN podcast was a really dumb mistake, if he had said nothing he could be back on the station again today but he has truly burned those bridges forever

Maybe we are getting too old and looking back on Today FM with rose tinted glasses, would younger listeners today listen to the shows we listened to 10 years ago?

(wnolan1992 is you could upload those NTN podcasts i'd love to listen to them again!)

What did he say? From the way things are now Today FM is in such a bad way that he might be better off. It's bad enough for him that he was on 98FM, which is a disaster. To go back to Today FM as it is now would be a very bad move. Yes it's a national station but it is a shadow of its former self.

Ursus Horribilis

https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=102029768&postcount=5531

From wnolan1992
TL;DL Version: Anton asked Ray how he felt after the 98 thing didn't work. Ray gave the standard "Ah, t'was sh*te it didn't work out, but hey, I've moved on." answer. Anton pressed the issue, so Ray essentially said:
Coming up to the end of his time in 98, he had numerous meetings with management in Today FM who told him they had a gig for him on weekends at first, and go from there then.
He had a meeting with a higher up in Today FM (he said level above management) and it was confirmed.
Two weeks before he was due to start, got a phone call to say it was off. Ray asked for a reason, was told they couldn't give a reason.

This apparently caused a bit of a sh*t-storm in Today FM after interview and Anton's team took a bit of flak.

Ursus Horribilis

gamecube wrote: »

Ray Foley putting the boot into Today FM on his NTN podcast was a really dumb mistake, if he had said nothing he could be back on the station again today but he has truly burned those bridges forever

Yep, it was a shortsighted move. Management comes and goes on these stations. The people who *allegedly* shafted him might be gone now. As to where they are gone...well that's another reason why keeping one's mouth shut is a wise approach. The radio industry in Ireland is very small.

Maybe we are getting too old and looking back on Today FM with rose tinted glasses, would younger listeners today listen to the shows we listened to 10 years ago?

I think it's a frustration at not having a decent radio station to listen to now, as much as anything else. I would love to have a radio station like the old Today FM on air. But there is nothing out there and that's what's annoying. I can understand why they and 2FM had to go for a younger audience. There comes a time in those sorts of radio stations' lives where they have to stop ageing along with their audience and to appeal to the younger people coming along. Sadly, there is nowhere for the older audience to go. In the UK, there's BBC Radio 2 and Radio 6 for people who aren't into Radio 1 any more. There are lots of other radio stations too. If I sit into my car right now, all I can pick up are the RTEs, Today FM, Newstalk, iRadio and the local station which is awful.

Ultimate Seduction

Limericks live 95 is an excellent listen. I switch to it at 12 each day for "guess the year". That Muireann one actually drives me crazy, absolute cringe fest!

gamecube

Ursus... there is nothing for our age group to listen to in the car, that is true

And the local stations around Ireland aint all the great with their content either, you are right also on that one

Looks like the BBC have everything covered and RTE are a long way behind

wnolan1992

On the age thing, I'm pretty much smack bang in the middle of the demographic they'd be aiming for now, assuming they're going for the 18-34's.

Granted, my taste probably skews a few years older because (and I don't know how to phrase this without sounding like a pompous twat, but hey, y'all are used to that at this stage) I'm "in to" radio and listen a lot, but Today FM currently just doesn't do it for me on any level. I like Muireann, I like D&D, I like Matt Cooper and Ian Dempsey, but I don't like any of their shows enough to actually regularly listen.

Like, if they were doing well listener wise, I'd fully be willing to say "Yeah, it's just not for me." 2FM is a prime example here. Apart from Eoghan McDermott and possibly Tracy Clifford, none of 2FMs shows are what I would listen to. But they've been gaining listeners steadily, so I can at least appreciate that they're appealing to someone.

Similarly, the likes of Spin SW and the other regional youth stations. Not all of it appeals to me, but from an objective standpoint I can stand back and say "Yeah, they're doing some good stuff there. They know their market and appeal to it well."

I dunno, I think it's too simplistic to just say "We're too old.", I think if Today FM was producing good stuff that just wasn't for us, we'd be able to stand back and say "Yeah, that's alright, it's just not for me."

Ursus Horribilis

wnolan1992 wrote: »

I dunno, I think it's too simplistic to just say "We're too old.", I think if Today FM was producing good stuff that just wasn't for us, we'd be able to stand back and say "Yeah, that's alright, it's just not for me."

Maybe what they're producing is good stuff but just not to our taste? I grew up in an era where the DJs didn't sound like they were high on kool-aid, playing the same songs over and over again and getting all their ideas from Twitter. I'd love to hear the thoughts of younger listeners to the station but not many of them frequent this forum.