Don't like the way OceanFM is going

Andy From Sligo

OceanFM radio for the Sligo area was always big on country and western music , but it seems now they are moving towards even more of a country and western genre - the latest change (and I am a bit confused as to why) is they have changed schedule from 2pm - 4pm weekdays and where there was a really good DJ called Seamie Mac who had afternoon delight , a sort of like a mix of new and old music, he has left but now been replaced with Paschal Mooney who was normally on a saturday or sunday morning - well the music he plays now is mainly Country & Western .

On OceanFM country and western was at around 7PM every weekday evenings. - With this new shift towards country and western for 2 hours in the daytime am I to presume maybe the listeners in the northwest are mainly of the middle to old age listeners who want to listen to country & western and this is who they are catering for instead of a mix of music?

I recall North-West radio (NWR) years ago loosing their radio licence for the Sligo & northwest area and OceanFM prided themselves on alternative to NWR (part of a pitch most probably to be awarded the licence over NWR - well that and money ) - but now OceanFM is morphing into the previous NWR Radio station now with exactly the same genre in music, Death Notices, Radio Bingo and the like .

I've personally chosen to tune into RTE 2FM or iRadio between 2 & 4 now or one of the UK Heart radio stations. - I have heard a few others saying that they will not listen now Afternoon Delight (well the original one) has finished , if thats true, then that surely is going backwards - loosing viewers because of a fixation on C&W music. ?

T-Bird

Andy From Sligo wrote: »

OceanFM radio for the Sligo area was always big on country and western music , but it seems now they are moving towards even more of a country and western genre - the latest change (and I am a bit confused as to why) is they have changed schedule from 2pm - 4pm weekdays and where there was a really good DJ called Seamie Mac who had afternoon delight , a sort of like a mix of new and old music, he has left but now been replaced with Paschal Mooney who was normally on a saturday or sunday morning - well the music he plays now is mainly Country & Western .

On OceanFM country and western was at around 7PM every weekday evenings. - With this new shift towards country and western for 2 hours in the daytime am I to presume maybe the listeners in the northwest are mainly of the middle to old age listeners who want to listen to country & western and this is who they are catering for instead of a mix of music?

I recall North-West radio (NWR) years ago loosing their radio licence for the Sligo & northwest area and OceanFM prided themselves on alternative to NWR (part of a pitch most probably to be awarded the licence over NWR - well that and money ) - but now OceanFM is morphing into the previous NWR Radio station now with exactly the same genre in music, Death Notices, Radio Bingo and the like .

I've personally chosen to tune into RTE 2FM or iRadio between 2 & 4 now or one of the UK Heart radio stations. - I have heard a few others saying that they will not listen now Afternoon Delight (well the original one) has finished , if thats true, then that surely is going backwards - loosing viewers because of a fixation on C&W music. ?

I had to do a marketing project for work earlier on in the year and their audience was a good bit less than the regional competition. I guess they are copying their formats to get a bigger audience. Wondering if their radio licence allows them to deviate and "clone" themselves?

Andy From Sligo

Mid-West radio can be received in Sligo, no problem - and although I havent listened to MWR for ages now, last time I did listen to it that had overtones of country and western music , and bingo and death notices - so there is no variation. Interesting about the radio licence and what that says/requires.

Fair enough i have a bit of choice with i-radio and 2fm that we can receive in Sligo but then by not tuning into OceanFm I am missing the local news, adverts and other local bits and pieces because I am tuned into another station.

They sort of had it right with talk show in the morning, and i like the francie boylan show, but then at 2pm to 4pm it goes right cultchie now with C&W and I cant take it - does my head in - I some times then switch back to Ocean at 4pm but even that presenter can be a bit of a dryshíte at times and play the same old repetitive songs every day.

"The Perfect Music Mix".. yeah Right! :rolleyes:

"the Wave" is good show, but that is on late at night, good variety of music. - it seems back to front , they should have the variety of music in the daytime and put the C&W shíte* on after 7pm or late at night.

*ps - I dont totally hate C&W .. in fact embarrassingly there are a couple of C&W tunes I quite like ... every now and again ... and at the right time - but to hear one after another throughout the day does me feckin head in and I am all country'd out!

Try listening to Radio Nova, great station and classic hits all day. I listen to it via an internet radio. Actually they are applying for a national FM licence so we may see them on the dial in Sligo.
Who cares about local news when you can easily look it up in t'internet! Local radio, especially for music fans has always been crap, they are more into local issues and information, dire and depressing if you ask me! There is a great big world out there besides always pigeon holing ourselves into local stuff!

ryanch09

zorro2566 wrote: »

Try listening to Radio Nova, great station and classic hits all day. I listen to it via an internet radio. Actually they are applying for a national FM licence so we may see them on the dial in Sligo. Who cares about local news when you can easily look it up in t'internet! Local radio, especially for music fans has always been crap, they are more into local issues and information, dire and depressing if you ask me! There is a great big world out there besides always pigeon holing ourselves into local stuff!

This is great news, always listen to nova when I'm up in Dublin so being able to listen all the way between there and Sligo on the car radio would be great

ryanch09

ryanch09 wrote: »

This is great news, always listen to nova when I'm up in Dublin so being able to listen all the way between there and Sligo on the car radio would be great

Yes I love it, you lose it in the car around Longford, Sligo bound. Hope they get the licence although it may be only multi city but at least the coverage on the road will be better!

Andy From Sligo

OK so basically I had the radio on just then and it was already tuned to OceanFM (havent had a chance to get off me arse and change channels yet) - and I just heard the presenter say something about

"thanks for your requests for pop songs and up to date music to the show, but the station manager has decided he wants this afternoon slot to remain country and western music, so just to let you know if you do request pop songs and the like we wont be playing them on this show"

You couldn't make it up. People are phoning in for requests for up to date songs on the show and its falling on deaf ears, they are not giving the listeners what they want on their local radio station - well if listeners start turning the dial to another station and miss the adverts, lets see what the advertisers think about that!

red sean

Why not ring them up and ask what's going on with the schedule? Or send an email?

Andy From Sligo

red sean wrote: »

Why not ring them up and ask what's going on with the schedule? Or send an email?

hardly gonna listen to liddle ol me

- to be honest as well, with the attitude I heard the DJ say on air today about dont send in requests for other songs because they wont get played - well I think its answered that chestnut. In other words, the Station manager has decided that between 2pm & 4pm it should be country and thats that even though I would say that Seamie Mac afternoon Delight show was miles better, better presenter and better range of music to satisfy a wide audience ... not just a niche of country and western fans.

colm_mcm

I rarely listen to my local station Clare Fm, but they've gone the same way. I'm sure there's some market research that suggests there's people out there that like it. It doesn't seem to be American country music, more Irish artists butchering old songs.

red sean

colm_mcm wrote: »

I rarely listen to my local station Clare Fm, but they've gone the same way. I'm sure there's some market research that suggests there's people out there that like it. It doesn't seem to be American country music, more Irish artists butchering old songs.

It was only last weekend a few of us were chatting in the pub about the very obvious rise in popularity of country music among the young generation. Apparently there was a big country festival in Enniskillen and a the amount of twentysomethings that had gone to it was amazing.
So maybe that is influencing Oceans change in direction.
Contact the Niall Delaney show in the morning about it, after all he's the station manager afaik.

Andy From Sligo

red sean wrote: »

It was only last weekend a few of us were chatting in the pub about the very obvious rise in popularity of country music among the young generation. Apparently there was a big country festival in Enniskillen and a the amount of twentysomethings that had gone to it was amazing.
So maybe that is influencing Oceans change in direction.
Contact the Niall Delaney show in the morning about it, after all he's the station manager afaik.

yep i dont get it but yeah i will concede to that , that some of the younger wans seem to be getting into country and western music (from a farming community maybe, in no way being offensive, its just if their parents are listening to that kind of music maybe thats how they got into it).. although i would concede also that the majority of younger ones are in the majority, id say the younger ones would be more into iRadio or 2fm or other radio station like that.

So, I am thinking that they/station manager have changed the afternoon slot to cater for the middle age to OAP people who love Irish country music and that is where the listenership is .. ah well maybe they are right and I am wrong then, I suppose they know what they are doing , after all I have never run a local radio station before so what do i know?

I most probably would have gone on Niall Delaney show but there's a couple of things - number 1 im too nervous to talk on the radio lol - number 2 I havent got the right voice for radio - number 3 I would like to think he is impartial .. er but if he is the station manager and its his decision I would have me work cut out lol

red sean

Andy From Sligo wrote: »

yep i dont get it but yeah i will concede to that , that some of the younger wans seem to be getting into country and western music (from a farming community maybe, in no way being offensive, its just if their parents are listening to that kind of music maybe thats how they got into it).. although i would concede also that the majority of younger ones are in the majority, id say the younger ones would be more into iRadio or 2fm or other radio station like that.

So, I am thinking that they/station manager have changed the afternoon slot to cater for the middle age to OAP people who love Irish country music and that is where the listenership is .. ah well maybe they are right and I am wrong then, I suppose they know what they are doing , after all I have never run a local radio station before so what do i know?

I most probably would have gone on Niall Delaney show but there's a couple of things - number 1 im too nervous to talk on the radio lol - number 2 I havent got the right voice for radio - number 3 I would like to think he is impartial .. er but if he is the station manager and its his decision I would have me work cut out lol

RE; the bits in bold.
1. Incorrect.
2. If he made the decision and you want him to explain it, where does the impartiality come in? Or is it just for an argument?

Andy From Sligo

red sean wrote: »

RE; the bits in bold.
1. Incorrect.
2. If he made the decision and you want him to explain it, where does the impartiality come in? Or is it just for an argument?

No, im just saying that if it was me running /managing a local radio station and someone was trying to tell me how to run it then i myself might get a bit defensive if i was being told something i dont want to hear.

Look there are 3 ways this could go, its either a brilliant idea and they could bag themselves more listeners, or its a bad idea and they could lose listeners, or as long as they dont loose advertising revenue they might not even care.

I am just a humble listener and had been enjoying the normal format of afternoon delight with seami mac and his play of wide easy listening music, who is now vexed that out of the blue his show has been replaced with irish country music for 2 hours on a local radio station at peak times and from testing the water and from what i hear is that a few more people will be moving the dial when the new slot is on in the afternoon .

Its not the end of the world and luckily i have a radio with more than one station on it and internet radio to boot, i would like to continue to listen to my local sligo radio station all day long if i could without changing, and thats what i was doing but i cant now personally , not with this new schedule

sligojoek

I read your OP around 3.00 the other day, Andy. After 5 mins of Ray Darcy's opening monologue drivel, I said I'd have a listen to Radio Redneck as I'm partial to a bit of country music. When I say country music I mean actual country music. The first song I heard was something about a Tipperary Girl which sounded like a parody of Galway Girl. "Her eyes were blue and she had lovely curls. I'll always love my Tipperary Girl."I went off to another channel after 2 more songs. Not for me.

I said there has to be some directive to play more Irish artists. If I heard a bit of Johnny Cash, Kris Kristofferson, Waylon Jennings etc I might have listened a bit longer.

Can I make as suggestion here Andy?

Do some sort of survey via Boards.ie. is that allowable? And let them have a copy. Maybe they wouldn't be bothered what the ocassional contributor here feels?

Ocean FM probably know what they are doing. I would have thought that any station of its stature should be getting professional consultancy advice as to the target audience to chase. And at the end of the day I would have thought that its all about income from advertising. It has to be. And increasing listenership who are also the advertisers target audience.

In my opinion, Ocean FM is a valuable community resource that has been going down the pan for a few years now. But it still has its strong points.

Niall Delaney is as professional a presenter that you can get. Although his shows can be limited to the news items that are available to him. That's not his shortcoming, and his show is as good as you will get on any local and community radio station in Ireland, and probably much better.

Seamie Mac IMO opinion is the jewel in the crown at present. The Francie and Michelle show has lost its zing since the re-scheduling a couple of years ago. It has lost its spontaneity and fun. And when David was with them, even better. Some hilarious moments.

The Ciaran Carty show was superb, as good a show as you could get anywhere. But he's rarely on now. Des McAleer is another DJ that knows his music, but he's got a late night shift.

If its true that requests are to be limited to "Country" during day time slot, its a further disappointment to hear. To be honest I gave up on Ocean after the rescheduling a couple of years ago.

And as Sligojoek said, the "country" they play, isn't even good country.

I dunno. Maybe Ocean know what audience they are chasing and good luck to them. Or maybe they might listen to what a few folk on Sligo Boards.ie are saying?

Happy listening wherever that maybe. But I'll be tuning to internet radio until Nova hopefully reaches us.

PS: Is the Seamie Mac show gone?

Andy From Sligo

Kaden Kind Selflessness wrote: »

PS: Is the Seamie Mac show gone?

His weekday show has, but i think he can still be heard on ocean Saturday mornings still

Andy From Sligo

Andy From Sligo wrote: »

His weekday show has, but i think he can still be heard on ocean Saturday mornings still

That's a shame, in my opinion he was one of their most potentially biggest assets. Well if they want the Seamus Moore crowd, good luck to them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J59SFTqb7MQ

whatswhat

My radio at home has been permanently tuned into Ocean FM for the past 7/8 years as the aerial and dial were accidentally super glued in a decorating accident.
The recent move to more country and western in the afternoons has inspired me to go buy a new radio on my next day off as I can take no more.
I appreciate that you "cannot please all of the people all of the time" and it must be a tall order to accommodate every ones taste in music but I agree with the initial title of this thread that as the station does seem to be going back wards.
Moving Francie & Michelle's slot irritated me no end and losing David, the bit of craic they had was lost altogether but at least they are still there, even if David isn't.
Seamie Mac is brilliant and I am now reduced to tuning in to him early Saturday mornings on my way to work, he deserves better!!
Who knows these days what their "target market" are saying but playing mainly C&W between 2pm-4pm I will be damned if I know?? Surely this is "peak time" in most folks day, a tune to maybe spur you on to clocking off time at your work place, sadly Ocean are now failing miserably in this slot.

When my radio first got stuck, I thought the bingo, announcements and advertising were brilliant in promoting local news and I actually admired the fact that it was providing a great service to the counties close by, probably providing a lifeline of info to folks living out in more rural areas, of all ages and this is important but we all have to move on and evolve. I think there is nothing wrong with slotting the odd C&W song into any programme at anytime of the day, maybe it would educate us all?? I know not. However, to make that totally paramount in a mid day slot, I for one will be over and out. Good Luck Ocean!

Here's one for the DJ's.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLZDQhIYAKQ

NinetyTwoTeam

It's absolutely rubbish. There's already a saturation of country in the Northwest, they could do so many more interesting things. Never listen to oceanfm anymore the djs are annoying as well.

Andy From Sligo

I too personally have no issue whatsoever with the odd C&W tune played within the music mix throughout the day - but the radio station seems to be leaning more to country music and less music mix throughout the day . ah well, I dare say they have had to of done their market research and if that's their market ah well so be it. - so glad my dial isn't stuck permanently on oceanfm

here's my radio listening throughout the week at the moment:

Francie & Michelle in the morning - Ocean FM
Tracey Clifford 2FM or Heart Radio UK from 2-4pm
4pm onwards ocean drive on OceanFm - if I am in the right mood
Except for friday afternoon when the sports come on with Darrah cox - boring, boring, boring (his monotonous depressing voice is enough to put me to sleep!)
then I turn over to Heart UK
at 7pm on oceanFM when country Jamboree comes on - then I switch over to Heart for Club Classics
If I am listening to radio after 10pm I tune into the wave with Andrew Mooney on OceanFM, thats a great show.

OceanFM never even gets a look in with me at the weekend - I tune to Larry Grogan on 2FM , and then weekenders or Heart UK again

That seems to be my week of listening on the radio. I would like to be able to stick with my local radio station but it would drive me up the wall if I listened to OceanFM all day long .. especially the direction they are heading in at the moment. - if i ever get wind that they start playing a mixture of music throughout the day then I might start listening to them again but me personally at the moment the more I am tuning into other stations the less and less I am personally am tuning into OceanFM because there is a hell of a lot of better stations out there that are moving with the times...

Do they still use the jingle "The perfect music mix"?

The community service that the station provides is still very strong. However the station itself is still technically a "Commercial Local" radio station.

The apparent decision to play country music during the afternoon is a commercial decision they have made.

As the saying goes "He who pays the piper calls the tune".

http://www.bai.ie/en/broadcasters/

As I stated before, give Radio Nova a go, great station, currently listening to John Clarkes oldies show on it!

zorro2566

zorro2566 wrote: »

As I stated before, give Radio Nova a go, great station, currently listening to John Clarkes oldies show on it!

Here's a link to listen on-line.

http://www.ieradio.org/radio-nova/

Mint Sauce

One thing I have never got about Ocean FM is, do their management know what Afternoon Delight actually means?

:pac:

zorro2566 wrote: »

As I stated before, give Radio Nova a go, great station, currently listening to John Clarkes oldies show on it!

Nova WAS a great radio station. Still a few good shows on it, including John Clark which I have on my self now too, and Friday Night 80's, a massive mistake for TodayFM to let that go. Unfortunately I have found it going a bit too main stream lately, and if it does go national, I fear it will go too mainstream to cater for the masses.

Mint Sauce

Mint Sauce wrote: »

One thing I have never got about Ocean FM is, do their management know what Afternoon Delight actually means?

:pac:



Ah! Now I get it, farmers with their wives, girfriends, boyfriends, significant others or whatever, rolling around in the hay barn tuned into Ocean FM getting their fill of Afternoon Delight. Maybe the men in suits know what they are doing after all.

Andy From Sligo

Mint Sauce wrote: »

One thing I have never got about Ocean FM is, do their management know what Afternoon Delight actually means?

:pac:

naw, I think its all innocent and above board - the show was/is obviously named after the old song "Sky rockets in flight, afternoon delight .... aaaaafternoon delight!" innit!

Andy From Sligo

John Clark - he rings a bell alright. Didnt he used to be on a radio station in the middle of the night, early hours of the morning?

what a shame Today FM friday night 80's gone - that were good that

Mint Sauce

Andy From Sligo wrote: »

naw, I think its all innocent and above board - the show was/is obviously named after the old song "Sky rockets in flight, afternoon delight .... aaaaafternoon delight!" innit!

And what do you think the song was about?