RTE Gold discussion thread

Glaceon

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121032555#Comment_121032555

I see they acknowledged it on their Facebook page and said the listen back option on the player won’t have the issue.

tinytobe

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120836035#Comment_120836035

The playlist of RTE Gold is really good.

RTE should have used the 252 transmitter for Gold, instead of a re-broadcast of Radio 1. Back when LW was still broadcasting and if the intention was to keep LW alive for so many years, RTE Gold would have certainly been the better choice.

My car has a DAB+ radio, but sadly RTE turned Digital radio off.

ford fiesta

John Kenny is in for Rick O'Shea today and for the next 2 weeks.

alzer100

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121036922#Comment_121036922

You probably know this, but you can just Bluetooth your phone to your car system and play RTE Gold. I drive around the country a lot and find the mobile coverage is excellent.

ZaK23-54

Any chance RTÉ Gold could get Mark Cagney, Andy Ruane and some of the other Radio legends..?

Any other suggestions?

And what about Suzanne Duffy?

tinytobe

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121068406#Comment_121068406

Yep, and that's a good choice as well.

I just think that FM isn't fit for purpose anymore. Too little choice out in the countryside, too protective ILRs, etc...

Azatadine

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121068406#Comment_121068406

It depends on location really. There are some areas where the coverage can be quite patchy.

alzer100

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121069116#Comment_121069116

Maybe it depends on your network but personally I have found the coverage to be excellent.

Azatadine

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121069142#Comment_121069142

True. Could be network related.

L1011

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121068928#Comment_121068928

It doesn't have budgets to get in external presenters.

GSF

They’ve gone very quiet on the schedule extension they were big on mentioning in January and February this year. No news of the daily Dave Fanning show or the other new joiners. Maybe the RTE budget black hole has put paid to it all ?

ford fiesta

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121069234#Comment_121069234

there are external presenters on the schedule: al dunne, mickey mac, eric moore

RINO87

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121067684#Comment_121067684

"JK on the Radio" has been a busy man the last few years - deputizes regularly on Gold, sometimes on Late Date, has had the Classic Rock hour (remember 2020 when it was on 4 nights a week??!!), his own show on 2XM, League of Ireland live links most weekends, cricket reports and has even been doing a few live GAA commentaries.

He seemed to almost disappear for a while there, only popping up reading the sports news, or the swimming during the olympics.

ford fiesta

John Kenny sounds "live" when filling in for Rick, though he does not give out the whatsapp / request number or read out any requests ??

alzer100

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121096702#Comment_121096702

With the exception of Ronan Collins, I think the weekday presenter led programming is live. If they didn't get John Kenny it would be Aidan Leonard, Al Dunne or Amanda Fennelly. I think the time slot 1-4 pm is suitable to John Kenny and his filling in was arranged weeks before Rick O'Shea took time off. The not giving out WhatsApp / playing requests are probably just his thing. Although last week I'm sure I heard him mentioning some folks in relation to a request. But then again I really wasn't taking much notice.

amlinopta

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121096702#Comment_121096702

Can’t be live on some of the days anyway, given he is reading sports news on Radio One while the show is on Gold. Was also in Paris last week for the game v France, or else commentating off tube

alzer100

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121098200#Comment_121098200

I don't listen to RTE Radio 1 so could be way off here, but could it be a possibility that the sports news is recorded whilst he is filling in for Rick O'Shea?

ford fiesta

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121111712#Comment_121111712

I've listened to John over the last 2 weeks on Gold and his shows are defo not live

GSF

I don’t think he’s live. Not having an all request Friday is a give away

alzer100

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121112536#Comment_121112536

That's really disappointing, nothing against John Kenny but I'd rather they would just go to automation than try to fool Gold's listeners into thinking that the 1-4 pm slot is being presented live as is the standard with Rick O'Shea. I really don't know the whole idea behind this as they would normally get a mixture of "live" presenters made up of Aidan Leonard, Amanda Fennelly or Al Dunne to cover a "live" slot.

Sheep Shagger

Sort from the shoes listed on the website is it pretty much all automated/voice tracked?

alzer100

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121118514#Comment_121118514

I think most if not all of the weekend programming is pre-recorded. It looks like pre-recorded programs are now starting to creep into the weekday schedule as well. However, I don't think they use 'automated voice tracking' on RTE Gold, so to speak*

They seem to do either two things:

1. Record the actual slot/show 'live'

2. Record the presenters voice links seperate and mix or integrate those voice links to the music audio tracks by an in-house engineer to create a pre-recorded slot/show. US syndicated radio shows use this method of producing a recorded program.

*Automated voice tracking in itself can be a software program that plays pre-recorded presenter voice links at set designated intervals. Multiple US local radio stations use this method for weekday programming to affiliate with certain radio personalities. For example "On Air With Ryan Seacrest" The problem is it can sound quite clunky as the whole show is put together live by a software program. I don't think RTE Gold use this method but nevertheless I hate voice tracking in any form apart from its necessity to produce a pre-recorded syndicated radio program.

alzer100

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121122786#Comment_121122786

TBH I am a listener to RTE Gold and what you have just mentioned is what I fear. I think any service that is not providing revenue for RTE is going to be a point of focus. It would take an intervention from the minister but Backhurst could make a very strong case for its closure due to RTE's finances. If this does come to pass, hopefully Gold can be saved again.

GSF

they have gone very quiet in their expansion plans. back in January they were saying Ronan Collins was just the 1st of several changes coming

ford fiesta

Rick is back today !!!

But it was a fairly risky move not having a live presenter in Rick's slot over the last 2 weeks (the risk of losing listeners and a general interest in RTE Gold)

I think the John Kenny shows were the longest that RTE Gold has substituted live shows with voicetracking

A listener will stay with a slot on a station, if there is listener interaction and a call for them to send in whatsapp requests.

medoc

What would it take to allow Gold to start taking adverts and sponsorships? Audiences are small so rates would be low but it would be a start to building up the station bit by bit and expanding the live programming. It’s the only way it will survive long term.

lertsnim

The minister would have to OK it.

ZaK23-54

I hope RTÉ Gold survives the cuts.

Sure it has a low cost model? For me it is the only place to hear a large variety of hits from the past 60 years..

alzer100

I think running the automated service RTE Gold is relatively low cost although programmers and presenter salaries would add to that. It must be understood that programmers and weekday presenters are employed by RTE but are dedicated to RTE Gold, so if they were to axe the service they would have to offer redundancies or redeployment. Axing a popular service for demonstration purposes would be silly IMO.

alzer100

Did I miss something? Did RTE Gold announce this at anytime? But Dave Fanning is on "live apparently" right now 6-8 pm.