RTE's digital radio stations to be "abolished"

PopePalpatine

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121369378#Comment_121369378

You will listen to a James Gavins or whoever and like it.

RINO87

It's mad that that these stations were bever pushed in any way at all. When you look at today FM, the actual FM station has nearly turned into just one giant ad for their online streaming channels.

Schorpio

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121371697#Comment_121371697

This smells very like the closure of DAB to me. Lots of words published, and something tangible RTE can point to as a cost-saving measure, but no figures that I have ever seen. I suspect it was pittance.

In a similar vein to DAB, virtually zero promotion of any of these stations, and then a decision made to shut them down due to lack of listenership. It's a self-fulfilling prophecy.

SPDUB

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121379440#Comment_121379440

You don't have to suspect it , the DG said it was not much on Primetime on Tuesday .

ford fiesta

how many staff / resources does it take to run RTE 2XM radio or example ?

what is the cost saving in closing it down ?

end of the road

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121384559#Comment_121384559

i suspect the resources are a mix of already existing RTE staff with possibly volunteers?

the cost saving is likely the carriage on saorview, which could be stopped without actually getting rid of the stations completely.

jrmb

That's right. Pulse was mostly staffed by volunteers. The only payment was when part of your Pulse show was relayed on 2FM.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121386534#Comment_121386534

additionallettuce

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121387631#Comment_121387631

This is incorrect. There is a small payment per show regardless of it being relayed or not.

jrmb

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121394561#Comment_121394561

I was never paid anything for my work there.

additionallettuce

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121394568#Comment_121394568

You must not have worked there for at least 5+ years I'm suspecting. A friend is still on there and certainly gets paid and they got a back payment too when payment was eventually sorted.

rogue-entity

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121370925#Comment_121370925

I guess 2023 is the year that radio has truly died then. Not terribly surprised with the self-fulfilling prophesy that was the directions taken by RTE here.

Some blame to be levied upon the former BAI but right now we've got even further reduction in choice and that's to everyone's loss.

JDxtra

There are a few different ways to listen to the RTE digital radio stations, one of which is still their remaining legacy streaming server (IceCast). Here you can see the numbers of listeners per station. See below for example.

If these "point in time" numbers represent a reasonable sample size for the overall number of listeners, then you can see why the digital stations are getting pulled.

RADIO1 - 4947

2FM - 817

GOLD - 556

LYRIC - 397

RNAG - 13

RADIO1XTRA - 4

2XM - 1

JUNIOR - 1

PULSE - 0

marcbrophy

Probably a limited sample alright!

Just for example, I would have/do listen to Pulse in 4 ways not like the above.

Through DAB, when it was available!

Through TuneIn, which I don't think count to the IceCast figures.

Through "Radio" on VM set top boxes.

Through Saorview "Radio" also.

I would have very rarely gone direct to rte site to listen.

JDxtra

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121423662#Comment_121423662

Yes, this is true.

It is a representative sample of listeners using one mechanism only. It doesn't reflect the majority of listeners, but it also doesn't skew the results in favour of one station over another. It is all we have access and gives us a general feel for how a station is doing when compared to the others from RTE.

It is fair to say that some digital stations will likely have low numbers of listeners. RTE will be seeing this in their own analysis. Costs may be relatively low, but in the current climate - it still makes no sense to maintain these services.

RTE Gold has been the success here, so at least something was gained from the digital experiment.

ford fiesta

I assume a few Pulse and 2XM shows could transfer to RTE Gold ??

tinytobe

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121364477#Comment_121364477

I hardly ever listen to the RTE anyway. Why should I, if they cut down on service.

marcbrophy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121424686#Comment_121424686

Ah yes, I hear you!

I'm just aware that there are so many ways to listen to these stations, that any one view on it's own is missing a large chunk of data!

Not to say that all the other ways to listen wouldn't follow the same curve, they just might, but we can't say without the data.

ford fiesta

not forgetting listeners on smart speakers !!

Glaceon

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121423662#Comment_121423662

I think TuneIn does use the Icecast streams, they're at the same bitrate anyway. The streams on the RTE website and the apps are higher,

NIMAN

Only noticed today, when driving in the North, that DAB is transmitted on the same band/frequency (or whatever correct terminology is) as FM radio.

My car displays the mHz of each channel, and noticed that they are up around 220s 230s mHz, 》double the irish radio stations.

So are dab stations really just fm? I thought it was analogue v digital?

Glaceon

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121536267#Comment_121536267

DAB uses the old VHF band III spectrum as was used by RTE analogue VHF as well as the old black and white 405 line system.

AyeGer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121370521#Comment_121370521

I like RTE Gold, i have it on in the office most days, It plays more music and talks less than the likes of 2FM. They could probably do with adding a few more songs though.

ZaK23-54

Why is RTÉ Gold not promoted properly?

It is a valuable jewel that RTÉ is afraid to show off. Put it on FM ...it is a breath of fresh air.

it should get more DJ’s to join Ronan Will Dave Fanning M Mac etc

Surely there is someone in RTÉ who sees the massive potential to have a BBC Radio 2 crowd pleaser?

TAFKAlawhec

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121536267#Comment_121536267

@Glaceon has largely pointed this out, but no - the FM and DAB audio broadcasting bands use two very separate broadcasting bands, the FM band using VHF Band II frequencies on 87.5 - 108.0 MHz while in theory DAB can use the whole 174 - 240 MHz of VHF Band III though in current practice in Northern Ireland this is concentrated in the 215 - 230 MHz band. That's before we get into ensembles, MP2/AAC audio encoding, single frequency networks etc.

As for the dilemmas concerning RTÉ Gold...

* although this is rather anecdotal, It appear to be by quite a distance the most popular of the "spin-off" digital radio stations launched by RTÉ and thus why for now it's being protected from service cuts...

* ...the problem it has is that what makes it very listenable to many that tune in to it poses further problems...

*...AFAIK it carries no advertising, thus is subsidised by other RTÉ income streams (licence fee, advertising on other services etc.)...

*...since it is largely hidden away from RTÉ's "mass media" platforms, being DTT, VM cable & internet only, it has managed to escape most of the political scrutiny that it would otherwise attract...

*...there is essentially no more nationwide FM capacity to carry another RTÉ radio service that would provide the same coverage level of Radio 1, 2FM, Lyric & RnaG - it could at best reach a service level to that of the recurring Christmas FM (and thus cutting available frequencies for future Christmas FM transmissions). And if RTÉ Gold were to appear on even one licenced FM transmitter it would very likely require government approval...

*...which the current licenced commercial sector would fight very hard to stop being available on FM (competition for listeners)...

*...would also mean the station would now having additional infrastructure costs for FM transmitters etc. which would likely mean it would have to start becoming at least partially self-funding, which would mean it would have to take on advertising - indeed I'd suspect any approval for RTÉ Gold being licenced for FM transmission would require a certain element of advertising having to happen lest RTÉ be accused of providing a direct challenge to commercial rivals with a loss-leading service especially with the current financial state the semi-state body is in, And once the music starts getting interrupted by commercials, that's when some element of its current audience might start tuning away.

All in all, unless a licenced DAB transmission returns to the Republic's airwaves that RTÉ hops on to, I don't see RTÉ Gold ever progressing beyond its current platform base - and while that has an element of inconvenience for some of its listeners, it's very much also the reason it is able to operate as it presently does.

Shan Doras

I trust that RTE haven't gotten around to closing these yet?

Shan Doras

RTE Radio 1Xtra was such a wasted opportunity, it has always wasted bandwidth broadcasting stuff like "best of Ray Darcy" instead of focusing on gems from the archives.

Mickey Mike

While RTE Gold is staying on for our older listeners, it would be worth having a radio channel for younger people. RTE should merge RTE Pulse and RTE 2XM and call it "RTE XM"

L1011

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122068006#Comment_122068006

they're so completely different stylistically that it wouldn't be a sensible merge.