Atlantic 252 What happened?

alzer100

Why did they phase out the HotHits format that made that Radio station so successful between 1989 and early 1992?

Enda Caldwell

A more Hot AC / Adult Contemporary format during the day 5am to 6pm and CHR nights 6pm to 5am was adopted and ran from November 91 on. It broadened the variety and delivered Atlantic's best figures of between 4 to 11m people in The UK. The Hot Hits format was fine we broke the hits. Then we became a station that was a cross between both breaking new stuff and better well known 80s 90s recurrents.

tinytobe

I still remember Enda Caldwell on Atlantic 252. I think he went to the US, namely to New York for a while, then returning to Europe, possibly to the UK.

animalinside

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121564422#Comment_121564422

Wait a second - is that not Enda Caldwell there?

maninasia

This conversation is very meta .

Please continue lol.

tinytobe

It would be interesting if they were to bring back Atlantic 252 on DAB in the UK. Same music same slogans, I bet they would have a following. Virgin came back on DAB, why not Atlantic 252.

Declan A Walsh

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121747508#Comment_121747508

Well, for starters, it was partially owned by RTE and was run from Co. Meath. Its original USP was the fact that it was on Long Wave. I would say a kind of tribute version online might work better.

alzer100

Does anyone have a particular favourite era or presenter of 252 and why?

Burt Renaults

I used to listen to it a lot in the mid '90s, but I couldn't see myself listening to any potential resurrection. I mean, if I wanted to listen to Seal's Kiss from a Rose, Whigfield's Saturday Night, Lisa Loeb's Stay, on a constant loop, I could just as easily find them on Spotify.

TheBMG

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121747792#Comment_121747792

89-96.

I did enjoy the rhythmic format that John O’Hara introduced towards the end of 252 but it was just too late. They had the programming but not the right waveband.

If they had hung on for another couple of years it could’ve been so different. Perhaps DAB could’ve been the savior of Atlantic 252.

alzer100

Mine was 89-92

This kept me connected to Atlantic on the move back in the day. On the RHS Sony provided a mini headphone jack. With high quality headphones 252 sounded great!

Yes, the LW platform was eventually going to kill it regardless of format.

John O'Hara did a fabulous job but for me my favourite time as listener had to be under Kavo.

JoeA3

I remember it being very popular around 1992-93, it was definitely the iRadio / Spin of its day, except it probably had far bigger listenership than the current offerings as there was literally no other alternative back then! In the west of Ireland your alternatives were 2FM and local radio - which mostly catered for much older audiences.

TBH I couldn’t ever really take to it though. The LW audio was dreadful compared to FM stereo and the silly DJ names and mid Atlantic accents were all a bit ridiculous. I thought it was so bizarre then that this UK/US sounding station was actually based in Co. Meath and never referenced that fact. It was definitely very much of its time.

There’s a glut of early ‘90’s music that still gets airplay to this day that always reminds me of Atlantic 252!

A few years later we had the likes of Dusty Rhodes and Rick O’Shea (still using the daft names) turn up on 2FM. I remember Dusty used to use some of his old Atlantic jingles / voice overs on 2FM!

ford fiesta

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121748114#Comment_121748114

Of course LW doesn't sound as good as FM !!

But A252 sounded fantastic on LW.

I disagree about the DJ names, they were not silly..stations around the world named their jocks in a similar fashion of the time.

Rick (Paul Crossan) and Dusty (Ivan Nolan) and others did quite well out of their 252 names post 252 (yeah I know Dusty was on Sunshine before A252).

Tork

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121747831#Comment_121747831

It wouldn't sound right unless I put my speaker into a plastic bucket and threw some clothes (preferably 90's tie-dyed t-shirts with The Orb on them) in on top of it. As much as anything else, I associate Atlantic 252 with the distinctive sound of Longwave. It was better than nothing at the time but it was a terrible format for music radio.

end of the road

the rhythm and dance era of 252 was brilliant IMO.

the UK at least got fm based alternatives like galaxy and vibe ETC but we here had to still rely on pirates which could be gone at any time, and 2fm and local stations at the weekend, so atlantic when it ended was a bit of a loss to be honest.

but it was never going to last on LW ultimately, a pitty but that's the way it is.

Tork

It filled a market that wasn't there at the time. I loved the station in the early 90s because there was such little choice out there for a teenager who wanted to listen to the Top 40. While 2FM had its moments, it also had Gerry Ryan's talk show in the mornings and oddities like Alan Corcoran playing Declan Nerney records on Saturday evenings. There were no wall to wall music stations at the time. We seem to have come full circle, with so many presenters now playing music that's chosen for them and an emphasis on content creation. That's a topic for other threads!

I don't remember it in its later format but it sounds like it was again catering for an audience which wasn't getting its music elsewhere? I was surprised to see it kept going until the end of 2001. I thought it'd had folded years before that. I find it fascinating that people are saying it sounded great on LW. I always thought music sounded awful on it but it was better than Gareth O'Callaghan's endless Michael McDonald records or the crappy BBC Radio 1 signal we could get.

john457

Charlie Wolfe on breakfast

john457

Favourite memories?

Charlie Wolfe on breakfast. Just brilliant, challenging breakfast radio. Charlie’s conservative worldview was unheard of in the media. These days we have huge podcasts like Ben Shapiro. Back then…nothing.

Politics and hit music. Brilliant.

alzer100

Atlantic 252 in it's early days or should I say 89-92 was essentially Sunshine 101 on LW. Some may have hated that format but if you were a teenager looking for your fix of current hits (unlike 2FM and other CHR stations that exist in Ireland today it wasn't based on the UK Top 40) it was a 'go to' station.

TheBMG

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121752130#Comment_121752130

I have no recollection of Charlie doing anything remotely political in those days tbh .. he was a cheeky chappy and nothing more

Bummer1234

What a station,I remember the summer months driving an old banger car in my uncles field and the only station you would really get on the radio was A252, towards the end did it turn into a sports news channel?

end of the road

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121752375#Comment_121752375

yes, the station was bought and it became teamtalk 252.

it didn't last a year if i recall.

Tork

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121752295#Comment_121752295

I don't remember him being political either. He just played the records just like everybody else but he was a bit different because he was American. I was surprised when he resurfaced some years later wearing a political hat. Back in those days, there wasn't as much politics on the radio and I can't help but think that was a good thing. There were news bulletins but I don't remember much about them other than the newsreader being obsessed with the BBC soap Eldorado.

RINO87

https://youtu.be/iHQp5cAo91o?si=6Rxb6gkySo5prlgv

The Pizza Man in full flight!! Intense 😂

Still coukd you imagine today's social media starlets even attempting this with a desk?!

TheBMG

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121754350#Comment_121754350

Sadly Gary AKA the Pizzaman passed away quite recently. Great presenter

funkey_monkey

Was there a dj called Cliff Walker?

TheBMG

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121754581#Comment_121754581

Yes. Went to TodayFM for a bit

RINO87

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121754549#Comment_121754549

I did not know this. Another voice from my childhood gone.

squonk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121754350#Comment_121754350

Isn’t that the problem with radio these days? That’s a man who knows his gear inside out and has his job down to a fine art. A lot now just seem to rely on shíte aka social media and the WhatsApp to fill the show for them.

ford fiesta

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121754350#Comment_121754350

They wouldnt even be able to queue up and play a CD.

TheBMG

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121756673#Comment_121756673

Why would they need to though .. it’s out of date tech. I’m sure they couldn’t tape load Manic Miner onto a 48k Sinclair Spectrum either.

TheBMG

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121755485#Comment_121755485

taken way too young.

https://radiotoday.co.uk/2022/10/radio-presenter-gary-wilkinson-has-died-aged-50/

its_steve116

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121756810#Comment_121756810

2022, not news sadly.

ford fiesta

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121754350#Comment_121754350

Its not just the desk operation that's skillful, but each of those inserts were on different cart tapes !!

squonk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121756805#Comment_121756805

I know technology has changed a studio layout now and tech is probably taking over a lot of the mundane work a DJ has to do in their show. I m sure it’s possible now to pre prep segments in advance and that’s fine but the beauty of that clip is that he’s performing live. Nobody is there to see it but the live energy comes across all the same. There just isn’t that much energy going these days. Even the Hit List on 2FM back in the day had an urgency about it. DJs these days seem to be like a dog at a table, dying for WhatsApp’s and posts to have the craic. I know Pizzaman was looking fur callers but his energy was great. Maybe that style of radio is dead but having grown up in the 80s where radio had characters and it was appointment listening if you liked a personality, radio now is very bland.

ford fiesta

"Even the Hit List on 2FM back in the day had an urgency about it"

100% correct ! Tony Fenton with 26 records and some cart tapes with live phone requests coming in on paper. Nothing prepped or pre-recorded. As his jingles went "More hits in one hour than any other radio station"

It's crazy to think that the above clip of Pizzaman on 252 from 1995 came from a big georgian house in Trim, Meath !!

funkey_monkey

Was there a thing with funny dj names?

Cliff walker

Dusty Rhodes

Rick o'shea

Any more?

Declan A Walsh

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121757446#Comment_121757446

Not all the time, but certainly a lot of the time!

Sandy Beach

Batman Gomez

Wayne Scales

Dickie Bow

Desperate Dan

Cousin Brucie

Robin Banks

Jo King

Bam Bam

Annett Curtain

Dan the Hitman

Hollywood Haze

I suppose you could add Nails Mahoney, although he had already been using that name prior to his time with Atlantic 252!

Incidentally, there are plenty of threads about Atlantic 252 on Boards. Examples:

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2056227341/atlantic-252-terrible-radio

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058098597/atlantic-252-a-good-example-of-a-red-pill

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2055966999/longwave-radio-atlantic-252

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058222690/atlantic-252-closed-down-20-years-ago-this-month

And that's not all of them!

ford fiesta

I'd never heard of Annett Curtain, not sure who this was ?

There were only a handful of female presenters on 252, even in latter years. A US lady, Mary Ellen O'Brien was on the original schedule and regularly comments on the Atlantic 252 memories Facebook page.

Declan A Walsh

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121757591#Comment_121757591

Actually, Annett Curtain could have been as a result of a misread of old post somewhere! Forget that one - all the others are right though!

Other female presenters included Becky Chippindale and Lois Lane (Katherine Orman).

Mary Ellen O'Brien is an example of presenters from the early days that were linked to '80s offshore pirate Laser. Most of the presenters that came from Laser to Atlantic 252 were American and also included: Charlie Wolf, David Lee Stone and Andrew Turner. The latter was the exception, being an English newsreader.

ford fiesta

In early - mid 90s I actually used to think Al Dunne was a fake name (was unaware of his pre 252 days at the time), for the term "all done"

RINO87

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121756109#Comment_121756109

My point exactly!! The last "mainstream" jock that ran the desk themselves and knew how to use it to good effect was probably Ronan Collins.

Also, folks that mentioned the energy being missing from radio these days are bang on. You had to be switched on and wide awake to put on a Performance like the Pizza Man in that clip!! Contrast that with the amount of times I've heard Aifric mention being hung over on 2fm and thanking her producers for getting her thru the show!!

Declan A Walsh

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121758257#Comment_121758257

I first heard Al Dunne on Atlantic 252 in its first couple of years. He was one of the presenters of "Classic Rock Sunday", along with Paul Kavanagh and the aforementioned Mary Ellen O'Brien. He also did some "on location" news - essentially entertainment news. I was not aware of him before either - it was only some years later I found out that he had a lot of pirate radio experience! I missed the potential fake name aspect until you mentioned it!

That brings me on to another angle - Atlantic 252 presenters that you had heard previously on the radio.

My list would include Nails Mahoney, Mark Byrne, Enda Caldwell, Liam Coburn (Batman Gomez - I don't believe I actually heard him on Atlantic) and Andrew Turner. I knew the latter from presenting Newsbeat on BBC Radio 1!

alzer100

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121751935#Comment_121751935

Atlantic 252 under the direction of PD Paul Kavanagh, the radio station used the "HotHits" format which was used successfully on radio stations in America's mid west states during the 1980s and it was implemented exactly the same way on 252 as on Sunshine 101. A very aggressive and tailored type of CHR. It's new music content was mainly sourced from the top 40 of the US Billboard Hot 100 chart and then adding that new music with new music especially selected from the current UK Top 40. Unlike regular CHR in Ireland today, 252 did not use the UK Top 40 as its main source of new music. Any new music selected from the UK top 40 was very likely to cross over successfully to the US. Like Sunshine 101, Atlantic 252 had an "Overall sound" that appealed to young people especially teenagers. A lot of the new music was exclusive and some would of had to be imported. Because new music from the US Billboard chart took weeks and sometimes months to cross over to the UK Top 40 and vice versa you would hear mainstream pop/rock chart hits first on Sunshine101/Atlantic 252 before hearing on 2FM etc. Combined with a very tight presentation, it was CHR taken to the next level. Although we in Ireland had been accustomed to this format through radio stations like Sunshine 101 and Super-Q102, it was new to the UK.

Declan A Walsh

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121758441#Comment_121758441

No surprise then that Paul Kavanagh had previously been with Sunshine 101. Other Atlantic 252 presenters that had previously been with Sunshine included Dusty Rhodes, Nails Mahoney and Mark Byrne. There is also a Q102/SuperQ connection with Al Dunne and later Liam Coburn, aka Batman Gomez.

alzer100

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121758479#Comment_121758479

Al Dunne was Super-Q102's breakfast show presenter during latter half of 1988.

JP Liz V1

Was it that station DJ Simon Bates had sad love story and song?

Declan A Walsh

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121758557#Comment_121758557

That's right. It was something he had done previously on BBC.

ford fiesta

Steven Cooper (now with I-radio) was also on 252, I think he had a fake name there for a period, maybe "Desperate Dan ??". Here he is in studio finishing Overnights in 1998, with Pizzaman who was presenting Breakfast.

Steven is probably the only presenter (past or present) on the Irish regional stations (Beat or I-radio) who was on 252.

https://youtu.be/zS1gjs8sEeY?si=QoY3WMM9KxwqPsUe

alzer100

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121758479#Comment_121758479

The Super-Q connection would also include the late Henry Owens.

alzer100

99.9% of the PD's, MD's, management and staff of Irish radio stations now flatly dismiss the format, linking style, tight format and high rotation of powers a-list and recurrents as "Old hat and living in the past". Then they criticise the audio quality on AM or get petty regarding jock names.

The fact is Atlantic 252 was successful when there was very little else and provided good competition for BBC, IBA ILR's across the UK, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, not to mention they stole audiences from RTE AND IRTC stations from 1989 to 2002. If it had not been any good with all that going against it, then it would have failed after a year or two. It didnt, it went on to have 4 million maybe more listeners in a highly competitive UK RAJAR market. Figures for which many groups like Global and Bauer would blow their trumpet about if you handed them Atlantic's Q 4. 1994 results in the morning.

Yes, the station did decline when it went Alternative in 98/99 but was building an audience again back up to the 1.5 to 2m market in '00 and '01 with John O'Hara's Rhythmic CHR "12 in a row" relaunched format. It had plans to be on DAB, Sky and other freeview platforms as well as FM in London but the sale by RTL stopped that progress in its tracks.

RTL were tired of RTE and losing money - they wanted their ROI to invest in a Polish TV network (which later failed) and so they wanted a quick sale. They pushed it through and TEAMtalk 252 lasted 9 months (8 really) and then RTE sat on their hands and let the 252 mast lay dormant like a dog in the manger for 2 or 3 years. Then they fired it up - realising the cost from before but believing they could sell ads in the UK, THAT failed and then it became a millstone for them. They were trying to shut down their own 252 LW TX for years before it fell silent. Does anyone miss RTE Radio 1 or Team talk? They do miss the fun station - Radio Tara LTD. Atlantic 252.