Where will 2fm go from here ?

Hyland x · 29-10-2016 07:50PM #1

Will the higher powers in RTE hold their nerve for much longer ?

29-10-2016 07:51PM

What happened?

Itssoeasy · 29-10-2016 09:48PM

Augeo wrote: »

What happened?

Poor JNLR numbers where they feel below sunshine in Dublin. I mean 2fm have a huge advantage over every other radio station in Ireland bar radio 1 in terms of resources and they do have some very talented on air talent but IMO the station has no direction or a target audience.

Hyland x · 29-10-2016 10:11PM

Ah now don't be talking foolish, 2fm clearly have a target market of 15/34 year olds. The only two programs on the entire schedule that would appel to anyone older than that are game on and the fanning show.

Itssoeasy · 29-10-2016 10:16PM

Hyland x wrote: »

Ah now don't be talking foolish, 2fm clearly have a target market of 15/34 year olds. The only two programs on the entire schedule that would appel to anyone older than that are game on and the fanning show.

Their target audience is that now BUT what I meant was it has changed too much over the years.

mackeire · 29-10-2016 10:25PM

It's the same as all the rest of the pop stations:
- Brutal 'music'
- Lots of filler talk between songs
- Same schedule as all the other pop fm's. Ie, 'whacky' breakfast show followed by 'a lot of laughs' mid morning show, then 'a non stop hits' show (same crap music as all the other channels).

Lads, be creative, play decent music (txfm is gone now, try take their listeners), basically they should leave their comfort zone and let the dj's acually play what they want to play!

Atlantic Dawn · 30-10-2016 12:50AM

Hyland x wrote: »

Will the higher powers in RTE hold their nerve for much longer ?

They will continue to hire "talented" ex presenters kids to bring them up the credibility stakes :rolleyes:

heybaby · 31-10-2016 02:11PM

I think 2FM started their umpteenth rebrand about a decade too late. Even if Dan Healy had brought in sweeping changes when he started 3.5 years ago the end result would be roughly where he is now, on the floor. He didnt have a clue what he was doing then and he still doesnt now. 2FM have given far too much of a headstart to the spins and iradios of this world to be able to dominate the 15-34 market which is their aspiration judging by some of the changes. The problem is its too late and what few changes they have made have been poor in the extreme. The jaded retro orange 2FM logo for starters is awful. They dont seem to have a discernible playlist, theres no consistency. The presenters are just not strong enough, Nikki Byrne, Lottie Ryan etc. Larry and co should not be any where remotely near the station. Id keep two of the current crop, Jenny Greene and Eoin Mc dermott and ditch the rest. Id also jettison Game ON which has virtually no listeners and totally jars with the idea that its a music station. 2FM would need to decide if they are a music station or not, if so they need to commit to the music. Even then though given the fact that younger listeners are listening to less and less radio in this country the future for 2FM is very very grim.

Fran1985 · 31-10-2016 10:26PM

heybaby wrote: »

Even if Dan Healy had brought in sweeping changes when he started 3.5 years ago the end result would be roughly where he is now, on the floor.

He DID make sweeping changes. He Changed the whole line up. He changed the music policy. He changed the logo. The strap line.... How would you define sweeping changes? Also this is RTE. Most presenters were on contracts. Contracts that arent easily terminated. They had to be run down or paid off. He's totally changed it. They havent worked and some arent great but saying 'IF he had brought in changed' like nothing happened is incorrect.

For what its worth there's far too much chat and silly "text us for this..." stuff on day time for my liking.

heybaby · 31-10-2016 11:09PM

Fran1985 wrote: »

He DID make sweeping changes. He Changed the whole line up. He changed the music policy. He changed the logo. The strap line.... How would you define sweeping changes? Also this is RTE. Most presenters were on contracts. Contracts that arent easily terminated. They had to be run down or paid off. He's totally changed it. They havent worked and some arent great but saying 'IF he had brought in changed' like nothing happened is incorrect.

For what its worth there's far too much chat and silly "text us for this..." stuff on day time for my liking.

I said if he had brought in wholesale changes 3.5 years ago when he started, he didn't. He made only very cursory changes in the first year. It was only subsequent to that, that he made sweeping changes. Contracts or not he delayed getting rid of the old order way too long. 2FM has been burning through money for years, paying off contracts for the sake of making a clean sleep should have been made a priority immediately and it wasn't. If 2fm was an independent station Healey would have been fired by now.

Fran1985 · 31-10-2016 11:26PM

heybaby wrote: »

I said if he had brought in wholesale changes 3.5 years ago when he started, he didn't. He made only very cursory changes in the first year. It was only subsequent to that, that he made sweeping changes. Contracts or not he delayed getting rid of the old order way too long. 2FM has been burning through money for years, paying off contracts for the sake of making a clean sleep should have been made a priority immediately and it wasn't. If 2fm was an independent station Healey would have been fired by now.

I would think that given the changes he eventually made that his hands were tied for a long time. I know people working in rte and the bureaucracy is ridiculous. Making changes is not as easy as the independent sector where people can be culled at the drop of hat. His first 2 years appear to be all about getting rid of presenters he no longer wanted. Look at how long Colm Hayes stuck around for even tho he clearly wasn't wanted. He knew he had a contract tho and wasnt goin to be forced out the door. Dan clearly had no way of getting rid of him. Best he could do was stick him on weekend brekkie. He's got his lineup now. When was this finalised, a year ago? He'd want to be looking for results soon id say but its unfair to blame him for the contracts that were handed out by previous bosses.

thesaurus2 · 01-11-2016 01:45AM

They say a good breakfast sets you up for the rest of the day, and 3 years on Breakfast Republic is still utter rubbish. Unfunny, noisy and crude, it's no wonder the rest of the schedule is tanking. Unfortunate as Nicky Byrne is alright, and if Eoghan McDermott didn;t have that Regina one on, it could be a good show. Tracy Clifford still seems out of her depth and the weekend is like an old folks home. I grew up listening to Fanning, but I can't take his weekend talk show. Only way for Hitman Healy to truly change things is to shake up the breakfast and afternoons. Stick McDermott up against Dermot and Dave and it might be interesting, get Cathal Funge from TXFM/Phantom in to do an evening music show and for the love of God lose Breakfast Republic. Maybe poach Dermot and Dave for a pile of money? Their show on Today FM is great but is killed by the long news in the middle.

flazio · 01-11-2016 12:51PM

mackeire wrote: »

It's the same as all the rest of the pop stations:
- Brutal 'music'
- Lots of filler talk between songs
- Same schedule as all the other pop fm's. Ie, 'whacky' breakfast show followed by 'a lot of laughs' mid morning show, then 'a non stop hits' show (same crap music as all the other channels).

Lads, be creative, play decent music (txfm is gone now, try take their listeners), basically they should leave their comfort zone and let the dj's acually play what they want to play!

But who gets to decide what's "decent music"? You mentioned an obscure Dublin radio station that most outside the pale never heard of. If you look at streaming services like Spotify and iTunes charts it's the pop "music" like Chain Smokers and Bieber and Kanye West who dominante the top spot. 2Fm ain't gonna change that, can't beat them join them.

ford fiesta · 01-11-2016 07:45PM

RTE should relay RTE Gold on the 2FM FM frequencies, with live shows from 7am to 7pm. Guaranteed to get more listeners and the older 2FM listeners back.

Greenman · 01-11-2016 08:00PM

ford fiesta wrote: »

RTE should relay RTE Gold on the 2FM FM frequencies, with live shows from 7am to 7pm. Guaranteed to get more listeners and the older 2FM listeners back.

Snap, I was coming down to the end of the thread and was about to suggest more or less the same.

Well done.

5uspect · 01-11-2016 08:44PM

2FM, now there's a radio station I haven't listened to in years. There's a lot of talented Phantom/TXFM staff I would like to see employed...

IUA14 · 02-11-2016 08:17PM

ford fiesta wrote: »

RTE should relay RTE Gold on the 2FM FM frequencies, with live shows from 7am to 7pm. Guaranteed to get more listeners and the older 2FM listeners back.

They don't want the older listeners back. I think 2FM needed changes and it is a station that could be successful with the right lineup. Breakfast Republic, Nicky Byrne, Game On...that is not the right line-up for what the station aims to be.

I think the imaging and branding of the station is much better now but there is plenty of work to do...JNLR's prove their flagship shows are not working. The presenter roster at 2FM weekdays is poor, they need big personalities who people will tune in to listen to, I don't think they have that. As a whole the JNLR's showed that younger people are listening to the radio less, radio in Ireland is lacking those big personalities, particularly those who younger people can relate to...

As for the RTE Gold thing...no. RTE caters for the older audience already, they need to provide a youth orientated mainstream national station...but one that works which is the challenge.

Declan A Walsh · 02-11-2016 08:29PM

5uspect wrote: »

2FM, now there's a radio station I haven't listened to in years. There's a lot of talented Phantom/TXFM staff I would like to see employed...

As you mention it, 2FM have some ex-Phantom presenters already: Cormac Battle, Dan Hegarty and Keith Walsh, and it used to have Jenny Houston and, briefly, John Walshe. All of them did stints with Phantom during its pirate days. In addition, John and Keith spent a couple of years with Phantom when it was fully-licensed at different stages in its history - John at the start and Keith nearer to the end. Keith was PD as well as presenter.

marno21 · 03-11-2016 01:31AM

If 2FM want to be successful with an 18-34 age group, they need to advertise that they are a 18-34 year old targeted station.

The lack of advertising over the last 2-3 years has been baffling. I'm 21 and I know 2fm is targeting a younger audience because I use the forum here, but I wouldn't know otherwise. The lack of a consistent, distinct sound is an issue too.

applehunter · 03-11-2016 02:01AM

Stop being generic.

The Parish priest · 11-12-2016 03:18PM

Now is a perfect opportunity from them to go back to targeting the 30+ market, I would suggest they should hire Anton Savage for breakfast and put Ray Darcy on mid morning.

The Parish priest · 11-12-2016 03:23PM

marno21 wrote: »

If 2FM want to be successful with an 18-34 age group, they need to advertise that they are a 18-34 year old targeted station.

The lack of advertising over the last 2-3 years has been baffling. I'm 21 and I know 2fm is targeting a younger audience because I use the forum here, but I wouldn't know otherwise. The lack of a consistent, distinct sound is an issue too.

They do advertise tho, thats what the xmas ball and all those Jenny Greene gigs are all about

Ursus Horribilis · 11-12-2016 04:03PM

The Parish priest wrote: »

Now is a perfect opportunity from them to go back to targeting the 30+ market, I would suggest they should hire Anton Savage for breakfast and put Ray Darcy on mid morning.

Sigh. I wish... (apart from the Ray D'Arcy suggestion but we can agree to disagree with that). Has anyone ever gone out there and done proper market research on who's listening and what they'd like?

IUA14 · 11-12-2016 05:33PM

The Parish priest wrote: »

Now is a perfect opportunity from them to go back to targeting the 30+ market, I would suggest they should hire Anton Savage for breakfast and put Ray Darcy on mid morning.

Why on earth would they do that? There is a market for a national youth station targeting under 35's. They have made mistakes and it's still a work in (slow) progress but it's getting there. A bit of work to do schedule and presenter wise but it's a station that has been chopping and changing the last 5 years, needs time to settle down a little so I would expect some minor tweaks not radical changes.

As for Anton Savage, Newstalk is crying out for someone as good as him. Ray D'arcy...dear god...

marno21 · 11-12-2016 06:34PM

The Parish priest wrote: »

They do advertise tho, thats what the xmas ball and all those Jenny Greene gigs are all about

Jenny Greene targets exactly the same audience as she did before the rebrand. Playing 90s classic house dance and trance music.

2FM itself has changed massively since the rebrand.

The Parish priest · 11-12-2016 07:10PM

IUA14 wrote: »

Why on earth would they do that?..

Because they are making a loss of 5 million euro per year, their ratings are on the floor and the youth are more than happy with their spins, Is, beats, spotify, YouTube etc etc

Stealthfins · 11-12-2016 07:41PM

2fm should have held onto their oldschool listener's,they tried to copy the likes of spin FM and other teeny bopper station's.

Red FM in Cork has more listeners than 2fm,red FM brought in a lot of Djs who worked on Radio Friendly 104.6 a pirate station which was very popular,and club djs.
Steve Grainger on Red FM is way better than anything 2fm has to offer.

flangemeistro · 11-12-2016 09:14PM

IUA14 wrote: »

The Parish priest wrote: »

Now is a perfect opportunity from them to go back to targeting the 30+ market, I would suggest they should hire Anton Savage for breakfast and put Ray Darcy on mid morning.

Why on earth would they do that? There is a market for a national youth station targeting under 35's. They have made mistakes and it's still a work in (slow) progress but it's getting there. A bit of work to do schedule and presenter wise but it's a station that has been chopping and changing the last 5 years, needs time to settle down a little so I would expect some minor tweaks not radical changes.

As for Anton Savage, Newstalk is crying out for someone as good as him. Ray D'arcy...dear god...

Do you just write Dan Healys spin for him or do you foolishly believe it also?

NIMAN · 12-12-2016 12:00AM

With so many youngsters (i.e. up to 25 or 30) listening to online content, do people not think that there should be more targeting of the 35+ age group on radio?

IUA14 · 12-12-2016 12:00AM

flangemeistro wrote: »

Do you just write Dan Healys spin for him or do you foolishly believe it also?

Don't like Dan Healy myself actually and think he made an arse of the job at 2FM that has taken years longer than it should have to settle down. A lot of people on here are not in the age bracket of under 35 that 2FM are targeting and they are bound to not like the station...but the point is that if they did then they would be doing something very wrong in most cases. I have problems with the 2FM schedule like I said and there are still tweaks needed but overall the station has a far better image and sound than it did even a year ago...the weekend schedule is still at odds with its target market tho. There is a viable market for the station...now it needs to go about winning listeners from Spin and iRadio in key markets like Dublin and the SW...whether they can do that or not remains to be seen...

The Parish priest · 23-12-2016 08:31PM

I don't know what is the point of the Friday Night chart show when the charts are already published ? A quick Google tells me that ROCKABYE by CLEAN BANDIT FEAT. SEAN PAUL is the Irish Christmas no 1 but 2fm wont be "revealing" It until 10pm......

wnolan1992 · 23-12-2016 08:37PM

The Parish priest wrote: »

I don't know what is the point of the Friday Night chart show when the charts are already published ? A quick Google tells me that ROCKABYE by CLEAN BANDIT FEAT. SEAN PAUL is the Irish Christmas no 1 but 2fm wont be "revealing" It until 10pm......

Same reason I presented the chart show on my college station. It's an easy show to produce, requires very little forward planning and fills air time.

Also fills their Irish language quota no doubt.

I don't like the new presenter tbh, but there was a guy doing it last year who was quite good IIRC.

The Parish priest · 23-12-2016 09:17PM

Game on is a program that really sticks the thumb out, it's basically an RTE Radio 1 program being carried on the 2fm network, I think they would be better off doing programming for younger kids aged 9=14 in that 7pm slot,

doc11 · 23-12-2016 10:46PM

The Parish priest wrote: »

Game on is a program that really sticks the thumb out, it's basically an RTE Radio 1 program being carried on the 2fm network, I think they would be better off doing programming for younger kids aged 9=14 in that 7pm slot,

What does a 9-14 age program sound like?

Duggie2012 · 23-12-2016 10:52PM

doc11 wrote: »

What does a 9-14 age program sound like?

Any current 2fm program. Apart from louise mcsharry. Always liked her.

The Parish priest · 23-12-2016 11:04PM

doc11 wrote: »

What does a 9-14 age program sound like?

Cel Spellmans Sunday afternoon show on BBC R1

Itssoeasy · 24-12-2016 10:57AM

The Parish priest wrote: »

Game on is a program that really sticks the thumb out, it's basically an RTE Radio 1 program being carried on the 2fm network, I think they would be better off doing programming for younger kids aged 9=14 in that 7pm slot,

Well game on is kind in an unfortunate situation as it's 7pm -8pm and the corresponding show on radio 1 is arena which I get the impression is fulfilling a quota as well as being a good show and looks like it's not being moved.

24-12-2016 11:28AM

Put Gold on FM,call it 2FM Gold..There's enough talk on RTE Radio 1/Today FM.

The Parish priest · 24-12-2016 11:39AM

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Put Gold on FM,call it 2FM Gold..There's enough talk on RTE Radio 1/Today FM.

Speaking of rte gold, I have noticed quite a few late 90s and early 00s songs being played on it during the week.

DopeTech · 28-12-2016 11:08PM

They need to get rid of the sport in the evenings and put on Mokay 7-9 Sunday to Thursday.

marno21 · 29-12-2016 03:28AM

FrostyJim wrote: »

They need to get rid of the sport in the evenings and put on Mokay 7-9 Sunday to Thursday.

Now there's an idea.

DopeTech · 29-12-2016 06:11AM

marno21 wrote: »

Now there's an idea.

I was just listening to him last night and the music he was playing was great. So different to the usual 2fm playlist. They should have him on in a similar time slot to Annie mac on BBC R1. It would help Chris and Ciara too as they wouldn't be starting at 10 with a listenership of about 5.

That or put rte pulse on fm but we all know that won't happen any time soon.

The Parish priest · 03-01-2017 10:50PM

FrostyJim wrote: »

They need to get rid of the sport in the evenings and put on Mokay 7-9 Sunday to Thursday.

Mo kay just sounds to me to be an new version of Conor G and Wes Darcy, both of whom got thrown under a bus by 2fm about 10 years ago

DopeTech · 03-01-2017 10:54PM

The Parish priest wrote: »

Mo kay just sounds to me to be an new version of Conor G and Wes Darcy, both of whom got thrown under a bus by 2fm about 10 years ago

Can't say I really remember them to be honest. He just sounds less generic than the rest of them I think.

TheDoc · 04-01-2017 05:32PM

NIMAN wrote: »

With so many youngsters (i.e. up to 25 or 30) listening to online content, do people not think that there should be more targeting of the 35+ age group on radio?

This, literally don't know anyone in my circle of friends who ever listens to the radio, ever.

The Parish priest · 05-01-2017 08:46AM

Is Dan Healy on drugs ? Lottie Ryan is presenting breakfast solo this morning:eek:

applehunter · 05-01-2017 10:01AM

What was I listening to?

Celebrity Predictions,

like, like, like, Oh my God, So good, like, like, Oh my god.

Its 9.30 in the morning FFS:o

Lucena · 05-01-2017 03:27PM

TheDoc wrote: »

This, literally don't know anyone in my circle of friends who ever listens to the radio, ever.

What about when they're driving, or in their workplaces?

ofcork · 05-01-2017 05:52PM

Jj presenting drive while eoghan mcdermott is off after his attack over Christmas.

HandsomeDan · 05-01-2017 06:01PM

EMcD getting attacked. So so funny.

DopeTech · 05-01-2017 06:18PM

HandsomeDan wrote: »

EMcD getting attacked. So so funny.

A bit harsh. His show I could take it or leave it but I wouldn't be happy that he's been knocked out cold by some knacker.

Where will 2fm go from here ?

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