This forum and lack of fresh radio discussion

Harry Palmr wrote: »

It is a very boring forum these days I have to say, mind you I have almost stopped listening to broadcast radio. If I were trapped in an office with Ciara Kelly/Joe Duffy/Sean O'Rorke I'd probably commit a crime. Internet classic rock stations is where it's at for me now!

Same here. Internet radio and podcasts. No adverts, traffic, travel, sport and no text messages to presenters ... yawn.

Ireland is a tenth the UK population size

Have to say I only really read the brand scan as it's always related to real radio not that formatted xxxx with a play list of 400 songs play . i remember Radiowaves which had to close down due to lack of traffic . B

Mondo from Dublin wrote: »

If you look at the radio forum on digital spy UK there are many busy threads about all sorts of shows & stations, even ones that don't have many listeners but here seems to be just a moan about Joe Duffy, Ray Darcy, Colm Hayes/Nova, Today FM, echo chamber. Where is the fresh radio discussion?

Have you not heard of Paul Williams?

SATNAV wrote: »

Have to say I only really read the brand scan as it's always related to real radio not that formatted xxxx with a play list of 400 songs play . i remember Radiowaves which had to close down due to lack of traffic . B

Was that the reason it closed? I would have been happy to host it or just pay the costs, it was a fantastic little spot now consigned to history - RIP.

The answer to the OP has been succinctly put by other posters - Irish Radio is cookie-cutter ****e, in part because of ridiculous requirements placed upon licensed stations, in part because of the insane operating costs, in part because of a paralysing fear of trying anything new or different, and in part because of a captive regulator funded by the incumbent stations and so incentivised to maintain the status quo.

Pirates are the only ones on the airwaves that can avoid all these ornery headaches but sadly none of the ones on air are to my taste so as is the case for others - it is internet streaming stations for me.

There are a number of factors in this perceived staleness of discussion. As posters have already mentioned, the state of Irish radio is somewhat paralysed.

There is not much innovation in commercial radio these days. Radio stations are restricted by the "bottom line", i.e. commercial and financial considerations, and, to some extent, by their license remits. Some could argue that the size of this country's population restricts the number and range of radio stations that could realistically be licensed.

All of this means that stations are gravitating towards the same types of audiences. Quality can, and often does, suffer in the struggle to gain audience shares and the all important advertising. Bar late night specialist shows, if you are looking for less mainstream chart-oriented music, you need to look elsewhere.

There are community radio stations dotted around parts of Ireland. For example, Dublin City FM caters for many different genres of music. There are online stations. One of them, 8Radio.com, is currently on temporary license in four cities. Temporary licenses has been a phenomenon for the last 15 years and is another way to hear something different, albeit in a limited timescale. Christmas FM, while not to everyone's taste all the time, is an example of something different that has captured the imagination of many listeners.

What about pirates, I hear you say? This is not the golden age of pirates like the '80s, or even the '90s if it comes to that. Undoubtedly, pirates can, and have in the past, cover music that is neglected by mainstream radio. The fact that there have been various pirates specialising in dance music for over 25 years now must say something. There is also the phenomenon of the "oldies" pirates - this has to say something about some wanting to hear the older hits and not really getting it, even allowing for the fact that these are "hobby horse" operations.

Of course, the lifestyle of people has changed in this complex technology-driven world that we live in. People are busy on their smartphones and can download music to suit. Many, especially younger people, are not bothered with radio at all, so why bother discussing it on radio forums. I, too, miss Radiowaves, sigh! I think people are more distracted these days so this has affected the level of discourse on talk radio as well. There is more than a suspicion that some contributors to talk shows are relying on social media and twitter feeds when giving their opinions. You could say there is a societal shift taking place.

But we can't afford to be all negative. The key is to embrace the positive in the changes taking place. Now we can download radio apps and listen to them on our phones. We still have enthusiastic innovative people out there like Simon Maher of 8Radio.com. Hopefully, there will be fresher radio discussion as new innovative forms of radio are developed in the future, whether that be internet stations, digital stations or some new yet to be discovered way of broadcasting.

MW/LW not long for this world sadly.

Necro thread, but the biggest problems on this forum now are either(mostly ridiculed) pro NK/RTE trolls, or oul wans trying their damndest to make every thread about them, every time they leave the flat, or their dearly departed relatives.

I'm all for us sharing little vignettes of each other's lives, but it's not all about you Jan.

Switched on radio….cash machine…..switch off!!!

I think podcasts give the listener the choice at what time they can listen. Linear radio doesn't offer that.

FM stations have a problem with lack of choice the listener expects, plus transmission via FM isn't exactly cheap.

The internet offers much more in choice, same as DAB.

I think this has more to do with rural country life, stronger bonds between individuals, etc.

Also the UK always had a bad choice of community radio. Licenses in this field were very limited, if at all.

Even over in the UK I hardly noticed anybody listening or watching any kind of linear media anymore.

A lot of sports is on pay per view these days anyway.

I think even radio is also going down there, most younger listen to music via app on their smartphones.

DAB offers an ever greater choice in the UK, even the BBC want to add new music channels. DAB is making radio a bit more interesting in a time of apps on smartphones.

Ireland, the RTE and all the independent local radios sadly went a different direction, blaming DAB for their misery, whilst causing it, as FM listenership is dwindling more and more as well.

Without DAB Irish radio will die a slow death and stubbornness as well as resistance to change is fueling this.

The problem is as long as DAB is badmouthed, and dismissed with "the ship has sailed" and "now it's too late", radio will never have any form of innovation and freshness in Ireland. FM is simply too limiting, to costly for expansion, to ever offer something fresh.

DAB is low cost in operation, considering the transmission power and how many channels one can offer. Way more than FM ever could.

I think BBC will offer a fresher version of Radio 2 with different music, and there are more radio channels coming as well giving more choice.