2fm - New schedule coming

She did but as a general reader the amount of bile towards Lottie here seems way OTT. She seems to be judged on her on air presence. It’s been mentioned she is head of entertainment. She sounds like she has a broader role behind the scenes. I honestly don’t know. Anybody else commenting doesn’t seem to know anything for definite either.

Let’s take the most fantastical version of her job that’s being referenced here, €100,000/year for reading out a few showbiz stories. Would I give a gig like that up? Would you? Wouldn’t you be an eejit if you did!

I think none of us know what’s going on with Lottie. I’ll say that flogging Toyotas on the company campus doesn’t exactly say “Head of Entertainment”, let alone her being a contractor at the time.

It seems terribly bitter wishing unemployment on someone. As I say, we don’t seem to know exactly what she does in RTE day to day. If she is, in fact, stealing a living then management would deal with that you would think. I know RTE doesn’t always work that way but any goodwill accrued from her old man or name has long faded now you’d think. She must be there on her own merits at this stage. Certainly in the current climate you’d expect her to be offloaded if she wasn’t useful in there.

Commercial stations have requirements on how much time per hour has to be dedicated to news, sport, etc. Do RTE have license requirements in the same way? It’s possible that it’s a license requirement for 2FM to provide two minutes of entertainment news per hour across the day and that’s a task Lottie fulfils.

I’d agree with @squonk that it’s a bit of a witch hunt here. So many people here zone in on Lottie as a problem needing to be solved but we don’t know what she does day-to-day, the same way that we don’t know what anyone else does. We don’t know if the breakfast presenters arrive five minutes before a show and leave five minutes after it ends or if they stay for hours, working with producers to plan the following day. We don’t know how much effort the producers put in or if they just go with the first idea that comes to them.

We don’t know anything about how anyone works or how much they contribute to the organisation other than what we hear on-air and it’s unfair to judge Lottie alone for that. You could argue that newsreaders are stealing a living too in that case, only reading a bulletin for a couple of minutes an hour is the same as what Lottie is doing, just with different content.

For me Lottie's tenure is as inexplicable as 2fm's continued existence.

2fm was created at a time when half the population was under 25 years of age, youth programming beyond Bosco was pretty scarce. For me 2fm became irrelevant decades ago, and I only tuned back in when the 2 Johnnies were brought in. I had been following them years beforehand on the internet, and now they're moving on again so 2fm becomes irrelevant to me again.

It's been said here many a time but I do think 2fm should just become a dedicated DadFm, goldenoldies, or whatever rather than mawkishly trying to fulfil a youth mandate that's more than adequately catered for by other channels and the internet options.

2fm is truly a quango at this stage, existing on muscle memory and a tenuous blood link to its Gerry Ryan golden era.

I chime with all that, especially how it receives more than a dedicated music channel like LyricFM.

Having said that LyricFM is relaying and expands what already exists whereas 2fm needs content creators to justify its continued existence, which is in itself an act of futility.

Back on the Lottie criticism my first actual exposure to her was because I tuned in to hear the 2 Johnnies and I found her inclusion extremely bizarre. Her contributions were screechy, opinionated non-craic dross peddlying that was obviously endured by the lads as part of their package and I've no doubt she's already mentally in their rear view mirror.

2fm might have channeled the zeitgeist of Ireland's youth quake of the 80s and early 90s, but no one seems to have noticed the ground has shifted in both demographics and technology has cut the legs from its entire premise.

The 2 Johnnies is the closest 2fm have gotten to where it's at now, and like them their audience will not stick around for Lottie.

Maybe she is happy there!

Very true. I don't think criticism of lack of ambition is useful, who's to say she doesn't have ambition and she feels she's achieved something in herself.

Seems to me she's made a very good life for herself, regardless of her name. Fair dues to her.

Continuity still exists, bring back the Entertainment minute on RTÉ News channel. National lottery, weather, telly bingo?

Herself and Blathnaid Treacy could do that! Blathnaid I feel is another one of those girls even 10 years ago you could confidently state "that girl will spend the rest of her life in RTE" and so far 10 years later I have been proven right! Maybe they do like the job but it's a bit strange to have so little ambition in that industry. It's not like a factory line where nothing changes. Tv and media offer so many types of activities and sidelines. With RTE under the microscope more than ever, I'd say only the most unambitious and feet draggers will limp on until retirement.

I think the value that RTÉ put on 2FM as a touchstone for younger audiences is long gone, but I do think that RTÉ should invest in content for young people and the 15 to 24 / 15 to 35 age groups. However 2FM is not that attraction alone, if it is even part of a plan to keep younger audiences with RTÉ.

RTÉ maintained 2FM over the last 20 years and yet cut children's content, cut Drama and failed to invest in Comedy.

It shows just how badly run RTÉ is that they continue to espouse the importance of 2FM as a connection to youth but fail to realise 2fm's position in RTÉ and RTÉ's connection with younger people via Children's content, Drama and Comedy.

RTÉ never even consider each of these other important Genres.

BTW many will ask what age are we and what do we know, well I'd argue we've seen RTÉ's attempts at Yuff Programming and the demise of RTÉ 2FM to have some understanding of the situation.

the 2FM exits sure has given the station some much needed interest and publicity. there's probably older 2FM listeners finding themselves tuning in again to hear what the fuss is about !!

Good read this from the former 2FM PD:

https://liamthompson.substack.com/p/what-is-the-purpose-of-2fm?r=8fz8g

Reading all the posts in here, and the 2 Johnnies thread and the Doireann Garrihy thread has been very interesting. Like it has been mentioned, what people feel should happen next is all over the map.

I am seeing a through-line though… the 'talking' should be reserved for Radio One and the music is 2fm.

What is the music though? Well, a lot of people agree that the youth/chart music seems to be sewn up by the regional youth stations, Spin/Red/Beat etc.

If you look at what Today FM do, it's a mix of 90's, 00's with some 2010's and current sprinkled throughout. It feels like the station are aging with their audience and playing 'the music they love' while 2fm just haven't managed to find a balance. I am 40 and have listened to primetime Today FM pretty regularly for 15 - 20 years now. I feel like it's aging with me and the consistency of presenter line-up is to be admired, although I'll admit I don't listen to Iano.

2fm has been so chaotic in comparison.

I don't really have a suggested solution other than to say a consistent line-up, deciding on a demographic (abandon the youth?) and not trying to be something they're not would help I'm sure.

In fairness you hear CMAT, hear her before she starts singing!

Lottie to get the drive time slot with David o Reilly. That’s a shocking pairing for that slot.

Aifric to join the morning slot

My opinion on the bits of heard of David when covering or in slots is he has an opinion and all others are wrong

:/ Reading though some of his other post he seems to have missed the elephant in the room. Don't mention Dee!

It seems like a nothing change to be honest. It will be interesting to see if any of this make an impact on 2FM's audience and how they spin it.

I would love to see 2FM reach new heights in this disaster, or just to remain on the same numbers.

Dan Healy should have a masters in spin.

Lottie Ryan???????!!!!!!!

Lottie Ryan hanging around whether anyone wants her for anything or not has paid off....what a joke..3-6pm Monday to Friday, how many mentions of her dad per week?

2FM shakeup: Lottie Ryan and David O’Reilly taking 2 Johnnies slot (for the summer at least).

Lottie on drive 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

I've a sibling who was a county hurler, doesn't mean everyone else in the family could.

I used to turn off the 2 johnnies when they had to do their grin and bear it during Lottie, I'll be following them away from 2fm.

the 3 presenters announced must be RTE staffers, Bakhurst making use of existing resources which is good

😂 Anyone but. There are plenty of people knocking around RTÉ. You could have the job if you wanted, based on that level of talent.

Again nothing against the girl, but she's not ready to be a full time host or co-host.

Good luck to her an everyone on this summer's shake up, I honestly hope they end up with 50k 15 to 25 year old listeners extra, on top of the currently listenership