Lots happens in the radio industry each week so here’s a summary of the week we just enjoyed.
Here’s What Happened
2FM have had a very busy week with the launch of 2FM Rising for 2022, and they announced part of a schedule change yesterday as well.
On Monday the station announced the artists who will be taking part in Rising this year. Each artist receives a €1,000 bursary and is also heavily promoted across the 2FM schedule with airplay of their music and exclusive interviews. It’s great to see Irish music getting the attention it deserves so best wishes to everyone involved and hopefully this opportunity is just the beginning.
2FM weren’t done yet however, they’ve only gone and switched up the schedule. The big news is that a new drive time show is on the way, but we don’t know much about that yet. Here’s all the changes that have been announced so far.
- Jenny Greene is leaving drive time to host the Greene Room. The new show will air on Sundays to Thursdays at 10PM. Sundays show will be a chill out show, while the rest of the week will be dedicated to Irish music, including Indie and alternative music.
- Laura Fox at the Weekend will air Saturdays and Sundays from 9AM. The show is going to have a focus on music, giveaways and celebrity stories. Laura has hosted podcasts for RTÉ in the past, including being the co host of RTE’s My First Ride.
- Laura will also fill in on drive until the new show is ready to go.
A Peak time shake up on national radio is really exciting so I’m really looking forward to seeing how RTÉ play their cards here. there’s a big chance for 2FM to do something very interesting with this one.
Best wishes to those with new shows from us here at Radio Land, and be sure to check back often so you find out who gets Drive Time.
Dave Fanning and Louis Walsh have both spoken this week about radio stations playing more Irish music. Louis said it would help artists recover from the hit they took through Covid, while Dave spoke about how he feels the laws should be changed to force stations to support Irish music.
Interestingly, we asked this question on Instagram during Irish Music Month and I was kind of surprised by the answer. We asked, should stations be required to play 25% Irish music? Though the response was tiny, 60% did vote no.
I’d really like to do this poll with a large sample size at some stage. I’ve seen passionate arguments both ways on this in the industry., so I’d be really interested to see a full breakdown of information on it.
In a separate but very relevant story, 98FM have ditched their Irish music show with immediate effect. John Barker has hosted the show for over a decade, but the show has been going strong since 1989.
Following the announcement, the Irish music industry was understandably not too happy. Industry site GoldenPlec said that “News of the axing will no doubt heighten the feeling within the Irish music community that commercial radio pays little more than lip service to Irish artists”.
It’s almost ironic how big names call for Irish music to get played more, and then an Irish music show gets dropped. What a strange set of events.
Finally this week, a quick bonus story that didn’t deserve to be relegated to Quick Bits. Huge well done to everyone involved at Christmas FM who raised an amazing €331,515 for Barnardos in 2021. Keep up the great work all and see you on the radio again this Christmas🎄
Quick Bits
There was a big win in the kingdom as Radio Kerry gave away €12,600 on radio bingo
RTE are apparently struggling to get a sponsor for Ray D’arcy
Radiocentre ireland are going to sponsor the media category at the Cannes Young Lions
And that’s the summary for this week. Come back to radio land next week for more radio news📻 and be sure to follow us on Twitter and Instagram for extra stories.