Lots happens in the radio industry each week so here’s a summary of the week we just enjoyed.
Here’s what happened
Beat are doing large scale promotions again🎉
We had a two year pandemic induced break, but we finally have promotions back on beat.
The station is basically using the fugitive formula, sending presenters on the run with a cash bounty. If you find the presenters, you win the cash.
The idea isn’t new in the Irish market as 96FM and c103 had a version of this concept back in the UTV days, but it’s great to see large scale promotions returning after so long. Hopefully Beat and other stations hold more promotions over the next while, it’s truly some of the most engaging radio when done right.
Also, it’s interesting to me that beat used the slogan “if you don’t ask, you can’t win”. Someone was clearly inspired by the 96FM fugitive which used the same phrase years ago.
Read the story from Radio Today here
Dublin radio station Near FM has reportedly started charging people to be apart of the station, resulting in some long term contributors deciding to leave.
According to Dublin Live, presenters are now required to join a media Co Op for a fee of €5 per month. Radio Land hasn’t had time to independently verify this information before publishing, but we have no reason to doubt the info.
This raises an interesting question. Is volunteer radio more of a job or an experience?
On the one hand, running a radio station is expensive and it could be argued it’s providing an experience to its presenters. Kind of like a club. On the other hand, these people are volunteering their time free of charge to the station who is benefiting from that time.
It’s an interesting question, as depending on your view it can be anywhere on a spectrum from totally okay to deeply unethical.
There’s a poll over on our Insta story so why not tell us where you land? We’d also love to hear from anyone with experience of this situation, so feel free to DM us.
Read the story from Dublin Live here
Finally this week, RTÉ have been publishing articles explaining why public service media matters. The articles are written by department heads in different content categories, and there’s also an article from director general Dee Forbes.
I really enjoyed reading these, and even though it’s not radio related I can’t not share how excited I am that another series of hidden assets is in development.
I don’t know if more article’s will come over the next while, but something about getting to read the thoughts of those managing our biggest broadcaster is really interesting to me. Hopefully we see more openness like this going forward.
You can read the articles here
Quick bits
Three new journalists have joined Beat 102 103
The RTÉ trade union group wants more information about a new well paid editorial role
The CEO of East Coast FM, Ciara O’Connor, has joined the board of a station on the Isle of Man
Blast 106, a radio station in Belfast has apologised after posting an insensitive meme
The Ryan Tubridy Show is available for sponsorship
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.