Lots happens in the radio industry each week so here’s a summary of the week we just enjoyed.
Here’s what happened
The IMRO Awards hall Of Fame inductees were announced at a ceremony this week. So, who was honoured at the event?
- Morning Ireland presenter Rachael English. Rachael spoke about how she had been fascinated by the medium since she got her first radio when she was 10. She also thanked the Morning Ireland team as well as the listeners.
- Galway Bay FM presenter and former CEO Keith Finnegan. Keith served as the CEO of Galway Bay FM for 33 years, as well as presenting the stations current affairs show for 3 hours a day. He stepped down as CEO in summer 2022 but continues to host shows on the station.
- The late Midlands103 boss Albert Fitzgerald. Albert had roles at many stations, starting his work at corks ERI. His main work in ireland saw him lead Midlands103 through the economic downturn by launching innovative advertiseing services, such as an online store. Something more stations have replicated since. He sadly passed away in August 2022.
Congratulations to all the new Hall of Fame members. It really is fantastic that we have such talent in the industry.
Read more details from Radio Today
The Cork’s Red FM 7:45 secret sound has been won.
The current sound had been in play for 38 weeks, before it was finally guessed by Chloe Dunne this week. It turns out the sound was of a fuel pump being placed back in its holder.
The secret sound has been running in cork for many years, starting on wireless group station 96FM. The 96FM version had a prize that increased for each day the sound stayed in play. In 2017 96FM put the competition on pause, but Red FM stole the format the following week before 96FM could restart.
Originally when Red FM took the format they ditched the increasing prize and instead guaranteed €5,000. They called it “Cork’s €5,000 secret sound”, using the guaranteed prize as a selling point.
That guaranteed prize is now no more though, and Red FM use a carbon copy of the 96FM Format. That’s why Chloe won €4,500 after 38 weeks, and why the competition is now called the “7:45 Secret Sound”, named after the time, not the money.
What’s your favourite radio competition format? Is it the secret sound/what’s that noise, that simple 60 second quiz. the fugitive/ the hunt/ secret Santa? Go vote on our insta story now.
Finally this week, imagine having a phone number so close to a radio stations that you end up getting music requests multiple times a day. Well, it turns out that one poor woman has been receiving messages for FM104 for years now.
@travelwithaine on gTikTok has spoken about some of the texts and voice notes she’s received over the years, including one voice note where someone was explaining why they think they should win westlife tickets.
They explained in their voice note that their dad had been murdered, and they played you raise Me Up at his funeral. They then sent on news screenshots to prove it. Once they were made aware of the fact that they had sent to the wrong number they apparently seemed embarrassed and deleted everything.
What a crazy story, it would make you wonder how many people receive texts as a result of having numbers similar to those used by stations, or even old decommissioned station numbers.
So remember folks, check the number twice before you send that talk show your deepest secrets. You do not want to mess that up.
Watch the story time video here
Quick Bits
A couple who had their first date on Today FM have got married🎉congratulations🍷
RTE broadcaster Oliver Callan has a new comedy show on BBC Sounds
A load of ad teams had some fun playing softball this week
There’s a new commercial and operations director at Wireless Group
RTE have announced their plans to cover the ploughing championships
Michael Byrne has joined the board of WLR
RTE have insisted that the new sponsor of Claire Byrne’s show will have no influence on show content
Radiocentre Ireland are launching an audio course
Jennifer Zamparelli from 2FM has opened a Hair Salon
The Great Pink Run have announced Today FM as media partners
Bonus Stuff
This week we released our first ever video content. Check out our review of the new RTÉ Radio Player below and let us know what you think.
That’s it
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.