Lots happens in the radio industry each week so here’s a summary of the week we just enjoyed.
Here’s what happened
98FM have signed a new partnership with Toyota ireland to become the stations official car partner.
As part of the two year deal, Toyota Ireland have provided 98FM with three Toyota C-HR hybrid electric SUV’s which will be used by the stations Thunder Team, their name for the street fleet or promotions crew.
In return, Toyota will get a spot advertising campaign, weeklong promotions, weekend sponsorships as well as promotional stings accross the stations output.
Toyota have been on a role with media sponsorships recently, as they also secured The Graham Norton Show on Virgin Media. They seem to be looking for lighter entertainment sponsorships, so it would also make sense for them to snap up Claire Byrne’s new game show or even love Island.
It’s great to see sponsors putting money into quality media like this, so fair play to Toyota on supporting shows on Irish TV and radio.
Radio presenter Dave Duke this week joined the podcast universe. He announced the Dave Duke podcast which is available on all the main podcast platforms.
It’s not new to see established presenters with podcasts now, but it feels like the podcast train is moving even faster than before. Niall Boylan, Dave fanning, and Dave Duke have all announced podcasts recently despite being established names.
This week we wanted to see how you feel towards traditional radio, so we’re asking over on instagram. Is radio cool? Or have podcasts, social media, and internet radio made the traditional side of media less exciting?
Radio has traditionally had fancy studios and high production values, but in a world where anyone can start a station from home is all that still interesting to you? Share your thoughts over on Instagram.
Check out Dave Duke’s podcast announcement here
Finally this week we have a bit of a sad story but a story that ultimately shows how kind people are.
Rónán Mac Aodha Bhuí, host of Rónán Beo on Raidió na Gaeltachta is sadly suffering from stage 4 Colon cancer with metastases to the liver and lung. He has been receiving treatment for this, but unfortunately these cancer treatments are hugely expensive.
This has led to a major fundraising effort being launched, with support coming from all over the world. Events were even held by the Irish American community in New York to support Rónán.
A GoFundMe has been set up to help with the fundraising. The goal was to raise €120,000, but at time of writing that has been well surpassed. The current total sits at €151,863 and it keeps on growing.
This really shows the generosity of people around the world. Sometimes we can be swamped with news of people doing bad stuff, but it’s also important to point out the good.
The very best of luck to Rónán and his family at this tough time.
Read the story about the events in New York here
Quick Bits
The Cash Machine has made its way to Red FM after Bauer bought the station
Radio presenter Claire Byrne is hosting a new game show called Ireland’s Smartest
2FM breakfast host Carl Mullan has won Dancing with the stars
Bauer are launching a new audio platform called Rayo, but it’s not in ireland yet
@AoifeOC_ oin Twitter has been asked to cover the Women’s Six Nations for Red FM and Newstalk
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.