Lots happens in the radio industry each week so here’s a summary of the week we just enjoyed.
Here’s what happened
It didn’t get much fanfare, but RTE’s medium wave transmitter in Ballycommon County Offaly was demolished this week with a controlled explosion.
The transmitter ceased broadcasting back in 2008 marking the end of RTÉ‘s MW journey, and at the time it actually got a report on the TV News. You can find that report here
This time it was just phone cameras capturing the moment as the 296 metre tall structure came down for the last time.
It’s a fascinating piece of radio history, and even though it serves no purpose at all, hopefully RTÉ hold on to some of the remains for history’s sake.
RTE now simply broadcasts on FM and Online, as DAB and Longwave are also no more. Who knows what the future of radio broadcasting looks like, but it certainly ain’t medium wave.
In some really depressing news, Beat 102 103 presenter Luke O’Faoláin had his house robbed this week.
In a post on Twitter/x this week, luke confirmed that his house had been robbed and his drone had been stolen. Really depressing.
There’s not a whole lot one can say on this other than acknowledging how awful it is. The invasion of privacy with something like this is off the charts and truly unfair.
Things like this aren’t unheard of in the radio industry. Off the top of my head I recall Niall Boylan facing a Similar incident a few years ago, and in the comments of Luke’s post Beat CEO Gabrielle Cummins mentioned that she’d faced this in the past too.
Sure losing something like a drone is one thing, especially as it could have the potential to hurt income if you use it for work, but the potentially bigger loss is the sense of security. homes are meant to be someone’s safe space, and it’s heartbreaking when that’s violated.
Hopefully things get sorted quickly for Luke, but still a depressing story.
Changes continue at Red FM. Isabel Bartak-Healy, better known as Izzy Showbizzy has now joined the growing list of presenters leaving the station.
Izzy will be moving to another station in September. over the course of 12 years at the station she had rolls on many shows, and was a regular host on Red Hits from 7pm Monday to Thursday. She was one of Corks most popular presenters even though she never got her own prime time show.
She was also the first woman to ever win gold for ‘DJ of the Year’ at the IMRO radio awards back in 2019, as one does.
It’s going to be really exciting to see where she goes next. There’s always the possibility of her filling that open Drive Time slot at 96FM since Loraine left for breakfast, but we’ll need to wait and see. That could potentially be a huge radio shake up.
Regardless Izzy will be a loss to Red FM. We wish her the very best of luck on her move to a new radio home.
Quick Bits
The 2 Johnnies are looking for a new sponsor
The boss of RTE’s competitor Virgin Media has requested RTE’s removal from the ad market
Newly ordained former broadcaster Shaun Doherty has been appointed to Derry’s St Eugene’s Cathedral
RadioPlayer is getting major investment
Bauer Media baught Sunshine Radio, but it’s not Sunshine in Dublin
And that’s the summary for this week. Come back to radio land next week for more radio news📻 and be sure to check us out on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn for more fun from the world of radio.