Lots happens in the radio industry each week so here’s a summary of the week we just enjoyed.
Here’s What Happened
It’s been oficialy confirmed that the Adrian Flannelly show, the longest running Irish radio show in America won’t be returning to the airwaves this Autumn. The show had an incredible 54 year run.
Adrian’s show reached 2.5 million listeners across America in the ‘80s and ‘90s, and was responsible for huge political movements within the Irish community in the states.
The show ended in July, but it’s now been announced that it won’t be making a return. There are wonderful tributes to the show, many of which can speak to its importance with much more authority than me.
Even if you haven’t heard the show though, one thing is obvious. If you host a show for 54 years, your going to have impacted many peoples lives. The impact is truely huge.
This marks the end of an era for Irish radio in America. Congratulations to the shows team on an incredible run, and very best wishes for the next adventure.
Read a tribute to the show here
It’s now been a week since we heard that Ryan Tubridy wouldn’t be returning to radio 1. We’ve had some interesting reaction both around Tubridy’s future career and his replacement.
The most interesting news around Tubs himself has been the rumour that he’s been approached by conservative UK News Channel GB News.
The channel have focused a lot on cancel culture, so maybe that’s where this has come from, but it’s impossible to know. Before everything exploded for Ryan, a deal was nearly signed for him to return to his radio show and launch a podcast, with a pay package of €170,000. It’s unclear if GB News would pay that amount, but it’s interesting all the same.
The other news has been around a replacement in the 9am radio 1 slot. The show was rebranded on Monday to the nine o clock show, but doesn’t have any of its own imaging or branding yet. It’s currently using a generic entertainment theme from the Reel World package made for radio 1 a few years back.
You’ve had the expected suggestions, alongside Louis Walsh requesting a reality tv selection show, but ultimately it’s just a waiting game. Whoever fills the slot will have big shoes to fill, but it’s unclear as of now who’ll take on the challenge.
RTE have had other interesting moments this week including the reveal of the payments for the reports into the payments, as well as a press conference interrupted by climate change protesters, Really this is all starting to become a standard RTÉ week at this point, so things are still a bit of a mess.
RTEs new programme launch is this week so hopefully that can be a line in the sand for some of this. It’s been a rocky few months and it’s really been a damaging incident for broadcasting as a whole.
Finally this week, it’s IMRO time again. The shortlist was published this week marking the countdown to the big night. There was a record number of entries, with organisers saying “Local and national stations from every corner of Ireland brought their A-game, resulting in a challenging yet rewarding judging process.”
That judging process involved a Huge 110 judges from accross the industry, so a wide set of views should be reflected in the shortlist.
The event will return to the Lyrath Estate Hotel on Friday 6th October, where I’m sure there will be absolutely no RTÉ Jokes. It’s great to have this event encouraging the industry and it’s always great to see those who love broadcasting come together for a Big party, where the achievements in the industry can be celebrated.
Well done to everyone who was nominated. We look forward to bringing you more IMRO coverage in the weeks ahead. Let us know on our x account now, what’s your favourite IMRO memory?
Quick Bits
The new Red FM Breakfast with KC starts on Monday
The deadline for the Irish Journalism Awards is just around the corner
The Nolan show has moved studios as it’s controversies continue
Sean o Roarke has asked young people to consider joining the priesthood
Mairead Ronan says she misses radio, but family matters most
Dave Moore on Today FM wants listeners to join him on his opening show
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.