Lots happens in the radio industry each week so here’s a summary of the week we just enjoyed.
Here’s what Happened
Last week we covered how South East Radio accused the chief executive of Wexford County Council of verbally assaulting presenter Alan Corcoran, this resulted in Alan receiving medical attention and the chief executive being banned from the stations studios.
This week, Wexford GAA accused South East Radio of excessive negative coverage, revealing they lodged a complaint with Coimisiún na Meán back in August. Wexford GAA missed a follow up email from Coimisiún na Meán though, so the case was closed.
South East Radio have now accused Wexford GAA of contravening the GAA’s own Code of Conduct regarding mental health, and demanded an immediate apology. The Managing director of South East radio sent a letter to Wexford GAA saying.
“I find it unconscionable that you chose to target Alan specifically with your criticism, particularly on the same day that he took the brave and highly publicised decision, live on air, to share the mental health difficulties that he is currently experiencing as a result of a traumatic workplace incident.”
Managing director of South East Radio
This insinuation was strongly rebuked by the chairman of Wexford GAA, who offered to sit down with station representatives. Wexford GAA are seeking clarity from Coimisiún na Meán on the status of their complaint.
You can read more about all of this at the link below. It’s a wild story and it’s hard to know what to make of it all.
The cash machine has been going into overdrive. Ever since Bauer bought Iradio the Christmas cash machine has been giving away huge money left right and centre.
We covered the station giving away the biggest prize in Irish radio history twice, and now they’re doing it for a third time just before Christmas.
On December 22nd the GoLoud network will give away a crazy €200,000. Bauer will be hoping that the added audience from Iradio, the extra radio listening over Christmas, and the publicity of such a moment will pay off in revenue from entries and listenership/advertising jumps.
The game costs €2.50 to play so if Bauer earn €2 from each entry then it would only take 100,000 players to break even. The publicity of the event also pays dividends,. The word of mouth publicity and a few articles in newspapers make people more likely to tune in to a Bauer owned station, boosting ad income.
Best of luck to anyone playing for the €200,000. It’s a life changing amount of money for whoever wins.
Check out this Iradio promo video for the cash machine
Finally for now I wanted to wish you a happy Christmas. I’m going to take a break over the Christmas period, but Radio land will be back on Saturday January 6th.
It’s been a wild year in radio, Bauer bought two more stations, a few presenters made big moves, and RTE, well, they had a disaster of a year. It’s been a tough time for the industry and we’re already heading for big job losses in 2024.
Ultimately I’m hopeful that the media industry will recover somewhat next year, but the challenges that radio faces as a whole need to be acknowledged.
I hope you’ve enjoyed reading my radio ramblings over the past year, and I look forward to bringing you more radio news in 2024.
For now, have a very merry Christmas and a happy new year, and best of luck to everyone hosting shows over the festive period.
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Quick Bits
Ryan Tubridy was paid over €25,000 by Rte before they ended contract negotiations
2FM are airing a nativity radio drama
There was a great interview with Ian Dempsey about all things radio
RTE staff have requested a number of improvements in new staff surveys
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.