Lots happens in the radio industry each week so here’s a summary of the week we just enjoyed.
No the title isn’t click bait
All good things come to an end some day, and unfortunately today is that day for Radio Land.
I started the website back in 2020, properly launching the site on the night of the 2020 IMRO awards. Now, 4 years later it’s time to move on to the next adventure.
If I’m honest there’s a part of me that would love to have done 5 years, but there are many reasons why I think now is the right time to close this chapter.
The main reason is simply time. Back in 2020 I was still in college, but now I have a full time job. I don’t have as much time to commit to personal projects as I once did, and it’s time for me to try something new.
When you invest a lot of time into something it’s tough to just bring that to a close, but Radio Land has achieved a lot. Thousands have read content on the site, which for a relatively small industry is fantastic. It’s given me many valuable skills, and helped me in many things I do now for work.
In my view, Radio Land has been a great success.
Radio has gone through massive changes in the past 4 years. Bauer hadn’t arrived on Irish soil when I started, and the RTÉ controversy couldn’t have been imagined. In some ways radio has changed for the better, and in some ways for the worse.
That said I still love radio. Radio is an exciting industry and there are many fantastic people working within it. Who knows what the future brings, but I’m sure it will be exciting.
The Radio Land site and its content will remain online for the foreseeable future, but there won’t be regular new content added. Maybe Radio Land will return some day in the future, but for now that’s a wrap.
Thanks to everyone who has read or contributed to Radio Land over the past few years, and feel free to stay in touch. You can find details on my personal website here
For now let’s do this one last time. Here’s what happened This Week In Radio.
Here’s What Happened
The IMRO Radio Awards 2024 took place in Kilkenny last night, returning once again to the very fancy 5 star Lyrath Estate.
We can’t go through every single award, but it’s always great to acknowledge the big three.
WLR in Waterford are the 2024 local station of the year. They won this award consistently for years, and were hoping to make it five in a row back in 2023. They missed out last year, but quickly got back to work and will be hoping to get the streak going again. Well done WLR.
Music station of the year goes to Red FM down in Cork. Red have also won this award before, but it’s their first time with the win since Bauer purchased the station last year. Bauer will be happy to keep this one in the family, with sister station Spin winning it in 2023.
And national station of the year heads to Newstalk for another year. they really had a great night for awards last night so I’m sure the news people had some good fun. Bauer also own Newstalk, so they’ll be happy with that win too.
It’s always great to recognise fantastic radio, and as I said above this industry is full of amazing talent. To those who won awards very well done, and to those who didn’t don’t worry. Just keep making the best radio you can and you won’t go too far wrong.
The full list of winners can be found below, and there’s reaction all over social media too. Hopefully everyone had a good night.
The money’s on the way ladies and gentlemen. Payday is nearly here for independent broadcasters.
Budget 2025 took place this week and it was a mixed bag for the media sector. TG4 is to be allocated €60 million for the year which likely means they won’t have enough to build the new dedicated news service they desperately wanted, but new tax incentives for unscripted television look really exciting if allowed under state aid rules. 
Long awaited and also subject to state aid approvals is a €6 million fund ring fenced for news and current affairs on commercial radio and telly. It sounds like the campaign from the IBI was successful, with funding now available to stations reducing costs of news operations for media owners.
Lots is still unclear about all this, but for now at least it seems stations are happy.
TG4 will understandably be disappointed, but for everyone else it looked like a nice enough package.
Read details from minister Catherine Martin TD here
Finally for now, Radio Novas PJ and Jim are about to be very very cold.
The two presenters are taking part in this years Dickie Dip, and will be taking a dip in the Irish see with just a dickie bow for protection. The whole event is raising money for vital cancer services, which really is fantastic.
We’ve spoken before on Radio Land about how radio can be used for good, and this is another great example from PJ and Jim. It’s a brilliant way to raise awareness and funds, so very well done to the lads for getting involved.
The event takes place in Skerries, Co Dublin, on Saturday November 16th, and you can Find out more about the Dickie Dip here
Best wishes to everyone taking part, and here’s to more radio being used for good in the future.
Quick Bits
Radio 1 advertisers can get Lyric FM ads with a discount for Q4
James Patrice might return to 98FM
Freedom FM is back on air for another year
Weekend Classics with Claudia Boyle is launching on Lyric FM
John Creedon is going to host a new TV series
98FM are bringing their listeners to the zoo again this year
FM104 is to become the Dublin GAA official media partner
And that was Radio Land. Hope you’ve found the site of service over the past few years and thank you for the support. Your free to read Radio Today now instead☺️