2024 (The Final Radio Land post)

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.

Read the list of winners here

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.

Read about PJ and Jim here

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☺️

This Week In Radio 17/8/2024 (the ups and downs of JNLR)

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 that time one and all, the latest JNLR listenership numbers are here. Everything’s still moving along nicely, but let’s take a look at who’s going up and down with Irelands main stations.

Click here to skip the JNLR news

RTÉ Radio 1

Overall a good book this time for Radio 1. They didn’t have a great time in the last book so this will be a relief.

486,000 are tuning into Morning Ireland. That’s up 17,000 from last time which is really healthy.
336,000 tune in to Oliver Callan, which is a boost of 6,000.
Claire Byrne gets a boost of 3,000 for a total of 344,000. It’s not a massive jump but it’s a good steady increase.
221,000 tune in to Louise Duffy. That’s also a boost of 3000.
News at One has had a drop in its first book without Bryan Dobson. The show is down 6,000 to 295,000
Joe Duffy is holding on nicely above that 300,000 mark. He now has 302,000, a jump of 1,000.
The Ray D’Arcy Show had a great book, increasing 10,000 to reach 191,000. The show climbs ever closer to that 200,000 figure.
Drivetime goes from 220,000 to 224,000, which is, you guessed it, a 4,000 listener increase.

This was a good book for Radio 1. While nothing has exploded in terms of numbers, nothings had big drops either. The News at One is obviously going through change, but time will tell how it all plays out. Definitely better luck than last time,

RTÉ 2FM

2FM has had so much change over the past while that it’s probably not worth super deep analysis until things settle down a bit. however, let’s take a look at the current state of play.

149,000 are tuning in to 2FM breakfast each morning which is a boost of 6,000
141,000 are tuning in to Laura Fox, which is also a 6,000 listener jump.
128,000 are listening to Tracey Clifford, who is probably the most consistent voice on the station. She’ll be happy as that’s a boost of 7,000
157,000 are tuning in to 2FM Drive at the moment, which is a jump of 6,000

These are all super numbers for the station, but 2FM is on the verge of some of the biggest changes to its schedule ever. Dan Healy spoke about some of those changes in a press release.

We are in the middle of a process of discovering the next new radio talent for Ireland, almost 140 people are coming through 2FM over the next two weeks. We are meeting incredibly talented people from all walks of life.

Off the back of this strong book we look forward to building on these gains and bringing a new breakfast and evening drive show for the audience over the next few months.

This is really interesting stuff. The next year for 2FM is looking really exciting for sure.

Today FM

Things could definitely have gone better for Today FM. the station suffered a decrease in listeners on much of its daytime schedule this time around.

Ian Dempsey now has 210,000 listeners, a decrease of 6,000 tuning in each morning.
Dave Moore has 223,000 tuning in which is a drop of 5,000
131,000 tune in to Louise Cantillon, which is an 8,000 drop
155,000 listen to Ray Foley which is down 6,000. This breaks a streak of great gains for Ray.
Matt Cooper is down 10,000 and now has 171,000 listeners. Still very respectable but obviously not ideal

You’re always going to get bad books, but this really isn’t ideal for the station. Time will tell if they can reverse course.

Newstalk

Newstalk might have lost its managing editor, but it’s not losing listeners. The station had a really good performance this book.

Newstalk Breakfast has gained 11,000 and now sits at 168,000 listeners
Pat Kenny had a super book adding 15,000 listeners, now landing on 244,000
137,000 are listening to lunchtime live. That’s an incredible leap of 19,000 listeners. Super stuff
Moncrieff gets a respectable 3,000 listener increase and now has 108,000 tuning in.
The hard shoulder is up 7,000 and now sits at 155,000

If Bauer were upset by the numbers at Today FM they’ll be able to at least smile with the results for Newstalk. A brilliant book for the station no matter how you look at it.

The ups and downs continue

Well done to everyone who gained listeners in these books. For those who didn’t, just keep at it. Radio is a game of ups and downs. There are exciting times ahead in the Radio industry for sure with 2FM in particular looking quite interesting. time will tell how everything plays out.

More JNLR info can be found at the below links.

In other news

Bank Of Ireland has signed a new partnership with Off The Ball for rugby coverage.

The new deal agreed with Bauers Media Central will see bank of Ireland have a presents on OffThe Balls main radio show, as well as across the brands digital channels. It is set to run for 12 months under the current agreement.

This isn’t a full show sponsorship, with the deal instead focusing on Rugby. It just goes to show that OTB is a full brand now, capable of attracting multiple big name sponsors for different elements.

Sports is big business and Off The Ball is definitely one of the bigger sports focused media outlets in Ireland. The show on Newstalk is just one slice of the pie now which is interesting to see.

Read about the new deal here

And finally for now, RTÉ Midlands Correspondent Sinead Hussey is organising a bake sale to raise funds for charity.

This follows the sad death of CJ McCann, who died following a battle with an aggressive brain cancer called an Atypical Teratoid Rhabdoid Tumour (ATRT). CJ died at just 21 months old.

The family have been fundraising for vital cancer services that helped them on their journey, and have already raised over €150,000.

Usually stories like this end up in our Quick bits section, but I think it’s important to recognise people’s amazing generosity. Well done to everyone involved, and hope the upcoming fundraisers go well.

Read about the upcoming fundraisers here

Quick Bits

Presenter Brian Dowling has criticised Ireland’s surrogacy laws

A bursary is being set up in memory of broadcaster Gerry Anderson

Peadar Breathnach is reportedly joining RTÉ

98FM is hosting a big summer safari at Dublin Zoo

Laura fox has got engaged

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.

This Week In Radio 6/7/2024 (there are lots of us)

Lots happens in the radio industry each week so here’s a summary of the week we just enjoyed.

Here’s What Happened

2FM have issued an open call to find new presenters.

The station plans to create a long list of potential new on air talent, and then each time a slot needs filling they will create a short list based on weighted criteria.

This long list of presenters will be refreshed every two years, meaning it may provide a valuable point of entry for those looking to get into the industry.

Radio on a professional level is exceptionally hard to get into, with most now building careers on social media first and transitioning into radio later. This probably won’t change that, but having people express their interest at least puts them on a map.

Many have already jumped at the opportunity, with over 200 already applying. We think of radio as a small industry sometimes but there are a lot of people trying to get in and progress.

Best wishes to everyone applying. Hopefully we’ll hear some great new presenters on air soon.

Read about the 2FM call-out here

From building studios to building a website, it’s been busy at BTS.

If you don’t know who BTS are, they are the company that design and build radio studios in Ireland. They also take care of transmission infrastructure and other bits like that.

The company now has a new website showing off lots of their work. The old website was very dated, but the new one is modern and has lots of great studio photos for those into that.

The company will be 35 years in business next year, and I’m sure the industry has changed hugely in that time. You’d wonder how much of the companies work is now focused on podcast studios, but who knows.

Check out lots of great studio photos here

Former head of Newstalk Patricia Monahan

Finally for now, the head of Newstalk is jumping ship to RTE.

Patricia Monahan is joining as director of audio, overseeing RTE’s radio stations and podcast operations. She’s previously been the editor for Newstalk.

This is a big move, jumping from a commercial broadcaster to a public service organisation. It’s an exciting role, and one that Patricia will hopefully be very suited to.

“I look forward to joining RTE in this exciting new role and as it embarks on its ambitious new strategy of which audio is such a critical part. RTE already plays a hugely significant role as a public service broadcaster on the audio landscape in Ireland. I look forward to working with all my new colleagues to develop the portfolio so that it continues to fulfil that role for many generations to come”

Patricia speaking about her new role

Very best of luck on the new adventure from us at Radio Land.

Read about the new role here

Quick Bits

Niall Boylan is building a new media brand for conservative and right wing voices as he says “news media in Ireland are compromised by the left”

Steve Carson is to become RTE’s director of Video after working as head of BBC Scotland

Irish Music Month has begun on many radio stations

Iradio are looking for a producer

Ciara Daly has spoken about the death of radio presenter Stephen Clements

This week in Radio 15/6/2024 (no Google Translate on RnaG)

Lots happens in the radio industry each week so here’s a summary of the week we just enjoyed.

Here’s What happened

RTE have started running ads on Raidió na Gaeltachta and are encouraging brands to ensure a high standard of Irish in their adverts.

Listen to an ad break on RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta

RnaG listeners are passionate about Irish, and even though someone’s phonetic pronunciation might sound right, a native speaker can tell when someone’s bluffing. As such, RTE is providing support and advice to advertisers to get this right.

They recommend that scripts should be drafted in Irish, saying “Automated translators/ Translation software don’t understand the tone and intricacies of the language.” In short, don’t use Google Translate.

They also say that a VO artist should have a level of Irish to enable them to appear as a contributor on Raidió na Gaeltachta. This should ensure a level of quality in the output.

RTE’s sales team will be running a webinar on the subject in July too, so they really are trying to ensure that their listeners do get high quality ads in Irish. Don’t think I’ll be able to voice any Irish ads for the station anytime soon unfortunately.

Quick Bits

Russell Crowe has shared his thoughts on Ryan Tubridy’s situation

Nova are airing a documentary on Christy Dignam

Raidió na Life wins Radio Station of the Year at the Celtic Media Awards

Cork Mid Summer Festival have an online pop up radio station now

This Week In Radio 8/6/2024 (€10 million? Irelands Classic Hits? The 2 Johnnies? Let’s talk about it)

Lots happens in the radio industry each week so here’s a summary of the week we just enjoyed.

Here’s What Happened

So the owners of Classic Hits Radio (Bay Broadcasting) have written to the minister and the RTE DG, offering to buy 2FM for €10 million.

They state in their letter that they feel the service should be privatised, but RTE are fighting back saying that 2FM is not for sale. Kevin Branigan, who runs Bay Broadcasting has also said he’d be open to chatting with the 2 Johnnies if he purchased the station.

Bay broadcasting seem to be desperate to get a slice of RTE recently, but this trend isn’t new. They were talking about offering Ryan Tubridy a job last year, and a number of years back they wanted to take over the RTÉ DAB multiplex to take Nova National.

The question of privatising 2FM is an interesting one, and Bay Broadcasting seem to want it. Bauer would almost certainly like a slice too. Time will tell if this goes anywhere, but I’d doubt it. This to me feels more like marketing than a serious push to buy 2FM, but who knows.

Host Brian Dowling is taking a break from 98FM over the summer as he and husband Arthur Gourounlian prepare to welcome their second child.

Brian hosts alongside Suzanne Kane on 98FM, as well as having a large social media audience. Another popular social media creator and tv presenter is joining Suzanne for the summer, as James Patrice is set to cover with Suzanne in the slot.

The show airs 10am to 1pm on the Bauer owned station. James has filled in for Brian before, but it’s always interesting to see how a pairing goes on a longer term basis.

Best wishes to Brian and Arthur on the new baby, and to James and Suzanne with the show.

Quick Bits

Irish Presenter Ronan Keating is leaving Magic Radio Breakfast

License fee payments for the first 5 months of the year are down a reported 15%

Paul Byrne has left Virgin Media, he’s previously covered on Red FM in Cor