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

Here’s What Happened

Broadcaster Joe Malloy is set to leave Newstalk sports show Off The Ball.

Joe is making the move over to The Independent, where he will be launching a new daily podcast. He will also continue to host sports coverage for Virgin Media Television.

The Independent already has some success in the Podcast space, with The Indo Daily performing particularly well. This new podcast will be a new audio venture for the newspaper, and with a name like Joe Molloy attached it will likely be a good move.

It’s fascinating to see how traditional Newspapers are starting to really invest in audio. Both The Irish Times and The independent now have audio operations of note, and it seems to be a growing area for the traditional players.

This will be a big shift for OTB, as Joe Molloy has been involved for 14 years. Time will tell how it all plays out. Best wishes to all involved in the new podcast and the new Off The Ball. Exciting times ahead for sure.

Read about Joe Molloys new gig here

Leaks this week seem to suggest that a plan is nearly ready to go for the future funding of RTÉ.

In an agreement set to go before cabinet on Wednesday, it’s believed that the €160 licence fee will remain, with some form of exchequer funding set to make up the shortfall.

In a move unique in Ireland, RTÉ would become the only state body funded on a multi year basis, allowing for better planning and resource management. This also ensures for example that RTÉ’s funding is somewhat secure, minimising the risks of political pressure.

We’ll likely get more details next week, but, this is definitely interesting to see. a licence fee will always be unpopular so it’s not ideal, and it definitely leaves an attack vector open for the broadcaster, but with that said if this can stabilise RTÉ for a few years then it should be worth it.

Definitely an interesting week ahead as a long running drama seems to be reaching its conclusion.

Read about the new RTÉ funding here

Finally for now, RTÉ might be on the verge of getting more secure government funding, but their commercial revenue is also super important.

RTÉ isn’t allowed carry nearly as many ads as commercial broadcasters, but it still makes up an important chunk of change.

The broadcaster is now looking to find a new sponsor for the Laura Fox Show, which recently replaced the Jennifer Zamparelli show on 2FM. How much does it cost you might ask? Well…

• A 6 month sponsorship of the show will set a brand back €100,000
• If you want the whole year, you can grab that for €195,000. That means you’re getting €5,000 off.

It’s definitely an expensive sponsorship, but I guess the show has a good youth audience so may well be worth it to some brands.

I always find it interesting to see how much sponsorships cost, as ultimately its sponsor money that keeps presenters employed. Time will tell what brand jumps on board,

RTÉ are actually hiring someone at the moment to take care of digital audio ads, so this is definitely a very important area.

Read about the sponsorship here

Quick Bits

New local journalism reporting schemes are open for applications now

Cynthia Ní Mhurchú has called for more funding of local radio

98FM are looking for presenters with the new Get On Air Search

Adrian Kennedy has apologised after he lost his temper during a podcast

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.

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

Here’s What Happened

A woman who was recently the subject of an RTÉ true crime podcast has been arrested and charged in Kerry.

Just 1 week after the conclusion of the podcast series The Real Carrie Jade, Carrie Jade, who’s real name is actually Samantha cookes was arrested in a Kerry post office in what’s been described as a sting operation.

The charge for welfare fraud comes after the podcast series detailed a number of incidents where Samantha Cooke’s allegedly deceived a number of people using many fake identities.

RTÉ have already released a short bonus episode to the podcast updateing listeners, hosted by the shows series producer. This really shows the advantages of podcasts compared with traditional radio in some ways.

You can get a podcast episode out near instantly, without needing to wait for a broadcast schedule to adapt. Massive well done to RTÉ for the investigation work, and for brilliant podcast production as always. RTÉs true crime podcasts are consistently good and I’d definitely recommend having a listen.

The Real Carrie Jade is available wherever you get your podcasts, and is making its way to television later this year.

Listen to the Real Carrie Jade from RTÉ here

How effective are radio ads? Radiocentre are trying to find out.

For a long time radio has struggled to provide brands with quality information about how effective their ad campaigns are. With something like Google or Meta you can have specific targeting and get results on how many people see your ad, click your ad, convert from your ad, and so on.

With radio it’s different. Loads of people hear your ad all at once, but how effective it is in turning listeners into customers is anyone’s guess. Radiocentre Ireland have launched a new study to try and establish ad effectiveness in a number of categories , hopefully encouraging advertisers to spend more.

It’s an interesting one as I can see radio finding it very hard to get close to providing the ad data modern brands want. Like a small business these days might spend €50 a day with something like Google, that adds up to €18,250 a year that radio misses out on because there’s a lack of a high quality data solution.

Hopefully that will change in time, but who knows. We’ll need to wait and see.

Read about the Radiocentre study here

Should car manufacturers be required to keep radios in cars?

The IBI are fighting a war to keep radios in vehicles, in a move to attempt to keep commuters listening to traditional broadcasters.

Many people now opt for Spotify or Apple Music in the car, with plenty more just listening to their own music library via Bluetooth. That has lead to FM radios falling out of favour in cars, much to the frustration of the radio industry.

Now the IBI are fighting back, with the issue being raised on an EU level.

In some ways I see the industries point, but they are also missing a trick. Surely the radio industry would benefit more from having something like Irish Radioplayer pre installed on all car entertainment systems. Use FM as a fall back, but use internet in the first instance to try get that valuable ad data we spoke about earlier.

Who knows if we’ll still be listening on FM in 20 years, but the radio industry won’t give in that easily.

Read about the IBI’s fight here

Quick Bits

RTÉ is bringing pay of Raidió na Gaeltachta staff in line with English language services

A new major DAB multiplex is launching in Northern Ireland

Fiachna Ó Braonáin has been interviewed on Newstalk

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.

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

Here’s What Happened

RTE shared their new strategy this week. While there isn’t a massive amount we didn’t know, it is worth looking at what’s on the horizon.

• RTE will cut 400 jobs over the course of the plan, significantly reducing its workforce.
• RTE Radio 1 Extra, Pulse, 2XM and RTEJR Radio will all close this year.
• A new daily RTE News Podcast will be launched in 2025. I hope this has high production values as it’s honestly something that isn’t hard to get right.
• Some shows like Fair City and the Late Late Show may move off site and involve independent producers. This is reportedly being resisted by unions.
• RTE Player will require people to sign in, and will get its own exclusive live streaming channels in time, as rTE focuses more on becoming a streaming service.
• New radio and news apps will launch next year.

RTE are pointing out that their ability to evolve depends on funding, so hopefully that argument can be put to rest soon too.

It’s a shame that such downsizing is required, but let’s hope it all works out.

Read the details of RTEs new strategy here

Radio stations are going mad for Taylor Swift.

Earlier in the week a massive Taylor Swift sign appeared on a beach. Today FM shared the post and got tons of views, later revealing that they were behind the installation in the first place.

The Ireland Taylor’s Version sign is just one example of stations getting on board with this weekends concerts, as many stations have been giving away tickets. GoLoud even had a dedicated Taylor station for a time.

Hope everyone enjoys the tour if they get to attend. Reviews have been good so hopefully the rest of the run is as enjoyable for people.

Read about the Today FM sign here

Finally for now, the deaths were announced this week of two major RTE broadcasters

RTE Sport commentator Micheál Ó Muircheartaigh passed away aged 93 on Tuesday. He had a career spanning 61 years, with his first gig coming back in 1949. He had many legendary quotes over the years and was a hugely respected broadcaster.

Also hugely respected was Tommie Gorman, who passed away this week aged 68. He had a hugely successful career in journalism over 40 years, retiring from RTE in 2021.

This story really is sad. Both men had a huge impact on broadcasting in Ireland, and left behind an incredible legacy. May they both rest in peace.

Read the statements from RTE on their press site here

Quick Bits

Independent broadcasters say news could disappear if they don’t get funding

Northern Irish broadcaster Sean Rafferty has stepped down from BBC Radio 3

Lottie Ryan says she knew she’d only be on 2FM drive for five weeks

RTE, The Irish Times and The Independant have been blocked in Russia

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.

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

Here’s What Happened

Broadcaster Niall Boylan is making his return to Classic Hits Radio on Monday, after an unsuccessful run at the recent European elections.

Niall was not elected in the end, but did prove popular with voters. By the end of proceedings Niall had received over 50,000 votes. He’ll be hoping that many of these voters join him for his return to Night Time Talk on Irelands Classic Hits.

You’d wonder if Niall was able to negotiate a raise from his Classic Hits bosses with his new boost in popularity, but that’s hard to say.

Niall was very critical of the media during his election campaign. He called out Newstalks Shane Coleman for spinning “liberal and woke nonsense” every morning, he also heavily criticised RTE for not including him in TV debates and editing his appearances on Drivetime. He recorded one of his campaign videos on the RTE campus, saying “they don’t want to give you that voice”.

All this may alienate some, but it has clearly given Niall a popularity boost if his election results are anything to go by. Speaking to the Independant this week Niall said he wouldn’t be running in the general election, instead choosing to get back to radio.

It’s fascinating to see Niall getting back to traditional media rather than doubling down on his podcast, but there you go.

Let us know your thoughts on Nialls return over on social Media. Just search Radio Land Ireland.

Check out Nialls return promo here

It feels like much longer, but today marks a year since everything exploded at RTE.

It all started with RTE underwriting a sponsor commitment in presenter Ryan Tubridy’s contract, and that resulted in a backlash unlike anything the broadcaster ever faced before. Things have calmed down a bit now, but the great RTE drama won’t be forgotten anytime soon.

RTE is expected to announce their new strategy on Tuesday, with expectations that much more of RTE’s output will be made by third parties. We’ll need to wait and see if RTE decide to officially pull the plug on their Didgital radio services, but it’s likely that stations outside of RTE Gold will be scrapped.

Hopefully RTE get some funding security over the next few weeks and the organisation can properly heal from the past year. Did you know the whole scandal has its own Wikipedia page? check that out below.

Read the RTE secret payments Wikipedia page here

Finally for now Limericks Live 95 has announced a new charity partner for the next two years.

Down Syndrome Limerick have been selected for the partnership, after over 20 applications were received from non profit organisations.

The new partnership will result in significant promotion for the charity and the work they do, as well as a focus on their fundraising activities.

I’ve always been a fan of promotions like this, so am delighted to hear of radio being used for good. We need more examples of radio stations working to support their local community, so hopefully we’ll have more stories like this soon.

Read about the new partnership here

Quick Bits

Newstalk have launched Younified, a new diversity podcast hosted by ⁨Mamobo Ogoro⁩

The Cash Machine has given away €200,000 once again

Dave Fanning was in the New York Times this week following the closure of AI generated news site BNN Breaking

The Digital News Report has been published

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.