In a statement issued last night, station managers said that the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland had granted permission to the board of directors of Dublin Rock Radio Ltd, trading as Phantom 105.2, to restructure the business "in order to ensure its long-term viability".
Managment blame falling advertising revenues in an increasingly competitive market for the introduction of the restructuring plan.
Recently visited Counties Kerry and Cork. Struck by number of stations both national, regional and local. Various music stations and national and regional speech stations. How come Eire with a population of 4.5 million can support all these stations and in Wales we are faced with Heart and other monopoly stations from England?
It's not necessarily due to population size which in Wales is pretty densely packed along the two main corridors i.e. M4 south Wales and A55 North Wales, even if there were stations who wanted to braodcast in these areas the frequencies would not be available. Remember too that Ireland is four times the size of Wales and the province of Munster in which Radio Kerry and other stations of their Group broadcast such as Shannonside Radio is larger than the whole of Wales! So there's plenty of room and they haven't got the same configuration of mountains which restricts broadcasts greatly in Wales.
It's not necessarily due to population size which in Wales is pretty densely packed along the two main corridors i.e. M4 south Wales and A55 North Wales, even if there were stations who wanted to braodcast in these areas the frequencies would not be available. Remember too that Ireland is four times the size of Wales and the province of Munster in which Radio Kerry and other stations of their Group broadcast such as Shannonside Radio is larger than the whole of Wales! So there's plenty of room and they haven't got the same configuration of mountains which restricts broadcasts greatly in Wales.
How do Ireland manage to cope with their mountains yet Wales can't with their's then?
How do Ireland manage to cope with their mountains yet Wales can't with their's then?
It's got nothing to do with "coping". As a UK wide figure Wales has 5% of the population - to cover that 5% they have and need 20% of the transmitters.
Whilst the highest mountains in Kerry are higher than those in Wales they are not as closely knit with the deep narrow valleys found in much of Wales. The configuration is totally different. There is one main mountain range in Kerry the MacGillicuddy Reeks - Wales has several mountain ranges all of which cause problems with fm signal transmission. Radio Kerry uses five frequencies to cover the whole of Kerry to put that into perspective Real Radio needed five transmitters just to cover the valleys of south east Wales and even then there were several pockets where there was next to no signal.
Charles Allen chairman of Global used to be in charge of Granada so knows the impact of adsverting on ITV, for Heart it's a good way to new target 25-44 female listeners to keep the London ad ahencies happy.
Global's radio stations can be heard in Ireland on Sky and the Internet, they hold the trademark for XFM which is why the new Dublin station had to launch TXFM.
At the moment Global and Communicorp are supposed to be rivals in the UK for local ad sales.
Whether that will lead to Global and Communicorp working together in Ireland on expanding XFM and Heart?
The recent registration of xfm.ie by Communicorp’s Chief Technical Officer Pat Balfe adds to the speculation that the company is intending to use the name
At the moment Global and Communicorp are supposed to be rivals in the UK for local ad sales.
Biggest laugh ever all that when they're working out of the same buildings and the majority of the Heart revenue will be going straight to Global in franchising fees.
They must be as green as they are cabbage looking at the Competition Commission.
Biggest laugh ever all that when they're working out of the same buildings and the majority of the Heart revenue will be going straight to Global in franchising fees.
Will be interesting to see if the Global and Communicorp franchising lasts more than it did with Orian?
Doubt if Communicorp will take up Heart, XFM and Capital franchising and networking (for say 98FM, TXFM and Spin) in Ireland if the franchising costs are more than the benefits of premade promotional TV ads, reducing costs and improving ad revenue targetting certain listening groups?
Are there any figures for those listening to Heart on Sky and the internet in Ireland? Must be low if there is?
Will be interesting to see if the Global and Communicorp franchising lasts more than it did with Orian? Doubt if Communicorp will take up Heart, XFM and Capital franchising and networking (for say 98FM, TXFM and Spin) in Ireland if the franchising costs are more than the benefits of premade promotional TV ads, reducing costs and improving ad revenue targetting certain listening groups?
Are there any figures for those listening to Heart on Sky and the internet in Ireland? Must be low if there is?
Cannot see this happening in Ireland. SPIN is a successful brand, TXFM has just re-branded and 98fm is doing a different programming tack to Heart ie. talk show from 10am-12am, music/speech drivetime and we still have Ryan Seacrest for 1 hour a night
Far far too much talk on Irish music radio. 8-10 minutes news bulletins padded out with stupid show biz news to meet outdated speech % requirements, then highly staged phone in shows and sports results that you could get much quicker on a smart phone. Everything but music in fact.
Far far too much talk on Irish music radio. 8-10 minutes news bulletins padded out with stupid show biz news to meet outdated speech % requirements, then highly staged phone in shows and sports results that you could get much quicker on a smart phone. Everything but music in fact.
I've being in Ireland 3 years and coming from the UK, Radio in Ireland is still heavily regulated. Most stations’ have to do 20% Speech, and a certain % of News/Editorials, even Spin have a daily talk show. And there a “Kiss” sounding station.
The talk shows on most stations like Cork's 96FM talk show from 9-12, have the peak of the day, 96 in Cork have 110.000 weekly reach, which is the highest amount of listeners to any ILR in the country.
Music policy is very strict. Again most stations have certain amount of percent of types and new/old etc. If you tell the BAI your doing one dance show and you want to start an RnB show for example you have to tell the BAI to get approval....
Also most stations have to play a minimum of 20% Irish music... now you can get away with playing bands like One Direction and The Wanted if you’re a CHR.
Having tight rules may be good or bad, but one thing to remember that people living in Cork don’t want their radio coming from Limerick etc.... We don’t have RTE Local stations so full service ILR's are across between BBC Local and ILR's
I've being in Ireland 3 years and coming from the UK, Radio in Ireland is still heavily regulated. Most stations’ have to do 20% Speech, and a certain % of News/Editorials, even Spin have a daily talk show. And there a “Kiss” sounding station.
The talk shows on most stations like Cork's 96FM talk show from 9-12, have the peak of the day, 96 in Cork have 110.000 weekly reach, which is the highest amount of listeners to any ILR in the country.
Music policy is very strict. Again most stations have certain amount of percent of types and new/old etc. If you tell the BAI your doing one dance show and you want to start an RnB show for example you have to tell the BAI to get approval....
Also most stations have to play a minimum of 20% Irish music... now you can get away with playing bands like One Direction and The Wanted if you’re a CHR.
Having tight rules may be good or bad, but one thing to remember that people living in Cork don’t want their radio coming from Limerick etc.... We don’t have RTE Local stations so full service ILR's are across between BBC Local and ILR's
Are you still at Red FM Johnathon? - What do you think of all the changes recently there?
I've being in Ireland 3 years and coming from the UK, Radio in Ireland is still heavily regulated. Most stations’ have to do 20% Speech, and a certain % of News/Editorials, even Spin have a daily talk show. And there a “Kiss” sounding station.
The 8 minute long news and sports bulletins in the late evenings kill me. I think Q102 still have these in the middle of their wind down music at night. Really kills the effect when you have news of the latest job losses, car accidents and then every football, GAA and rugby score read out every hour. Imagine Smooth or Magic having to pad out 8 minutes of news each hour at 8pm; 9pm.; 10pm; 11pm and 12 midnight
Its obviously just to ensure that newsreaders are kept in employment
The 8 minute long news and sports bulletins in the late evenings kill me. I think Q102 still have these in the middle of their wind down music at night. Really kills the effect when you have news of the latest job losses, car accidents and then every football, GAA and rugby score read out every hour. Imagine Smooth or Magic having to pad out 8 minutes of news each hour at 8pm; 9pm.; 10pm; 11pm and 12 midnight
Its obviously just to ensure that newsreaders are kept in employment
LOL its not as simply as that... Radio in Ireland is not just about music... How much news/talk do BBC Local's do... One thing to remember is the pirates in the 80's and legal radio came in and like the IBA in the UK in the 70's/80's, the BAI bring in rules so we get full service radio stations.
Most stations would love to have 2 min news and no speech quoter but radio in ireland is still behind the UK and maybe in 5/10 years regulation will be like the UK.... then Heart and Capital (Ireland)
Far far too much talk on Irish music radio. 8-10 minutes news bulletins padded out with stupid show biz news to meet outdated speech % requirements, then highly staged phone in shows and sports results that you could get much quicker on a smart phone. Everything but music in fact.
On your argument then non stop music is pointless On the radio because of Spotify etc.
Comments
Can i ask which region you saw the advert?
http://www.rte.ie/ten/news/2014/0215/504533-20-staff-to-be-let-go-at-dublin-station-phantom-fm/
Err... That's because they ARE a big radio group! They are the largest independent radio group in Ireland.
It's not necessarily due to population size which in Wales is pretty densely packed along the two main corridors i.e. M4 south Wales and A55 North Wales, even if there were stations who wanted to braodcast in these areas the frequencies would not be available. Remember too that Ireland is four times the size of Wales and the province of Munster in which Radio Kerry and other stations of their Group broadcast such as Shannonside Radio is larger than the whole of Wales! So there's plenty of room and they haven't got the same configuration of mountains which restricts broadcasts greatly in Wales.
How do Ireland manage to cope with their mountains yet Wales can't with their's then?
It's got nothing to do with "coping". As a UK wide figure Wales has 5% of the population - to cover that 5% they have and need 20% of the transmitters.
Whilst the highest mountains in Kerry are higher than those in Wales they are not as closely knit with the deep narrow valleys found in much of Wales. The configuration is totally different. There is one main mountain range in Kerry the MacGillicuddy Reeks - Wales has several mountain ranges all of which cause problems with fm signal transmission. Radio Kerry uses five frequencies to cover the whole of Kerry to put that into perspective Real Radio needed five transmitters just to cover the valleys of south east Wales and even then there were several pockets where there was next to no signal.
Groanada.
I think, anyway. Could also have been one of the multitude of freeview channels that are there simply for the purpose of flicking through.
Global's radio stations can be heard in Ireland on Sky and the Internet, they hold the trademark for XFM which is why the new Dublin station had to launch TXFM.
At the moment Global and Communicorp are supposed to be rivals in the UK for local ad sales.
Whether that will lead to Global and Communicorp working together in Ireland on expanding XFM and Heart?
http://radiotoday.co.uk/2014/02/xfm-not-heading-to-dublin-global-confirms/
i know for a fact emma bunton will not be namechecking the north west the way she does in the advert
Biggest laugh ever all that when they're working out of the same buildings and the majority of the Heart revenue will be going straight to Global in franchising fees.
They must be as green as they are cabbage looking at the Competition Commission.
Doubt if Communicorp will take up Heart, XFM and Capital franchising and networking (for say 98FM, TXFM and Spin) in Ireland if the franchising costs are more than the benefits of premade promotional TV ads, reducing costs and improving ad revenue targetting certain listening groups?
Are there any figures for those listening to Heart on Sky and the internet in Ireland? Must be low if there is?
And just what have the good people of Eire done to deserve such a fate?
Cannot see this happening in Ireland. SPIN is a successful brand, TXFM has just re-branded and 98fm is doing a different programming tack to Heart ie. talk show from 10am-12am, music/speech drivetime and we still have Ryan Seacrest for 1 hour a night
I've being in Ireland 3 years and coming from the UK, Radio in Ireland is still heavily regulated. Most stations’ have to do 20% Speech, and a certain % of News/Editorials, even Spin have a daily talk show. And there a “Kiss” sounding station.
The talk shows on most stations like Cork's 96FM talk show from 9-12, have the peak of the day, 96 in Cork have 110.000 weekly reach, which is the highest amount of listeners to any ILR in the country.
Music policy is very strict. Again most stations have certain amount of percent of types and new/old etc. If you tell the BAI your doing one dance show and you want to start an RnB show for example you have to tell the BAI to get approval....
Also most stations have to play a minimum of 20% Irish music... now you can get away with playing bands like One Direction and The Wanted if you’re a CHR.
Having tight rules may be good or bad, but one thing to remember that people living in Cork don’t want their radio coming from Limerick etc.... We don’t have RTE Local stations so full service ILR's are across between BBC Local and ILR's
Are you still at Red FM Johnathon? - What do you think of all the changes recently there?
PM me ;-)
The 8 minute long news and sports bulletins in the late evenings kill me. I think Q102 still have these in the middle of their wind down music at night. Really kills the effect when you have news of the latest job losses, car accidents and then every football, GAA and rugby score read out every hour. Imagine Smooth or Magic having to pad out 8 minutes of news each hour at 8pm; 9pm.; 10pm; 11pm and 12 midnight
Its obviously just to ensure that newsreaders are kept in employment
LOL its not as simply as that... Radio in Ireland is not just about music... How much news/talk do BBC Local's do... One thing to remember is the pirates in the 80's and legal radio came in and like the IBA in the UK in the 70's/80's, the BAI bring in rules so we get full service radio stations.
Most stations would love to have 2 min news and no speech quoter but radio in ireland is still behind the UK and maybe in 5/10 years regulation will be like the UK.... then Heart and Capital (Ireland)
On your argument if I wanted some personality droning on about his day and thinking he is funny I could go down the pub