Staff lay offs at Phantom

Srobify · 20-02-2014 3:13pm

I blame Keith Walsh

LeakyGee · 20-02-2014 10:38pm

Srobify wrote: »

I blame Keith Walsh

Lessons in bullet dodging.

He got away in time.

Srobify · 20-02-2014 11:47pm

LeakyGee wrote: »

Lessons in bullet dodging.

He got away in time.

That 2fm show won't last. Not as good as they were on iRadio

Zirconia · 21-02-2014 11:53pm

KingOfFairview wrote: »

I wonder if any of the staff will go over to 8fm

I suspect you mean 8Radio, yes?

KingOfFairview · 22-02-2014 9:56am

Zirconia wrote: »

I suspect you mean 8Radio, yes?

yep

Greyham · 22-02-2014 1:58pm

Very sad to see job losses in radio.

People bemoan there being a lack of "choice" but maybe diversity isn't always commercially viable.

jane82 · 22-02-2014 2:29pm

Greyham wrote: »

Very sad to see job losses in radio.

People bemoan there being a lack of "choice" but maybe diversity isn't always commercially viable.

Sadly its true that non commercial music may never be commercially viable.

Banjoxed · 22-02-2014 4:52pm

Greyham wrote: »

Very sad to see job losses in radio.

People bemoan there being a lack of "choice" but maybe diversity isn't always commercially viable.

There is choice out there but its on satellite and internet radio. Time to leave Irish commercial radio to the hairdressers.

PaulieBoy · 23-02-2014 11:40am

jane82 wrote: »

Sadly its true that non commercial music may never be commercially viable.

And this is at the heart of the problem. There are two Phantom's: the pirate Phantom, a very successful station, all it needed was a license so it could go legit, not get raided and not make criminals of those involved.
Then there is the Phantom that was seen as a potential cash cow by men in suits: men who would not know an alternative song if it hit them in the ear drums. It's the latter that buried the former and is in the process of getting buried itself!
There was never a cash cow to be milked, just a very small niche market that needed to be let play the music it liked, by people who would happily do it for little or no reward, as a hobby which in time may have payed the bills.
Once the accountants with big band connections moved in, all hope of an alternative radio station moved out.
We are where we are!

eric hoone · 23-02-2014 12:46pm

Which three dj's are staying on air?

paulbok · 23-02-2014 2:10pm

Keith Walsh, John Caddell & Claire Beck I think

Greyham · 23-02-2014 2:12pm

paulbok wrote: »

Keith Walsh, John Caddell & Claire Beck I think

Probably not Keith Walsh as he now works from the 2fm breakfast show...

Greyham · 23-02-2014 2:15pm

PaulieBoy wrote: »

There was never a cash cow to be milked, just a very small niche market that needed to be let play the music it liked, by people who would happily do it for little or no reward, as a hobby which in time may have payed the bills.

That's a very noble way of looking at it, but it just isn't realistic. Phantom was attempting to be commercially successful in the last few years and it's AQH was at something like 2k per day. Even that wouldn't keep anyone going. If you made he music even more nice and specialist I wonder who much lower that 2k figure would fall.

You cannot possibly run a successful commercial operation with those numbers. Otherwise you might as well make it a community radio station, but NOBODY is going to show up 30 hours a week to work on a community radio station for free.

This goes back to my original point above, people cry out for niche programming but nice programming isn't viable in a country this size.

Declan A Walsh · 23-02-2014 2:20pm

paulbok wrote: »

Keith Walsh, John Caddell & Claire Beck I think

The names I saw mentioned were Joe Donnelly, John Caddell and Claire Beck. What is not clear is if they will be the only presenters throughout the week, or if they will be the only presenters weekdays Monday to Friday and if there might be others over the weekends.

Keith Walsh is part of the new 2FM Breakfast Republic team.

Infoanon · 23-02-2014 2:23pm

Greyham wrote: »

That's a very noble way of looking at it, but it just isn't realistic. Phantom was attempting to be commercially successful in the last few years and it's AQH was at something like 2k per day. Even that wouldn't keep anyone going. If you made he music even more nice and specialist I wonder who much lower that 2k figure would fall.

You cannot possibly run a successful commercial operation with those numbers. Otherwise you might as well make it a community radio station, but NOBODY is going to show up 30 hours a week to work on a community radio station for free.

This goes back to my original point above, people cry out for niche programming but nice programming isn't viable in a country this size.

Niche programming cannot be successful where on the finance side very high overheads have to be covered, where on the programming side a considerable amount of airtime has to be given to speech content and on the playlist side where the BAI require strict observance of requirements on the type of music played.

Greyham · 23-02-2014 2:29pm

Infoanon wrote: »

Niche programming cannot be successful where on the finance side very high overheads have to be covered, where on the programming side a considerable amount of airtime has to be given to speech content and on the playlist side where the BAI require strict observance of requirements on the type of music played.

Even if all those things were eliminated, a high quality radio station would still need about 12-15 full time employees (minimum)

Supposing they all get 25k a year that's still 375,000 annual wage bill + the other costs of running a radio station you're talking 500k a year to keep that place open and running properly.

More Music · 23-02-2014 3:25pm

As a pirate operation they would not have had the overheads of a licensed operator.

BAI levy, music royalties, insurance, higher transmission costs, state levies/taxes, pensions, higher building running costs, health & safety requirements, audits etc.

The list is almost endless when compared to a pirate setup.

A radio station will have a minimum cost base regardless of size or TSA.

ghostdancer · 23-02-2014 4:13pm

Greyham wrote: »

That's a very noble way of looking at it, but it just isn't realistic. Phantom was attempting to be commercially successful in the last few years and it's AQH was at something like 2k per day. Even that wouldn't keep anyone going. If you made he music even more nice and specialist I wonder who much lower that 2k figure would fall.

it would probably rise, given that they got far more listeners in 2010 when the music was more niche and specialist, than after they were taken over and management decided they would become a vaguely indie version of TodayFM.

a lot of people who turned off over the last few years would probably still be listening if the music wasn't so bland, repetitive and had shifted so much to the mainstream.
some will try claim that they needed to become more mainstream to be commercially viable, but it's blatantly obvious that moving in that direction alienated lots of listeners, and drew in very few new ones, so was pretty much a total disaster, which continued for 4 years, and has led to the situation today.
maybe if Phantom had stuck to what they were good at they'd still be on the 40k daily listeners they had a few years ago, instead of 15k today....

Greyham · 23-02-2014 4:21pm

More Music wrote: »

As a pirate operation they would not have had the overheads of a licensed operator.

That's great, but I'm sure I could run a business if i didn't pay employees or tax either. That's not how life works though. A pirate is exactly that. Something operating outside the law that everyone else has to adhere to.

Infoanon · 23-02-2014 4:53pm

More Music wrote: »

As a pirate operation they would not have had the overheads of a licensed operator.

The list is almost endless when compared to a pirate setup.

A radio station will have a minimum cost base regardless of size or TSA.

That is true, going legal means additional costs BUT that should be offset by the additional revenue streams that should open up.

There is a minimum cost base but perhaps Niche stations should be allowed to avoid the incremental costs of 20% news etc

paulbok · 28-02-2014 12:17am

Declan A Walsh wrote: »

The names I saw mentioned were Joe Donnelly, John Caddell and Claire Beck. What is not clear is if they will be the only presenters throughout the week, or if they will be the only presenters weekdays Monday to Friday and if there might be others over the weekends.

Keith Walsh is part of the new 2FM Breakfast Republic team.

I heard Claire Beck this evening on about her last show for phantom, I wonder what has changed?

Declan A Walsh · 28-02-2014 1:10am

paulbok wrote: »

I heard Claire Beck this evening on about her last show for phantom, I wonder what has changed?

Perhaps she looked elsewhere rather than continue in an uncertain situation. Maybe, in so doing, she has bought someone else time instead. This is just pure speculation by me.

JamesReeves · 28-02-2014 10:21am

Phantom FM to be rebranded as TXFM as it aligns with Today FM @JOEdotie
“They are the Resurrection,” to paraphrase the Stone Roses…
The Stone Roses, they’re a cool band, right?
We recently brought you the unfortunate news that as many as 20 staff at Phantom FM had been laid off due to cuts “to ensure (the station’s) long-term viability.” The news has now broken, according to a story in The Irish Times, that the Dublin alternative rock station is to be rebranded next month as TXFM in a bid to turn around the station’s flagging fortunes.
The article went on to clarify that the station’s staff were told that the move will align Phantom more closely with national station Today FM, with both stations having a common owner in businessman Denis O’Brien.
A statement released to the paper also explained that TXFM would retain its own targets, budgets and “market ambitions” and would work in “greater unison with Today FM” to capitalise on its “commercial strength and presence in the Irish radio market.”
The new, rebranded station will be launched in March 2014.

room_149 · 28-02-2014 12:00pm

JamesReeves wrote: »

Phantom FM to be rebranded as TXFM as it aligns with Today FM @JOEdotie
“They are the Resurrection,” to paraphrase the Stone Roses…
The Stone Roses, they’re a cool band, right?
We recently brought you the unfortunate news that as many as 20 staff at Phantom FM had been laid off due to cuts “to ensure (the station’s) long-term viability.” The news has now broken, according to a story in The Irish Times, that the Dublin alternative rock station is to be rebranded next month as TXFM in a bid to turn around the station’s flagging fortunes.
The article went on to clarify that the station’s staff were told that the move will align Phantom more closely with national station Today FM, with both stations having a common owner in businessman Denis O’Brien.
A statement released to the paper also explained that TXFM would retain its own targets, budgets and “market ambitions” and would work in “greater unison with Today FM” to capitalise on its “commercial strength and presence in the Irish radio market.”
The new, rebranded station will be launched in March 2014.

Still not sure what to make of this..
I am worried that 'greater unison' with Today FM could likely mean more Joe Donnelly & Eamon Fennell types polluting the airwaves at the expense of people like the two Richies, Wil St Ledger, Derek Byrne, Ray Mcgowan & your Cathal Funge's & Nadine O Regans etc

ThisRegard · 28-02-2014 12:14pm

Texas FM/Tex FM is how I read that. Yeeee Haww cowboy !

Five Lamps · 28-02-2014 12:36pm

room_149 wrote: »

Still not sure what to make of this..
I am worried that 'greater unison' with Today FM could likely mean more Joe Donnelly & Eamon Fennell types polluting the airwaves at the expense of people like the two Richies, Wil St Ledger, Derek Byrne, Ray Mcgowan & your Cathal Funge's & Nadine O Regans etc

Not sure if you have to worry about hearing any new voices at all.

squonk · 28-02-2014 12:53pm

It's an odd choice of name! I read it as Texas FM myself also! It seems ill thought out. RTE has 2XM which is the useful version of 2FM so it sounds like whoever came up with TXFM was thinking along similar lines. The problem is that the name doesn't say alt rock from what I can see!

Liam92 · 28-02-2014 3:19pm

room_149 wrote: »

Still not sure what to make of this..
I am worried that 'greater unison' with Today FM could likely mean more Joe Donnelly & Eamon Fennell types polluting the airwaves at the expense of people like the two Richies, Wil St Ledger, Derek Byrne, Ray Mcgowan & your Cathal Funge's & Nadine O Regans etc

I agree. The likes of Kelly-Anne Byrne, Will St.Leger, Cathal Funge, Derek Byrne etc, were the reasons why I listened so much to Phantom. If the likes of Eamon Fennell, who I feel was hired just because he won an All-Ireland medal, are spared over genuine radio talents, my faith in humanity will never be restored.

Five Lamps · 28-02-2014 3:22pm

squonk wrote: »

It's an odd choice of name! I read it as Texas FM myself also! It seems ill thought out. RTE has 2XM which is the useful version of 2FM so it sounds like whoever came up with TXFM was thinking along similar lines. The problem is that the name doesn't say alt rock from what I can see!

Since they registered xfm and txfm on the same day they obviously couldn't make their minds up.

The t in txfm is supposed a nod to today fm. Tx in radio engineering is also stands for transmission. Both would be meaningless to the audience.

The creative teams were in overdrive.

Birneybau · 28-02-2014 4:14pm

paulbok wrote: »

I heard Claire Beck this evening on about her last show for phantom, I wonder what has changed?

She's on right now

Staff lay offs at Phantom

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