Breakfast with Ray (Foley) and Jay [Cork's Red FM, 6am-9am]

EI209

corcaigh_abu wrote: »

Ya, it's particularly wide and relatively short, just like the lads

Also EI209, I've all the podcasts from August 2010 downloaded if you're interested. I listen back when I'm out of new material to listen to. They really had a fantastic show back then and honestly I think Ann had a lot to do with that.

Finally, anyone else get annoyed at the blatant plugging of the show on Ray's Twitter. I know social media is the new advertising medium but if you're not able to get people on to play Eh Yeah Ok direct from the listeners every morning then I think it's time for the chop. Same with Free Money Minute.

Sorry for the late reply. I'd be i interested in the in if you wouldn't mind.

Thanks

IUA14

Lads off the next week so old podcasts it is, just listened to the rugby song gauntlet from September 2011...quality!

IUA14

I was listening back to some podcasts and this is the best start to a show since they moved to 98FM...Gummi Bears and a ridiculous good morning from Foley, miss lazy radio on Fridays! https://soundcloud.com/rayfoleyshow/the-ray-foley-show-podcast-38

Euphoria Intensifies

Kind of half listening to Reasons To Be Cheerful there and I'm pretty sure Ray said that there'll be an announcement about the future direction of the show this Friday.

Wonder what it'll be? I think it might be that either Deeno or JP are leaving.

Loughc

Euphoria Intensifies wrote: »

Kind of half listening to Reasons To Be Cheerful there and I'm pretty sure Ray said that there'll be an announcement about the future direction of the show this Friday.

Wonder what it'll be? I think it might be that either Deeno or JP are leaving.

And you half listened perfectly he announced yesterday and today they are getting rid of reasons to be cheerful. This is the last week of it. They will announce on Friday what it's going to be replaced by.

Euphoria Intensifies

Oh is that it! From the way he said it I thought something really big was happening

Loughc

Euphoria Intensifies wrote: »

Oh is that it! From the way he said it I thought something really big was happening

Nah nothing major at all. I won't miss reasons to be cheerful too much, some of them made me very jealous in the mornings haha.

IUA14

Yeah, nothing as drastic as someone leaving just changing it up a little. Anyone else notice they have binned off 7 Days aswell this week? And they haven't had a live band in on Wednesday in a while.

iseegirls

IUA14 wrote: »

Yeah, nothing as drastic as someone leaving just changing it up a little. Anyone else notice they have binned off 7 Days aswell this week? And they haven't had a live band in on Wednesday in a while.

Thank god. 7 Days was getting ridiculous. Normally ended up being Deeno v JP mostly, and then when it's a draw it just rolls over to the next morning. The next morning comes along - same thing again. The Friday quiz they used to have where Ray would answer questions up against a caller would be better.

IUA14

Yeah I agree, since Phil left 7 Days became a bit boring alright! I would love for them to bring back Foley's Friday Face-Off again! I think this new thing they will announce could be The Secret Sound...just from the promo that aired this morning "its coming and it will drive you crazy".

buster180

IUA14 wrote: »

just from the promo that aired this morning "its coming and it will drive you crazy".

Don't tell me they are bringing Ann Gleeson over!!

IUA14

Haha that would be excellent but highly doubtful!

buster180

IUA14 wrote: »

Haha that would be excellent but highly doubtful!

Not at that hour in the morning, couldn't stand that laugh at that hour. Leave her where she is.

soc160

iseegirls wrote: »

Thank god. 7 Days was getting ridiculous. Normally ended up being Deeno v JP mostly, and then when it's a draw it just rolls over to the next morning. The next morning comes along - same thing again. The Friday quiz they used to have where Ray would answer questions up against a caller would be better.

Is the whole show not a bit stale, what segments are left. The opening piece is usually good, letting them just talk, but then its the same stuff again and again each day, does anyone care about reasons to be cheerful? It's good to get texters in but other than that its pointless. Asking them what they are doing for the day is good. Obviously working for a commercial station it's about the overall picture and forward promoting with a mix of music, but Ray is stronger than that. The older segments they did on Today Fm shouldn't come back either, they need to freshen it up with new content, which it looks like they are planning on doing.

IUA14

I don't think the show is stale at all, if anything Adelle being involved more has freshened it up. In fairness they have changed it up recently....the 6:30 part is still the best bit of the show, but 7:30 with the four of them is good, I like the quick paper segment after 9 aswell. They have dropped Seven Days this week and are dropping Reasons To Be Cheerful aswell. If you listen to their NTN podcast, they talked about features on that and admitted that they get sick of things far quicker than the listeners do which is why they drop a lot of things that some people might like.

I think with them being at a commercial local station like 98FM they can't completely change the show all at once which is why gradually they are dropping things and starting new things. I think the station bosses look at it and see listenership increasing 10,000 year-on-year and probably worry that if they change too much they will lose those gains. The lads have hinted they are a bit tired of Eh Yeah Ok and DJ Jayo but you have to keep something. When you think about it, with news and traffic and ads they have about 35-40 mins an hour on air, and with it being a local station the kids bit has to stay and things like Eh Yeah Ok and the quiz are necessary to engage with the listeners.

stannis

I don't think the show is stale at all

Listen back to the Today FM podcasts. Funny, chaotic, knowing parodies of radio cliches, great interaction with the callers. Their 98FM show has been stale from day one with its overly rigid format and cheesy segments (not their fault entirely, but hey Ray did sign a contract with them). It's still better than most stuff on Irish radio though, because despite the restrictions on their creativity, Ray and JP's personalities continue to break through.

I say all this out of love. I've been listening to the lads since The Blast and Irish radio would be a poorer place without them.

IUA14

I do, I actually started with the oldest ones on the 98FM site from the Today FM days (late-2011) and have been listening back through them all and I agree the show was brilliant then, just great craic, interaction and funny. But it was a different station, different timeslot and different audience. It seems like they toned it down a lot for the Dublin audience which would make sense I guess Foley coming over and being Foley and "The King" probably would not have played well with that audience since their Today FM show was very much targeted outside of Dublin and like I said before there are certain requirements for a breakfast show in Dublin.

They addressed this a couple of times on the NTN Podcast and that they had done the same thing for 6 years on Today FM and they wanted a change. When Al brought up that they should be who they are and do the show they want to do on 98FM because thats why they were brought there they said that the show they are doing in 98 now wont be the show that they will do forever and would go back to what they had done before eventually but this show requires a different approach. Also, they mentioned that they can now pay their bills better than they could before so thats a part of it too, and rightly so. Yeah the show is different now than before but its still far superior than anything else in the morning and it is proving successful!

IUA14

Anyone else notice the weird last half hour of the show today? No movie review and 3 songs in a row out of the 9:30 news instead of the usual chats.

Obrieski

So the new feature is secret sound of the city...slightly underwhelmed by this new feature, considering every other radio station does it already! Would have been nice for something original and new

Loughc

Obrieski wrote: »

So the new feature is secret sound of the city...slightly underwhelmed by this new feature, considering every other radio station does it already! Would have been nice for something original and new

Yea completely agree.... it's been done, reasons to be cheerful was more original.

IUA14

Ah well...I called it! This morning was prize, prize, prize on the show...a little bit much and I don't get them continuing with the Foley's Free Money Minute once someone gets a question wrong...a little pointless.

Itssoeasy

I'm personally loving the ray,JP, deeno and adelle dynamic still. People have said the show is off. Well I'd prefer to hear people talking during links that are friends and clearly not pretending on that front.

corcaigh_abu

stannis wrote: »

Listen back to the Today FM podcasts. Funny, chaotic, knowing parodies of radio cliches, great interaction with the callers. Their 98FM show has been stale from day one with its overly rigid format and cheesy segments (not their fault entirely, but hey Ray did sign a contract with them). It's still better than most stuff on Irish radio though, because despite the restrictions on their creativity, Ray and JP's personalities continue to break through.

I say all this out of love. I've been listening to the lads since The Blast and Irish radio would be a poorer place without them.

Exactly my sentiments. Been my thoughts from day one. Yes it's a different show with different personnel but it definitely isn't a pop on the old one. I always felt Ann didn't get enough credit back in the day. There was always a drop in quality when she was off (pre cancer). The annoying thing is that the 630 and 730 links are excellent but the remainder of the show is too formatted, features are stale and the listeners who come on add nothing. What's worse is that what were great features (Eh Yeah Ok, Jay-o and 7 days) are being milked as much as they can and dying slow deaths and instead all we're getting is the fugitive and the sound of dublin. As soon as I heard the promo I knew it was coming but really thought the lads would veto any suggestion by management to bring that back. Based on the number of meetings they seem to have, seems like the show is way over managed. Need to just let the lads do what they do best and only step in if required. But I guess with 3.5 hours to fill, 2 small kids and getting up at 5(ish) every day there's just too much work for them to do by themselves.

IUA14

So the weird more music filled last half hours of the show last week were because Ray wasn't there and was doing a course which is why 7 Days was on a break he said. Pity its back because he seems fed up with it.

wnolan1992

I want 7 Days to stay just so Ray's singing of the theme tune will get more insane and OTT.

"Good god jeeeesus, that was seven days!" :P

IUA14

That's usually when they have absolute muppets on who make hard work of the game though.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, I miss Phil.

stannis

IUA14 wrote: »

So the weird more music filled last half hours of the show last week were because Ray wasn't there and was doing a course which is why 7 Days was on a break he said. Pity its back because he seems fed up with it.

It's probably because i listen to the show far too much but i notice that Ray sighs after he asks most of the questions in 7 Days. His heart's not in it so i guess it's someone higher up who's insisting on keeping it going.

leggo

To be fair, the callers they have sound more coached now and to fit a particular purpose, so if the callers aren't adding much it's on the lads and their team. It's not as if Today FM magically had sounder listeners (and having called up there a few times for bits, there was no intensive vetting process to ensure you were good craic either). It's likely due to the lads wanting to get in and out in a 3-minute link, so not wanting to chat much in case they get caught in something they can't immediately drop. But that has a knock-on effect that you're diluting the callers down to nothing, so there's almost no point doing it at all then. You either have to figure out a better way to fill a link in that small amount of time or loosen the restrictions.

With Adelle the Assistant PD down there, having worked on the Today FM show, I can't imagine they're short on allies in making any changes either if they want to. I'd say if they're stuck doing features and bits they dislike, it's because they're fed up there and don't want to fight for it. Or, because they're now breakfast show hosts and probably get treated as such, maybe nobody on their team is saying, "Here this needs to be addressed lads..." If they're getting better figures, management will want them to continue doing whatever is working, so any attempt at evolving the show and ensuring it doesn't grow stale will require impetus from them directly.

Agree with most that it's not the same as their Today FM show, and it doesn't have to be. It's weaker but still better than pretty much all of the crap on Irish radio in the mornings. I might quit the podcast and keep up with them via NTN once Hamish & Andy come back tbh.

IUA14

Its nothing to do with vetting callers, I can tell you for sure they don't, I texted in and they called back and put me straight on. And they have had many callers who are no craic and as boring as can be on like your man on Eh Yeah Ok yesterday. The point is that it is a different market...Foley has for sure had to dilute down himself for the breakfast show to appeal to a Dublin audience and I think people outside Dublin got his humour more at Today FM when he could be himself. He said recently that their aim is to be the "least annoying breakfast show in Dublin" which says it all really.

I disagree that they are not fighting for their show or station...the lads have done so much and were effectively the force that has turned 98FM around from haemorrhaging listeners to making solid gains. Ray came up with The Best of Dublin Awards which as an idea has worked, the music is better on 98 these days since they took over (albeit still not my cup of tea), and he seems intent on making 98 a force again. He mentioned on a recent NTN podcast that they have so much more to do on the show now than they did at TodayFM. They went from a 2.5 hour show (essentially 2 hours when you take out news etc.) that started at noon so they could come in at 10 and get stuff done for it, to now doing a 4 hour show (3.5 hours live) which starts at 6:30 in the morning so they can't really do much planning before shows and when your up that early...with two young kids and other things going on I' sure its hard to find the energy to be innovative. When you consider that and then the fact its Ray and JP and Suze on their own that work on the show given that Deeno is news and Adelle has whole other role there you really can't be expecting miracles. Given the dynamic at TodayFM were the four of them (Ray, JP, Ann and Adelle) were good friends which came across on air and was great craic for listeners, now its mostly Ray and JP with Suze as producer (who they inherited) so the dynamic is bound to be different.

Anyways, still the best thing on Irish radio!

Euphoria Intensifies

They actually didn't inherit Suze. The producer for the first few months, was some guy called David/Dave IIRC. I remember them talking to him on air once or twice and referring to him a good bit.

Is the lads' humour really that difficult for Dubs to get? I've worked in Dublin (inner city Dublin, so with stereotypical "Dubs") and know loads of people from Dublin, and their style of humour really isn't that different to the rest of the country. Like Ray and JP never did remotely as much culchie fanservice as someone like Hector did, so how much would they have to change in order to suit a different market?

In my opinion, what has caused a difference between the breakfast show and lunchtime is the totally different formats. Ray and JP don't have the listenership or status that someone like Chris Moyles had at BBC R1, so they can't just expect to be allowed to do rambling 15 minute links twice an hour, as great as that would be for us fans. They also have to please advertisers, hence the huge amount of competitions and features, or they'll be out of a job because 98FM can't afford to pay their wages. I think we have to recognise the limitations of the commercial station breakfast show format and then judge the lads on their ability to do good radio within those constraints.

Haha, now if only I could write as much for one of my assignments! :P