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

L1011

If ratings don't improve, being central to a failed plan usually speeds up your departure rather than saves you

Loughc

IUA14 wrote: »

Hoping the bigger venue means I can grab a couple of tickets. Excited to see what they do with it this year after last years success, and always enjoy the lads outside broadcasts!

Definitely wont be any form of a last hurrah, said before I can't see them leaving 98FM anytime soon, seem to be central to what they are trying to do with the station. Was it ever confirmed they had an initial 3 year deal?

Shouldn't be a problem getting tickets. I got tickets for vicar street last year no problem.

Yea when Ray started on 98fm the joke for a while was he was on a countdown to when his 3 year deal expires.

IUA14

Happy days, looking forward to going to it.

Oh right well he started around the 11th of November right? So if that follows then his 3 year deal would be up before The Naked Breakfast so seems they have signed another deal at some point. There would be no point in 98FM doing the marketing campaigns and promotions they are doing now if the show was being axed anytime soon.

Ratings a problem of course but before the last book he had more listeners in Dublin than Dempsey who signed a new 2 year deal about a year ago right?

soc160

IUA14 wrote: »

Happy days, looking forward to going to it.

Oh right well he started around the 11th of November right? So if that follows then his 3 year deal would be up before The Naked Breakfast so seems they have signed another deal at some point. There would be no point in 98FM doing the marketing campaigns and promotions they are doing now if the show was being axed anytime soon.

Ratings a problem of course but before the last book he had more listeners in Dublin than Dempsey who signed a new 2 year deal about a year ago right?

Dempseys/Today FM's target has never been Dublin really, I guess that ties into the success Foley had on Today FM, where his market was less Dublin Centered. You can spin it whatever way you want but the listeners aren't there according to the latest book, lots of money spent on advertising the show in general, wonder will they do a big marketing push around this and try claim some listeners back. Still some programming issues with the show and what 98 actually want to do with it to iron out before they can make grounds on other shows.

Loughc

The fact that naked breakfast won a few awards and won some high praise really pleased 98fm. I can see him getting another year at least.

IUA14

soc160 wrote: »

Dempseys/Today FM's target has never been Dublin really, I guess that ties into the success Foley had on Today FM, where his market was less Dublin Centered. You can spin it whatever way you want but the listeners aren't there according to the latest book, lots of money spent on advertising the show in general, wonder will they do a big marketing push around this and try claim some listeners back. Still some programming issues with the show and what 98 actually want to do with it to iron out before they can make grounds on other shows.

I dunno, TodayFM have been trying to make gains in Dublin, and one of the criticisms in the past was Foley didn't have enough Dublin listeners. So if he had managed to build up a solid base in Dublin him going back to host breakfast when Dempsey finishes up would have made sense since they know nationally he has an audience.

Not trying to spin anything, just making the point I don't see him leaving anytime soon. The Naked Breakfast was something never done before in radio and 98FM do seem thrilled with the recognition so I can seem them heavily marketing it this time round. In my opinion 98FM has the best morning and drive time shows in Dublin right now, not a big fan between 10 and 4, but they need to start getting the figures up because at the end of the day thats what matters.

One thing the lads have in their favour right now is Spin 1038 have a new breakfast show that is still bedding in and Q102 today announced they are dropping their current breakfast show and replacing it with Dave Harrington from next Monday so they are now one of the more established shows that might benefit from the upheaval on morning radio. Could also go the other way, who knows!

IUA14

On another note, the 10th? coming of the podcast-only bit returned yesterday but they forgot to add it to the podcast so actually back today...don't know for how long but they said on most days they will do it. The reasoning behind their return was someone complained apparently, perhaps Adelle saw it. Anyways, ten mins or so today and it was good, loved that he called someone back who sent in a complaint to 98FM that was meant for another station.

Also...JP late for work today after apparently giving Ray a hard time about being late yesterday.

soc160

IUA14 wrote: »

I dunno, TodayFM have been trying to make gains in Dublin, and one of the criticisms in the past was Foley didn't have enough Dublin listeners. So if he had managed to build up a solid base in Dublin him going back to host breakfast when Dempsey finishes up would have made sense since they know nationally he has an audience.

Not trying to spin anything, just making the point I don't see him leaving anytime soon. The Naked Breakfast was something never done before in radio and 98FM do seem thrilled with the recognition so I can seem them heavily marketing it this time round. In my opinion 98FM has the best morning and drive time shows in Dublin right now, not a big fan between 10 and 4, but they need to start getting the figures up because at the end of the day thats what matters.

One thing the lads have in their favour right now is Spin 1038 have a new breakfast show that is still bedding in and Q102 today announced they are dropping their current breakfast show and replacing it with Dave Harrington from next Monday so they are now one of the more established shows that might benefit from the upheaval on morning radio. Could also go the other way, who knows!

Sorry ye, I dont mean you're adding some spin to it or anything, I dont think Ray will be leaving myself, I don't see anyone who would add to that slot at the moment, they are being backed, hes a big personality and would be signed up by another station easily, it just doesnt seem a great fit.


People often link him with that slot when Dempsey leaves but I dont see Dempsey going anywhere soon, Ray would bring a different audience with him, less of the erm..upper class listener that Dempsey brings. Be interesting to see what he would do with the slot considering Today FM seem to give more free reign to presenters and producers to shape the show where as 98FM is competition driven, and that's not an environment that suits Ray, not his fault, he has a personality and it isn't given chance to flourish at 98. Now the debate is whether too much free reign would isolate listeners in the morning who like consistency and music.


Naked Breakfast is interesting, bigger venue, bigger risk but at least its something different.

jezzer

L1011 wrote: »

If ratings don't improve, being central to a failed plan usually speeds up your departure rather than saves you

Are the ratings for the ray foley show poor?

wnolan1992

jezzer wrote: »

Are the ratings for the ray foley show poor?

They're like the 6th most popular Breakfast show in Dublin IIRC.

jezzer

wnolan1992 wrote: »

They're like the 6th most popular Breakfast show in Dublin IIRC.

oh dear, i used to listen to them but i just couldnt be bothered any more, nothing to draw me to them....they were better suited to mid day radio i think

Synode

Out of interest, what morning show do you listen to?

jezzer

Synode wrote: »

Out of interest, what morning show do you listen to?

I listen to the strawberry alarm clock mainly for their sketches, there isnt really anybody outstanding and fresh at the moment though

Synode

jezzer wrote: »

I listen to the strawberry alarm clock mainly for their sketches, there isnt really anybody outstanding and fresh at the moment though

Can't stand the Strawberry alarm clock myself

jezzer

Synode wrote: »

Can't stand the Strawberry alarm clock myself

how come? do you listen to foley?

Synode

jezzer wrote: »

how come? do you listen to foley?

Yeh I listen to Foley. I always found the Strawberry's were trying too hard to be funny

jezzer

Synode wrote: »

Yeh I listen to Foley. I always found the Strawberry's were trying too hard to be funny

sometimes that can be the case but i just think foley sounds uninterested and has no real draw

L1011

jezzer wrote: »

Are the ratings for the ray foley show poor?

Very.

For the amount of money spent on branding, advertising, etc 98fm are performing very poorly and Foley trails the overall station at that.

King George VI

L1011 wrote: »

Very.

For the amount of money spent on branding, advertising, etc 98fm are performing very poorly and Foley trails the overall station at that.

Is he really doing that bad in the listening figures?

jezzer

98FM attempted a major overhaul over the past couple of years but it seems to have flopped, loosing dermot and dave was a big blow

L1011

Johnny Carson wrote: »

Is he really doing that bad in the listening figures?

Yes. He lost a significant amount in the last book alone from memory.

His TodayFM audience was outside Dublin, a large number of the fans on this thread are outside Dublin and rely on podcasts etc.

IUA14

Yeah can't stand the Strawberry either, same stuff as ten years ago. I'd agree with that point...all the breakfast shows do the same thing and thats why part of me is always disappointed that the lads didn't try and be a bit different than the rest. Don't get me wrong, I think they are better than the rest, but a different type of show that doesn't do gossip, kids bits, too many competitions could do well.

Thoroughly enjoyed a bit of lazy radio this morning though and the slagging of Keith Barry yesterday was brilliant!

Loughc

Think of a mooovie.

bbability

IUA14 wrote: »

Yeah can't stand the Strawberry either, same stuff as ten years ago. I'd agree with that point...all the breakfast shows do the same thing and thats why part of me is always disappointed that the lads didn't try and be a bit different than the rest. Don't get me wrong, I think they are better than the rest, but a different type of show that doesn't do gossip, kids bits, too many competitions could do well.

Thoroughly enjoyed a bit of lazy radio this morning though and the slagging of Keith Barry yesterday was brilliant!

No The Strawberry Alarm Clock has changed its tact in recent times. The comedy bits are there but not in the numbers it used to be. Mark and Jim really have a good thing going in the morning. They relate well to the Dublin audience they are targeting. They are a good alternative to Newstalk. The ratings kind of prove that to. They have nearly double the audience of Ray Foley. I think 98fm in general is in poor shape. This talkshow in the morning isn't helping anyone.
Spin1038 have more listeners on Fully Charged than 98fm Breakfast

IUA14

Different strokes for different folks, Strawberry Alarm Clock just isn't my cup of tea.I would not disagree with regards to relating to their audience because thats proven with the figures. I think FM104 has been so far ahead of everyone in Dublin, particularly 98FM, the last 10 years and have built up such a significant lead that its near impossible to make a big dent in it anytime soon.

98FM overall are around 42,000 listeners behind Spin 1038 so not surprising as the bigger station that their breakfast show is ahead, but only by 5,000 listeners as of the last book...and given that Fully Charged's longtime presenters left and were replaced just before those results I would not be surprised if that figure flipped around next book. Foley is 17,000 listeners up on Q102 so there is that, but it will be interesting to see the next set of figures and see if there has been a decline or improvement.

One thing I will say is 98FM are trying to rebuild and give themselves an identity again and they seem to know there are no instant fixes, Foley in the Mornings and Quilty followed by Brian Maher in the evenings is solid, as is Barry Dunne who has been the stations best ratings performer the last few years. As for the phone show, not my cup of tea but it has 33,000 listeners, the same amount as Nikki Hayes on Spin1038 in that timeslot so I would think they would be happy enough with that for now.

soc160

IUA14 wrote: »

Different strokes for different folks, Strawberry Alarm Clock just isn't my cup of tea.I would not disagree with regards to relating to their audience because thats proven with the figures. I think FM104 has been so far ahead of everyone in Dublin, particularly 98FM, the last 10 years and have built up such a significant lead that its near impossible to make a big dent in it anytime soon.

98FM overall are around 42,000 listeners behind Spin 1038 so not surprising as the bigger station that their breakfast show is ahead, but only by 5,000 listeners as of the last book...and given that Fully Charged's longtime presenters left and were replaced just before those results I would not be surprised if that figure flipped around next book. Foley is 17,000 listeners up on Q102 so there is that, but it will be interesting to see the next set of figures and see if there has been a decline or improvement.

One thing I will say is 98FM are trying to rebuild and give themselves an identity again and they seem to know there are no instant fixes, Foley in the Mornings and Quilty followed by Brian Maher in the evenings is solid, as is Barry Dunne who has been the stations best ratings performer the last few years. As for the phone show, not my cup of tea but it has 33,000 listeners, the same amount as Nikki Hayes on Spin1038 in that timeslot so I would think they would be happy enough with that for now.

Could change soon in the dublin market, fm104 and newstalk won't be affected so essentially 98 and spin are fighting themselves for audience, I wouldn't bring Q102 into it they aren't competing in the same manner, who is hosting the new show?

In saying that iv been hearing that 98fm are rebuilding themselves for about 6 years now... And they seem to still be in the same situation as they were then. Ray is lagging on breakfast for a number of reasons outlined earlier, the talk show after doesn't help, so you are waiting until 12 for some music to be played consistently. Whereas with Fm 104 and spin it's into music based shows for the next few hours after breakfast.

I haven't been able to listen to as much morning dublin radio recently because I have to commute away from the city most mornings, so I'm not sure what each station is doing then but iv been able to catch drive time a bit and what strikes me about Dara Quilty is if you like Ray you'll like him and if not you won't listen because it's personality driven rather than music, alota links compares to spin and 104.

L1011

soc160 wrote: »

I wouldn't bring Q102 into it they aren't competing in the same manner, who is hosting the new show?.

Dave Harrington, who had the highest audience on the station in his old show.

IUA14

Enjoying the podcast only bits before each episode the last week or so.

Latest JNLR figures out later this week so will be interesting to see how the Dublin market looks and if the addition of Muireann has helped the lads.

soc160

IUA14 wrote: »

Enjoying the podcast only bits before each episode the last week or so.

Latest JNLR figures out later this week so will be interesting to see how the Dublin market looks and if the addition of Muireann has helped the lads.

I don't think we'll really see her impact on the show this book, she's only been on about 3 months now ye?

Be looking at the next book after that for a 6 month comparison maybe.

chilloutrelax

soc160 wrote: »

I don't think we'll really see her impact on the show this book, she's only been on about 3 months now ye?

Be looking at the next book after that for a 6 month comparison maybe.

They are down to 37k (down 4k year on year, 1k book on book) - 8k behind Spin, 49k behind 104. Nothing they do seems to have an impact! Being better by Spin by that margin is quite embarrassing…..where is this going?