Lyric fm's Breakfast show presenter - Marty Whelan.

Almaviva

ghiertal wrote: »

Marty gone off to Germany for the week. Wonder will he immerse himself in Bach, Beethoven etc. in the home of some of the best orchestras and choirs of the world. Oh no, he is going over to commentate on eurovision. Never thought i'd write that about a presenter (who is given most airtime) on Lyric fm. Really is shameful indictment of RTE. Anyway, let's be thankful for small mercies and enjoy the week with Trish.

Look on the brightside any of you still listening to the Corpse of Lyric. He may have heard Germany has produced a lot of great composers over the years. You will probably be treated to some Kraftwerk on his show when he returns.

Rebelheart

Turned over to Lyric to see what was on at 8.35 when RTÉ 1 and Newstalk had their usual insufferable saturation "sports" coverage.

To my surprise, Whelan wasn't talking. It got even more curious: there was some really mellow music on. I stayed listening, hoping to get the tune's name and check it out later (as I used to do in the old days). Problem solved when the presenter came on afterwards: it wasn't Marty Whelan. I don't know who she was, nor do I need to know. But I liked her music choice, and I was introduced to a new piece of music.

Gabriel Fauré's Pavane was the name of the tune.

Flicks

Rebelheart wrote: »

Turned over to Lyric to see what was on at 8.35 when RTÉ 1 and Newstalk had their usual insufferable saturation "sports" coverage.

To my surprise, Whelan wasn't talking. It got even more curious: there was some really mellow music on. I stayed listening, hoping to get the tune's name and check it out later (as I used to do in the old days). Problem solved when the presenter came on afterwards: it wasn't Marty Whelan. I don't know who she was, nor do I need to know. But I liked her music choice, and I was introduced to a new piece of music.

Gabriel Fauré's Pavane was the name of the tune.

Me too, what a pleasure to listen to Lyric again in the mornings, plenty of good music introduced by a a calm soothing voice which doesn't,t try to outshine the excellent choice of music.

Dirigent

Flicks wrote: »

Me too, what a pleasure to listen to Lyric again in the mornings, plenty of good music introduced by a a calm soothing voice which doesn't,t try to outshine the excellent choice of music.

That was the wonderful Trish Taylor. How can she resist the temptation to hum along with the tune she's just played?

doomed

Dirigent wrote: »

That was the wonderful Trish Taylor. How can she resist the temptation to hum along with the tune she's just played?

If RTE only realised that these unsung people are the real stars.

In fairness to Marty, notwithstanding his being the worst classical music presenter in western europe, I heard him at the Eurovision and he was really good. Each to his own.

Aglomerado

doomed wrote: »

If RTE only realised that these unsung people are the real stars.

In fairness to Marty, notwithstanding his being the worst classical music presenter in western europe, I heard him at the Eurovision and he was really good. Each to his own.

I agree, his Eurovision commentary was entertaining and made me laugh several times!

DT100

Rewards for those who can crack the tough breakfast radio slot (Irish Times)

SIOBHÁN O'CONNELL

But with young people emigrating, things are about to get a lot tougher for radio

BREAKFAST RADIO is one of the most competitive segments of the Irish media market. Win breakfast and you win the day, is the mantra for all radio bosses.

Veteran DJ Marty Whelan’s early morning programme on Lyric FM has lifted average quarter-hour listenership by 33 per cent since he took over the slot last August. And he hasn’t lost listeners in any age group.

Whelan’s laid back banter and mellow playlist, which can run from Elgar’s Salut D’Amour to Tony Bennett’s I left My Heart in San Francisco , is proving to have increasing appeal, even if a lot more people still hear his Tesco ads than his breakfast musings.

Whelan’s career has had a fair share of ups and downs since he left RTÉ in 1989 to join Century Radio. During his years in exile from Montrose, Whelan was most visible for his Daz commercials. Even when the RTÉ eventually brought him back, it wasn’t all plain sailing. Whelan was on holiday in 2007 when he learned his 2FM radio show Marty in the Morning was to be axed.

According to OMD chief executive Dave Harland: “Marty and Lyric are small players in the radio landscape. But what’s good about Marty is that he is a personality who can work across a number of RTÉ platforms, in the same way as Miriam O’Callaghan and Hector Ó hEochagáin.”

Peter McPartlin of ad agency Carat says Whelan’s programme is an important mainstay to start the Lyric schedule each day.

“He has a regular and stable following and, although small, the profile of that audience is attractive to advertisers: older, white collar, urban adults who arguably want an alternative to the mainstream to ease them into the day.”

Lyric has proved so adept at bringing in established presenters such as Gay Byrne, George Hamilton and Eamon Lawlor that it’s something of a retirement home for silver-haired RTÉ broadcasters. Lyric’s overall market share is 1.7 per cent, on a par with peer station BBC Radio 3 (1.3 per cent) though Classic FM in Britain does a bit better with almost 4 per cent share.

Joan Harris, media director of Focus Advertising, says: “Marty is on air in the most competitive time slot on radio where he competes for listeners with Morning Ireland on Radio 1, Hector Ó hEochagáin on 2FM, Ian Dempsey on Today FM and Ivan Yates and Chris O’Donoghue on Newstalk. However, Marty offers a niche product, a blend of classic music and entertainment.”

The only two other national radio programmes to have increased their adult listeners in the past year have been Morning Ireland and the breakfast show on Newstalk, with the latter growing by 30 per cent.

Ruth Ní Fhloinn of ad agency Mediaedge:CIA observes: “Newstalk has shown the healthiest increase across all major target groups. It has increased its breakfast listenership by 23,000, which is massive considering how much competition there is and that other shows covering similar political and economic issues have lost listeners.”

Listenership figures have also risen for Newstalk’s evening drivetime show presented by George Hook.

Harland notes the importance of the breakfast show to Newstalk is underlined by the decision to extend the programme run time to 10am. “From an entertainment perspective, the last hour of the show tends to be more relaxed and conversational,” says Harland. “People want current affairs and news at the start of the day but after 9am they want something a bit lighter.”

Elsewhere in the breakfast radio arena, Hector Ó hEochagáin is broadening 2FM’s listenership base outside of Dublin and FM104 has relaunched its Strawberry Alarm Clock show with the return of Jim-Jim Nugent who used to present 2FM’s breakfast show.

Conor White at airtime buyer Mindshare says 2FM’s breakfast show had been in freefall and that Hector has stopped the rot. “FM104 is still the lead Dublin station but Q102 is strong too. With a new team on the 98FM breakfast show, it will probably have a strong recovery in the next six months.”

Still struggling is the rebranded Classic Hits 4FM. The station recently moved its breakfast presenter Gareth O’Callaghan to an afternoon slot and has replaced him with Jim McCabe.

Ní Fhloinn says the most disheartening outcome for her in the last listenership report was the sharp decrease in 15-34 listeners. “This audience isn’t simply switching off their radio – they are leaving the country. I predict that we will see a further decrease of the under 25 audience when the next report is published in August.

“National stations are suffering to the benefit of the local stations. The fight for national listenership, particularly people under 45, is going to get tougher.”

Good man Marty!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

TimmyTarmac

"Veteran DJ Marty Whelan’s early morning programme on Lyric FM has lifted average quarter-hour listenership by 33 per cent since he took over the slot last August. And he hasn’t lost listeners in any age group."

Source? Is it the JNLR? The article does not say. This 'fact' is hard to find.
So in summation, Mr. Whelan loses almost a third of the existing audience while on the Lunchtime programme on Lyric (according to the JNLR) and now on Breakfast, no listeners are added (so far).
The old boys club at the agencies tell The Irish Times what a great oul skin Marty is and what a great fit he is for Lyric but don't say they'll spend an extra cent of advertiser's money on Lyric.

That article is flimsy at best. Christ, if this is what passes for an article at The Paper of Record, I'd be looking elsewhere for information on serious things like the state of the economy etc.

doomed

TimmyTarmac wrote: »

"Veteran DJ Marty Whelan’s early morning programme on Lyric FM has lifted average quarter-hour listenership by 33 per cent since he took over the slot last August. And he hasn’t lost listeners in any age group."

Source? Is it the JNLR? The article does not say. This 'fact' is hard to find.
So in summation, Mr. Whelan loses almost a third of the existing audience while on the Lunchtime programme on Lyric (according to the JNLR) and now on Breakfast, no listeners are added (so far).
The old boys club at the agencies tell The Irish Times what a great oul skin Marty is and what a great fit he is for Lyric but don't say they'll spend an extra cent of advertiser's money on Lyric.

That article is flimsy at best. Christ, if this is what passes for an article at The Paper of Record, I'd be looking elsewhere for information on serious things like the state of the economy etc.

Agree 100%

Saw that Article myself and wondered. If Marty had grown the audience by that amount RTE would be crowing about it all over the place. The last JNLR figures show him holding steady. This looks like a puff piece with a large part of it devoted to a minority radio station with an audience that is less than 5% of Morning Ireland's.

Even if Marty were increasing the number of listerers, and I agree that there is no proof yet, that is not really the point. The audience for inane chirpy presenters and MOR playlists is bigger than that for classical music. Hence the term "minority station". If you got rid of all of the music from Lyric in the morning and replaced it with something on the lines of liveline I'd bet it would triple the audience overnight.

Having said that I listened to the programme this morning and it was great. Oh yeah. MW is on holidays and Trish presented instead. Enjoy.

pinkypinky

Anyone know how long he's away?

johnnyk66

pinkypinky wrote: »

Anyone know how long he's away?

Forever I hope.:D
What a joy its been this week to be able to listen to some wonderful music and not have to listen to the inane chatter and second rate music choice of "marty"

goingpostal

johnnyk66 wrote: »

Forever I hope.:D
What a joy its been this week to be able to listen to some wonderful music and not have to listen to the inane chatter and second rate music choice of "marty"

+1. It is great that it is safe to turn on Lyric between 7 and 10, knowing that Marty's gas banter won't have whipped me into an apoplectic rage within about 5 minutes. I still think the format of the breakfast show could be improved, even without Mr Tesco-Winning-Streak. They could cut out the news bulletins and the traffic updates and play more music. If I want news and traffic, I'll put on Radio 1 or Today FM. Lyric should be the one place people can go to get away from the rat-race.

mbur

johnnyk66 wrote: »

Forever I hope.:D
What a joy its been this week to be able to listen to some wonderful music and not have to listen to the inane chatter and second rate music choice of "marty"

+1

pinkypinky

Marty-free zone this morning!

goingpostal

pinkypinky wrote: »

Marty-free zone this morning!

He might have been kidnapped.

johnnyk66

goingpostal wrote: »

He might have been kidnapped.

We live in hope;)

goingpostal

johnnyk66 wrote: »

We live in hope;)

Well, if the ransom was 5 cents, I wouldn't pay it. I'd offer them 10 euro to hang on to him for a little bit longer.

Dirigent

pinkypinky wrote: »

Marty-free zone this morning!

The difference in style is just remarkable. From a presenter who wants to me! Me! ME!!! with music in the background, to one who lets the music do the talking.

pinkypinky

Trish Taylor said he's off all this week.
Cynthia Morahan doing Thurs/Friday.

Listen without fear people!

doomed

goingpostal wrote: »

Well, if the ransom was 5 cents, I wouldn't pay it. I'd offer them 10 euro to hang on to him for a little bit longer.

Unless they were deaf they wouldn't do it for any money. He's bad enough on radio for three hours - imagine 24 hours in an enclosed room. The police would have to rescue the kidnappers.

Gloomtastic!

Isn't it good to see begrudgery knows no age or class barrier on this wonderful little island of ours.

Thomas828

I've just recently moved back to Ireland and worked out what way to position the aerial to get the best reception for RTÉ radio. And right now I have no complaint about Marty in the morning. He's better than Hector on 2FM.

johnnyk66

Thomas828 wrote: »

I've just recently moved back to Ireland and worked out what way to position the aerial to get the best reception for RTÉ radio. And right now I have no complaint about Marty in the morning. He's better than Hector on 2FM.

IMO two cats fighting in an oil drum sounds better than Hector on 2FM.:D


The point is a large number of Lyric listeners would prefer the breakfast show to be hosted by somebody who will play good quality music and does not think that the show is about them rather than the music.

real rocker

Gloomtastic! wrote: »

Isn't it good to see begrudgery knows no age or class barrier on this wonderful little island of ours.

We are good at WHELAN them out all right - even musically speaking.

goingpostal

Gloomtastic! wrote: »

Isn't it good to see begrudgery knows no age or class barrier on this wonderful little island of ours.

Isn't it good to see that legitimate criticism of widespread rank mediocrity in our pay-the-license-or-go-to-prison public service broadcasting system is always characterized as "begrudgery" on this wonderful little bankrupt island of ours.

goingpostal

doomed wrote: »

Unless they were deaf they wouldn't do it for any money. He's bad enough on radio for three hours - imagine 24 hours in an enclosed room. The police would have to rescue the kidnappers.

Wow. The mental image of being trapped in a room with Marty, that your post has conjured, shall haunt me for quite some time.

Gloomtastic!

goingpostal wrote: »

Gloomtastic! wrote: »

Isn't it good to see begrudgery knows no age or class barrier on this wonderful little island of ours.

Isn't it good to see that legitimate criticism of widespread rank mediocrity in our pay-the-license-or-go-to-prison public service broadcasting system is always characterized as "begrudgery" on this wonderful little bankrupt island of ours.

Luckily someone in RTE thinks that the beautiful tunes they play on Lyric should reach beyond the minority of music snobs who used to frequent the station. But normal people found the staid presenters boring and turned off.

The man's just doing what some faceless RTE Radio manager told him. They wanted an 'Irish Terry Wogan' to make the station popular with the average person and that's what he's giving them. And it's working.

Give the bloke a break!

doomed

Gloomtastic! wrote: »

Luckily someone in RTE thinks that the beautiful tunes they play on Lyric should reach beyond the minority of music snobs who used to frequent the station. But normal people found the staid presenters boring and turned off.

The man's just doing what some faceless RTE Radio manager told him. They wanted an 'Irish Terry Wogan' to make the station popular with the average person and that's what he's giving them. And it's working.

Give the bloke a break!

People who listen to Lyric are actually normal thanks. The assumption that normality implies a preference for vacuous "look at me" RTE B listers over really knowledgeable presenters is depressing.

If they really think Marty will bring new music to the people then put him on Radio 1 or 2 FM with its much larger listernership and leave Lyric alone.

goingpostal

doomed wrote: »

People who listen to Lyric are actually normal thanks. The assumption that normality implies a preference for vacuous "look at me" RTE B listers over really knowledgeable presenters is depressing.

If they really think Marty will bring new music to the people then put him on Radio 1 or 2 FM with its much larger listernership and leave Lyric alone.

I agree. While I can see the point that it is not entirely Marty's fault that Lyric's breakfast show has been dumbed down, that he is part of a larger strategy to try to market Lyric to a wider audience, it is a fundamentally flawed strategy. It won't work. The best way to attract listeners to a classical music station is classical music. Lots of great, timeless music presented by knowledgeable, discreet presenters is the best way to win listenership. To claim that classical music is esoteric or for snobs only is also wrong. Classical music was the popular music of its time. It was listened to by everyone, rich and poor. All that a person needs to appreciate classical music is a pair of ears. All that a person needs to spot a guff-spouting, has-been, supermarket-and-scratch-ticket-shilling chancer is a pair of ears.

Almaviva

goingpostal wrote: »

To claim that classical music is esoteric or for snobs only is also wrong. Classical music was the popular music of its time. It was listened to by everyone, rich and poor. All that a person needs to appreciate classical music is a pair of ears.

No.

It is difficult to generalise about such a big topic as classical music, but the above generalises to the wrong direction. Classical music was not the popular music of its time. The great majority of it was exclusively for the ears of royalty, aristocracy, and the affluent elite of European society for the last 400 years. More recently it has been for a small section of the educated rich worldwide. And it remains so. Most people have the necessary set of ears, yet they must be insufficient to appreciate it since so few people still do despite a vaste range of cheap or free ways to listen to it these days. The great unwashed have the choice but do not want it.

But if you set up a radio station to play classical music to this affluent, educated, niche group (who are as entitled to a national broadcasting service as anyone else) then you should do so. Not dilute it beyond use with the inane patter appropriate to popular music stations, a presenter who knows nothing of their topic, and play MOR and crooners from the last 50 years that no one tuning into a classical music station is doing so to listen to.

Marty has his market (bizarre, but it does seem so). Its just not the Lyric one. It is the clowns in charge of this 'policy' that are the real incompetents in this travesty of one of the few things RTE used to do well.