RIP Phantom As We Knew It

Denalihighway

I was going to add a post to one of the other threads but thought a new thread would have more impact in case any people from Phantom are reading.
Don’t want to repeat too much of what was said in the other threads put Phantom is dying a death. The latest schedule changes, the miserable excuses for songs on heavy rotation and the blatant commercial overtones on everything is nauseating.

Its nothing we shouldn’t expect after the recent takeover but it doesn’t make it any more nauseating.

The talk-show style slot with Alison Curtis is a clear attempt to compete with their contemporary pop stations and their drivel talk-shows. Its mind-numbing. Alison doesn’t have the sense of humour Simon does and there’s feck all chemistry between her and Roisin. Its just plain boring. Talking about accidents, or favourite colours or whatever sh*te she is peddling. Her accent and style are grating as well but that’s just a personal thing, not her fault, she seems to be giving it her best.

Claire Beck is grand but not a patch on Ritchie. Simple as that. I just cant imagine ANY Phantom listener who enjoyed Drivetime before, tuning in to hear her and enjoying it. Spin DJ at the end of the day. Again, not her fault, look at the new management for this sh*t.

The playlist now (and for a good while) is getting more ridiculous. Heavy rotation of stuff like L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N . (jaw-droppingly bland), Glasvegas (like a car alarm), Belle and Sebastian (pretty OK but 50 times a day?). Its depressing just typing that sentence.

And as for Vogue etc...hand me the gin! Jaysus wept...

None of this is surprising given the direction that was clearly the ambition behind the takeover. I just hope they know what they’re doing. All I can see happening in the short-term at least is Phantom losing all their old listeners and not gaining enough new ones because they don’t have the reputation or big names. They could leave themselves in no mans land and its all the new management will deserve. I just feel sorry for the good presenters left on the show who are trying to keep ‘er lit.

I’ve never switched off Phantom so many times in disgust as I have in the last few months. Its now at the point where I would only listen to the guys in the morning. I won’t deny that I’ll switch on during the day from time to time but its impossible to leave it running any more. Michelle’s songs are pretty good but like the other DJs she is shackled into playing the tripe on the playlist and the talk aint great.

I’m quite sure the new management wouldn’t give a flying f*ck about my opinions since I’m not the kind of listener they’re interested in but thought I’d say my piece anyway.

It’s all about the bling really isn’t it? Corporate ambition over substance. There is a reality to this that's undeniable, it would be naive to think otherwise but where's the line? Those in Phantom who made a deal with the devil are equally to blame, but I don’t want to come over too hippy with all this, in fairness I guess it might be hard to refuse a bag of cash as reward for your years of endeavour. As long as they can sleep at night I suppose.
Terrible pity.

There’s certainly no way back from here. Phantom as we knew it is with O'Leary in the grave. Wonder where the ‘new Phantom’ will come from?

I'm finished :pac:

chris_d

the playlist is terrible.

it is insulting being forced to listen to the Wombats instead of irish acts.

PaulieBoy

I gave up listening a loooooong time ago!
What annoys me is that fact that they got a license as an alternative station, if they can't make it as an alternative station then they should give the license back and let someone else have a go. Not make it a mainstream station-of which we have enough already-and leave the alternative scene have to go back to the pirate stations to find some decent tunes.

ballsymchugh

i hope xfm don't see an opportunity there. the repetition on their london station was dreadful. every 3 hours.
this could be rte 2xm's chance.

Bobby42

I rarely listen to phantom anymore. Any time I do they usually have Muse on. Wow, Muse. How edgy and alternative of them. Sometimes they might get creative and mix things up by playing some Kings of Leon.

scottie pippen

I switched off a while back, listen to nova instead, its moderately better - at least they play pearl jam.

DublinWriter

scottie pippen wrote: »

I switched off a while back, listen to nova instead, its moderately better - at least they play pearl jam.

Funnily enough, I'm a talk-radio type of guy and had to rent a car recently.

Nova was on one of the presets and I was greatly impressed.

Phantom seem to be chasing the Lowest Common Denominator recently.

scottie pippen

on Nova - I find that repeat the same music a little too much, and some of the presenters are really annoying. but it could Improve, its still relatively new.

have other Phantom listeners switched over to Nova yet?

PaulieBoy

scottie pippen wrote: »

have other Phantom listeners switched over to Nova yet?

Yeah, for a few days and then it got totally boring. You could easily predict the next track!
I guess this country is just to small for a proper alternative station or two, in order to survive it would seem you have to chase the heard and that means playing the same old, day in day out, treat your listener like sheep and watch the money roll in!!

ford jedi

have to agree phantom os gone to the dogs , you can nearly tell what time od day it is by the song there playin . ive started listening to nova ,,not a whole pile better but at least they play alot of acdc,
the dj,s arent great but there only finding there feet. bye bye phantom

ThisRegard

chris_d wrote: »

the playlist is terrible.

There was an article a couple of weeks ago in the Sunday Times Culture section about how despite there being a decent amount of radio stations in the country the play lists are basically the same, with one point the author made was that Phantom, despite being touted as alternative, on one sample day played a large number of songs that pop stations such as 98 and 104 played that same day. That was a pretty damning statistic. It's Nova for me too for the most part.

sdanseo

One word. Nova.

lordgoat

Live Drive on Dub City Fm plays the best alt/indie music of any show out there.103.2 4-7 in the afternoon, John Neary will get you home and play ace music while he does so.

sushisushi

I actually thought that the ratio of repeated songs to decent stuff had improved somewhat since the new format was introduced, but I have a sneaking suspicion that it may be creeping back again (if I hear that stupid LIFEGOESON thing again, I am going to start screaming at the radio). I've had Phantom on in the mornings pretty much non-stop recently, but I have to switch off once that chat show comes on after lunch, because I find it impossible to work to inane conversation about somebody's favourite colour. At least if they have to do an afternoon talk show, it could have a bit more bite - you can do some interviews with a bit of a social conscience, without having to go all Joe Duffy on it. Or even talk to people about the Irish music industry?

Royale with Cheese

Lost interest in Phantom a long long time ago. Listen to Nova in the car these days and am rarely let down.

problemchimp

A bad phantom will always be better than radio "middle of the road" Nova. Phantom has changed for the worse with shiite chat show efforts and the edges rounded on their playlists but c'mon people, Nova? As o.p. said, give the licence back and let others have a go.

ghostdancer

scottie pippen wrote: »

have other Phantom listeners switched over to Nova yet?

not me, Nova seems ****, though so does Phantom most of the time now.

i just listen to cds or mp3s in work now, cds in the car.
the only show i try to catch is Jim Carroll's on Tuesday nights.

if they just got rid of all the chat nonsense, had a bigger playlist with less indie-pop rubbish like The Wombats, Adele, and The View, it'd be a whole lot more bearable.

Denalihighway

ghostdancer wrote: »

not me, Nova seems ****, though so does Phantom most of the time now.

i just listen to cds or mp3s in work now, cds in the car.
the only show i try to catch is Jim Carroll's on Tuesday nights.

if they just got rid of all the chat nonsense, had a bigger playlist with less indie-pop rubbish like The Wombats, Adele, and The View, it'd be a whole lot more bearable.

yes its the quality of the heavily rotated playlist tunes that is jaw-droppingly bad and a sad and obvious indicator of where Phantom seems to want to be now.

LIFEGOESON by Noah and the Whale is perfect example (sorry I had to bring it up :pac:) - on every level it's a song that shouldn't get the time of day on any radio station, yet they ram it down your throat on Phantom. As has been discussed, there are many reasons to switch off now, but that alone is reason enough for me and its very damning in what it says about new Phantom.

It's baffling really.

There was always a bit of bland indie on Phantom to be had. One of the good and bad things abut Old Phantom is that they used to play a hell of a lot of new Irish indie rock too which was great for those bands. Some of it was very average though.

Still love Richie and Charlotte in the morning but there will come a time in the near future when that will stagnate like anything else.

DrumSteve

Don't really listen to phantom anymore... too much hipster crap on it. Nova all the way.

Jay Pentatonic

I agree with the op,

I completely lost all faith in phantom when they got rid of "Blitz", that was such a good show:(

Now, I don't really listen to the radio anymore, and when I do it's always Raidió na Life during the night, FULL ON DUBSTEP FTW!!!!!!!!!!!!!:D

oldscoil

I can see why Nova is getting some of the off feed, but to be honest that'll be short lived.

I was telling every one about Nova when it launched and how great it was.

Two things though:

Really bad repetition . Really bad.

And the DJs are very very hit n’ miss.
Pat Courtney in the morning is just Smashy and Nicey in one pair of Hush Puppies.

However the danger for Phantom here is the break in transmission.

I used to knock the car radio on mute when they played Muse and I was not amused.

Then I just started knocking on Nova. Then I just statrted to leave Nova on all the time.

Nova now bores me to tears….so I give both of ‘em a wide miss.

Really started to get back into playing my own tunes again.
Bought I massive block of blank CDs and started to burn all my songs from iTunes.

Plus I really try and look out for new bands on line (youtube, blogs etc).

If I like em, I burn ‘em or borrow ‘em.

I’m not relying on any station to keep me posted on new bands.

Although I must add, Phantom got me into Band of Horses back in 2007 and I’m very grateful for that Folks.:)

Sad its turned out this way

starviewadams

Really miss Cinerama on Friday's,used to listen to it every week when I'm making next weeks dinners,been replaced by that hipster Vogue Williams ****e,fúckin hell like!

Glassheart

I'm a bit confused by the numerous comparisons with Nova.Isn't that a classic rock station? If that is your thing then you were never gonna be satisfied with Phantom...

The Phantom playlists can be irritating but i've discovered some great bands over the last year that i would have missed if i had been listening to any other station.

u140acro3xs7dm

lordgoat wrote: »

Live Drive on Dub City Fm plays the best alt/indie music of any show out there.103.2 4-7 in the afternoon, John Neary will get you home and play ace music while he does so.

Have to agree with this. Seems like he is allowed to play what he wants. He also does a lot of talking with the traffic so doesnt have to play as many songs. I have always thought if he moved to another station he would not be as good.

starviewadams wrote: »

Really miss Cinerama on Friday's,used to listen to it every week when I'm making next weeks dinners,been replaced by that hipster Vogue Williams ****e,fúckin hell like!

I always had a problem with that programme. After all it is an "alternative music" station not a movie review station. If i wanted a review of a film i would google it or read the ticket or something.

Sgt Hartman

It's gone poor alright. As well as that LIFEGOESON ****e, that "Dream a little dream for me!" song is another example of the total rubbish that they're putting on heavy rotation at the moment. I have to admit I DO like the Wombats, and I do like to listen to Julian Casablancas (solo stuff) & The Strokes, Arctic Monkeys, Faith no More, Garbage, MGMT, Lykke Li and The Joy Formidabe. If it wasn't for Phantom I woulda never heard of some of the bands I now like today:). Adele, Muse, Kings of Leon, Belle & Sebastian, Ham Sandwich and Interpol can go and ****e though:P

Alison Curtis in the afternoon is the worst thing on Phantom at the moment. All they ever seem to do on that show is talk about Facebook and Twitter.It's brain-dead radio at it's worst. As soon as her show starts I switch straight over to Nova. I really miss Simon Maher, his show almost always had something interesting or fun on it.

Nova can get boring as well though. There's only so much 70's rock music I can take. The ads on Nova, especially "Catch the Monkey.com" and that Eurocycles one with the gob****es singing like pirates are intolerable:eek:

u140acro3xs7dm

Sgt Hartman wrote: »

It's gone poor alright. As well as that LIFEGOESON ****e, that "Dream a little dream for me!" song is another example of the total rubbish that they're putting on heavy rotation at the moment. I have to admit I DO like the Wombats, and I do like to listen to Julian Casablancas (solo stuff) & The Strokes, Arctic Monkeys, Faith no More, Garbage, MGMT, Lykke Li and The Joy Formidabe. If it wasn't for Phantom I woulda never heard of some of the bands I now like today:). Adele, Muse, Kings of Leon, Belle & Sebastian, Ham Sandwich and Interpol can go and ****e though:P

Alison Curtis in the afternoon is the worst thing on Phantom at the moment. All they ever seem to do on that show is talk about Facebook and Twitter.It's brain-dead radio at it's worst. As soon as her show starts I switch straight over to Nova. I really miss Simon Maher, his show almost always had something interesting or fun on it.

Nova can get boring as well though. There's only so much 70's rock music I can take. The ads on Nova, especially "Catch the Monkey.com" and that Eurocycles one with the gob****es singing like pirates are intolerable:eek:

I think I have resigned myself to the fact that we cant have a good radio station here. I started listening to Nova when i was totally sick of Phantom but they play the same songs over and over the same way phantom do. Their ads are shocking too. I have started listening to Newstalk its got that bad because i know they wont play the same songs over and over. Usually I just listen to the ipod when i am at home or cd's in the car but sometimes you havent the time to be searching through your music deciding what to listen to.

A lot of the problems in Phantom seem to be coming from the people running it. When Alison Curtis was on Today FM she didnt spend the show talking crap, she played music. I think they try too hard to be cool too. Some of the shít they talk on that station is unreal. It looks like they are trying to turn Phantom into Today FM's cool little brother but are failing miserably.

bruce wayne

the final nail in the coffin for me was this

The all new Phantom Anthems hits the airwaves every Friday and Saturday night from 7:00-11:00pm. Join Tim O'Donovan and Vogue Wilson as they bring you the biggest rock anthems and indie remixes on the airwaves! Got a request? Text 51052 every Friday and Saturday night to hear your tune.

like seriously......Vogue Wilson !! very alternative there guys !!

u140acro3xs7dm

bruce wayne wrote: »

the final nail in the coffin for me was this

The all new Phantom Anthems hits the airwaves every Friday and Saturday night from 7:00-11:00pm. Join Tim O'Donovan and Vogue Wilson as they bring you the biggest rock anthems and indie remixes on the airwaves! Got a request? Text 51052 every Friday and Saturday night to hear your tune.

like seriously......Vogue Wilson !! very alternative there guys !!

Jaysus i just googled Vogue Wilson and she is from that Fade Street shít !!!:eek: Just some media whore who is a little pretty on the eye. It wont be long before listening to phantom will be loike sitting on the loike 46a loike, roight!!

bruce wayne

Kenny Disgusting Traction wrote: »

Jaysus i just googled Vogue Wilson and she is from that Fade Street shít !!!:eek: Just some media whore who is a little pretty on the eye. It wont be long before listening to phantom will be loike sitting on the loike 46a loike, roight!!

yep...apparently though she is quite an established dj in her own right....but from what little I saw of Fade St, she looked very lost behind the decks....I may be wrong, but I doubt it

ghostdancer

bruce wayne wrote: »

yep...apparently though she is quite an established dj in her own right....but from what little I saw of Fade St, she looked very lost behind the decks....I may be wrong, but I doubt it

not really, she was a nobody model who did a bit of dj-ing here and there before Fade Street. and being a DJ doesn't qualify anyone to host a radio show, especially on Phantom.

i wouldn't care too much though who does the show, but the music was sh1te both times i heard it.

ghostdancer

lordgoat wrote: »

Live Drive on Dub City Fm plays the best alt/indie music of any show out there.103.2 4-7 in the afternoon, John Neary will get you home and play ace music while he does so.

been listening to this for the past week, it's definitely better than Phantom. pity about all the traffic talk, but the music selection is miles better than Phantom now. it's a bit like Phantom was 5 years ago, i've actually discovered several acts in the last week, not just listen to The Wombats and Kings of Leon hour after hour like the daytime Phantom shows.

lordgoat

ghostdancer wrote: »

been listening to this for the past week, it's definitely better than Phantom. pity about all the traffic talk, but the music selection is miles better than Phantom now. it's a bit like Phantom was 5 years ago, i've actually discovered several acts in the last week, not just listen to The Wombats and Kings of Leon hour after hour like the daytime Phantom shows.

That traffic info is gold if you drive!! The amount of time John Neary has saved me, i owe him big time!

Jedwardian

I also think Phantom has gone downhill. There's a new rate our music poll on the Phantom website. Give your opinion on 30 songs new and old which are played fairly often on the station and at the end you can suggest what's right or wrong with their music output and also suggest different bands who you feel are being ignored.

Link:http://phantom.ie/entertainment/6992-win-50-worth-of-free-music.html

It might not change anything but it's worth a go.

Septico

Richie in the mornings i do find quite funny. They will cover some stuff that you wouldn't get near on another station. The conversion about squares and curbs there last week was priceless.

Keep:

The banter.
The morning crew.
Requests getting airtime.. a change from the playlist(s)

Get Rid of:

The ridiculously overplayed playlist.
That Cake song 'Sick of you' (Worst song ive ever heard)
Hat-Tricks (Not buying into that show with Richie Ryan.)

I will keep listening if i can get that much, other than that ill be going back to Mario on today FM for some gift grub

super_furry

bruce wayne wrote: »

the final nail in the coffin for me was this

The all new Phantom Anthems hits the airwaves every Friday and Saturday night from 7:00-11:00pm. Join Tim O'Donovan and Vogue Wilson as they bring you the biggest rock anthems and indie remixes on the airwaves! Got a request? Text 51052 every Friday and Saturday night to hear your tune.

like seriously......Vogue Wilson !! very alternative there guys !!

Sweet Jesus. They've finally turned into Spin.

afishyfish

I switched from phantom to nova a few months back. It seems I'm not alone. You people are switching in your droves.
Ah for the Phantom of 10 years ago. Now that was a quality station.

Jay Pentatonic

afishyfish wrote: »

I switched from phantom to nova a few months back. It seems I'm not alone. You people are switching in your droves.
Ah for the Phantom of 10 years ago. Now that was a quality station.

I loled at your reason for editing

Bard

Phantom lost themselves a listener in me when they made the disgracefully bad move of leaving the inimitable Simon Maher go.

Ophiopogon

They lost me a couple of weeks ago when I heard that girl on pure morning making a honking noise and than laughing at the funny sound she was making. It was so irritating and it just sounds like the crap thrown out by other morning shows in an inane attempt to be funny.

Than the nail in the coffin was the fade street girl...its just getting embarrassing really.

Turned to the Live drive, great music and little chat....the Phantom of yesterday...

darragh666

I still like the morning dj's but thats it. The playlist is so dire I rarely listen to Phantom anymore.

draylander

Why did they get rid of simon maher? I used to listen to phantom all day and loved the different shows. When they got rid of simon and replaced him with alison the quality of the show plummeted. She is not interesting, is no good at interviews and as for listening to her talk about sport....

O and nova sucks balls. They never stop playing brian adams, talking about thin lizzy and trying to sell me cars.

Come on phantom, stop whoring yourself out.

Gerard_Smith

Phantom should be exposing its listeners to to new alternative acts from the local scene and around the world. You know, like what it did when it was loved?

How are your the stations listener figures these days Brian? Has the move to the mainstream had any impact?

Also Simon founded the the dang station, he deserved better.

allanb49

I used to listen to the morning show on my way to work and then richie on the way home, when i worked in a bookies had simon on never missed him, then i heard how he was "let go" was disgusted at that.

I was out for a walk one friday and thought i'd missed cinerama, nope thats gone and replaced with some shíte oh well powerhouse is on at 8 i love me some john cadell, plays good music and doesn't like bon jovi :P

Nope same shíte still continues to be played, both shows have been moved, powerhouse on a sunday night??? Used to put it on before a night out, you knew the weekend was here

I'm sad that this is how phantom has ended, never really warmed to the morning show either missed Sinister Pete too much

Listen to my own music on the way home now and Nova in the kitchen when cooking.

u140acro3xs7dm

allanb49 wrote: »

I used to listen to the morning show on my way to work and then richie on the way home, when i worked in a bookies had simon on never missed him, then i heard how he was "let go" was disgusted at that.

I was out for a walk one friday and thought i'd missed cinerama, nope thats gone and replaced with some shíte oh well powerhouse is on at 8 i love me some john cadell, plays good music and doesn't like bon jovi :P

Nope same shíte still continues to be played, both shows have been moved, powerhouse on a sunday night??? Used to put it on before a night out, you knew the weekend was here

I'm sad that this is how phantom has ended, never really warmed to the morning show either missed Sinister Pete too much

Listen to my own music on the way home now and Nova in the kitchen when cooking.

Whatever happened sinister pete?

allanb49

he was made manager or something, then left i think, no one has ever said. Used to love the two petes talk rubbish

Dissenter

I didn't realise Phantom had it's own board here and had posted similar sentiments in the general radio forum.

Phantom has gone to the dogs. As has been said, they got their licence to be an alternative station, not a bleedin talk-radio station. The daytime shows are awful. I used to really like Alison on the old pirate Phantom, when she co-hosted with Jenny Huston; they played some good tunes then, but this new incarnation is so bad. And that Roisin O'Dea who sits in for her, and fills some airtime is so boring and uninteresting. Even her voice grates now. Not a fan of Richie and Flood in the mornings much. Far too contrived. Some of the evening shows are better and they play more requests, though not much really new alternative, breaking or underground music.

Is there a real alternative available though? Nova strikes me as a stopgap, as Phantom is dead, but it's no long term replacement. Is there a pirate doing anything like what Phantom did originally? If not, then surely the gap exists for some radio students and fans to set something up!

waxon-waxoff

Glad to see others think the same as me. The changes in the last few months have been a mistake. I never listen to the morning show, those two never shut up, its like that 98 or 104 crap. Whats the point of bringing the Fade st girl on board? Thats populist, tabloid inspired nonsense. They even moved the news.

Phantom has gone so mainstream and predictable, far from what it originally set out to be. It was a success so i dont know why they meddled with the formula.

Like others ive been listening to Nova when Michelle Doherty finishes her show. Its not perfect but at least its another option.

Ginny

Listen to the Morning guys everyday, used to listen to Ritchie on the way home, now I'm back to DCFM Live drive, and its not for the traffic, as I get the bus.
I did give Claire "B" another chance the other day and as soon as she cut from a song she was doing some crap along the lines of "Top 5 things you shouldn't do while on air"....seriously? Spin is now a better option on the way home. I really would love to know who Ritchie pissed off to lose the Drivetime slot. I really liked listening to him, and even when he covered for CB when she was away I tuned back in, CB just doesn't fit at all with Phantom listeners, I'd love to see the difference in listenership figures.

Rickara

Agree, agree, agree. It's so sad how the whole outlook of the station has changed in the last few years. Hate the new trend for glamorous female presenters (namely Michelle) and there's not many of the old music nerd presenters left from the original Spectrum/Phantom. Shane's programme on Friday night is still worth listening to and probably Pearl's but I'm never around to hear that. Maybe the question has been answered elsewhere already but what ever happened to Sinister Pete?

Rent a Rant

Wouldn't touch Nova with a bargepole!!
You might as well give Larry Gogan a go!
The likes of BBC6 makes Phantom sound tedious and jaded.
Only problem is Marconi would struggle to pick it up!!

Paparazzo

I've given up on phantom about a year ago. Now, with vogue from that joke of a show fade street phantom have lost any street cred they may have left and turned into a bit of a laughing stock.
Nova could be good, but they seem to play one or 2 "hits" from each band.

One thing for sure is both stations dj's talk too much. I tune into either to hear music, not the dj telling me some boring thing that happened to them when they were 5