Whats the point of 2fm these days ?

Lucozade man

What is the point of RTE owning 2fm? It lost 3 million euro last year. What kind of public service broadcasting programs is it providing that cant be got from other stations such as Today fm, newstalk 4fm q102 ? Why not sell 2fm ? People always say that 2fm gets no licence fee money but thats not true anymore because its no longer paying for it self since 2008 and even when it was paying for it self during the boom Rte always had their 2fm "stars" on lots of television shows.

Rubik.

It's initial purpose was to cater for 15 to 34 year olds. When their ageing presenters and the music they were playing no longer appealed to this age group, instead of addressing the obvious problems - they had the brilliant idea of just moving the goal posts by changing the target audience to the 25-44 age group. That was back 2009 and not surprising it hasn't worked. Given it's head start and financial clout, the fact that Today Fm has managed to catch up and overtake 2fm has to be down to how badly the station was run over the years.

bureau2009

Rubik. wrote: »

Given it's head start and financial clout, the fact that Today Fm has managed to catch up and overtake 2fm has to be down to how badly the station was run over the years.

+ 1

And CONTINUES to be extemely badly run.

There is more style, panache and professionalism to be found on Radio Ballygobackwards - listen to any radio station down the country and hear how superior it is in terms of content and presentation to 2FM.

Management in 2FM are extremely well paid to make inferior radio.

neris

Anytime i flick through the stations when in the car and it scans onto 2fm they always seem to be talking or playing ads. Do they even play music anymore? Also heard larry gogan is still kicking around there aswell. he must be well over 65 by now

Tapes

Back in 2007 when they tried to become cool and aim at the teen market it didnt work becaue they still had G ryan on in the morning, They still had 12 hour marathon of dinosaur presenters every sunday. And some of the young presentrs they had on during the week like damien farelly was as out of touch with the teen market as marty whelan.

mike65

2FM has lost about 40% of its market share in the last decade

JNLR WEEKDAY REACH FIGURES
January – December 2005
RTÉ 2FM - 21%

JNLR WEEKDAY REACH FIGURES
January 2006-December 2006
RTÉ 2FM - 18%

JNLR WEEKDAY REACH FIGURES
October 2006 – September 2007
RTÉ 2FM - 18%

JNLR WEEKDAY REACH FIGURES
April 2008 – March 2009
RTE 2FM - 16%

JNLR WEEKDAY REACH FIGURES
JANUARY 2009 – DECEMBER 2009
RTE 2FM - 15%

JNLR WEEKDAY REACH FIGURES
January 2010- December 2010
RTE 2FM - 13%

Its only going one way, when it hits 10% some very serious questions will have to asked.

turbodiesel

It has some good points, i listen to rick O'Shea wheneven I can. I used to appreciate him more when he did the evening slot(Late 1990's) after the watershed when the subject matter and his commentry was more adult instead of middle of the road. I also like Ruth Scott and the Saturday Sports show (Ballbusters) is good craic. When I am in the car with the wife and we try to answer the 60 second quiz with Larry Grogan it passes time.....just because the presenters have stayed with the station a long time doesn't make them less attractive to listen too.....

bureau2009

turbodiesel wrote: »

It has some good points, i listen to rick O'Shea wheneven I can. I used to appreciate him more when he did the evening slot(Late 1990's) after the watershed when the subject matter and his commentry was more adult instead of middle of the road. I also like Ruth Scott and the Saturday Sports show (Ballbusters) is good craic. When I am in the car with the wife and we try to answer the 60 second quiz with Larry Grogan it passes time.....just because the presenters have stayed with the station a long time doesn't make them less attractive to listen too.....

Wow! You sound like ......like......like..........the Head of 2FM!!!!!!

dulpit

Things that are good about 2FM: Cormac Battle. Playing a song when other stations are on breaks.

The end.

For Forks Sake

dulpit wrote: »

Things that are good about 2FM: Cormac Battle. Playing a song when other stations are on breaks.

The end.

He's probably the only person there with any musical taste worth talking about.

JonathanAnon

Colm Hayes is actually listenable enough.. I have no idea why they gave G Ryan's slot to that other square, and didnt give Colm Hayes a shot at it.. I think he would have been a much better fit.. But unfortunately RTE continues to only give the top jobs to their "stars" and wont give somebody else a go

dulpit

For Forks Sake wrote: »

He's probably the only person there with any musical taste worth talking about.

Yes, and his show has a great name too...

im invisible

havnt listened to it in a while, but john power and mr. spring on the weekend nights used to be very good, then Power left, mr. spring was moved to a different slot. jenny greenes electric disco is good for a few tunes aswell

Big Tone

Ray Burke kinda got it right back in 1989 when he proposed that 2FM should be sold off, but at that time his friend Oliver Barry was about to start up Century Radio, so the "politics/big business" mix didn't go down too well and it was obvious to all what Burke was up to.

Looking at Mike's figures above it's clear the serious questions should've been asked after 2FM went sub-20%, asking them at 10% and trying to save a drowning wreckage about to reach rock bottom at that stage will be too little too late.

Skyrim

Used to like 2fm a lot, haven't listened to it in years, stopped listening when Tubridy quit the full irish show (loved that show). Resorted to listening to rte1 now (parents always listen to it) Today fm is what i listen to now and off the ball at night.

constitutionus

you know not only can i not remember the last time i listened to it regularly, im dont think its even programed into my stereo !

i think the last time i tuned in was to hear tubs crash and burn.

im only 37 so if im their "target audience" theyre doing sod all to attract me.

irishh_bob

turbodiesel wrote: »

It has some good points, i listen to rick O'Shea wheneven I can. I used to appreciate him more when he did the evening slot(Late 1990's) after the watershed when the subject matter and his commentry was more adult instead of middle of the road. I also like Ruth Scott and the Saturday Sports show (Ballbusters) is good craic. When I am in the car with the wife and we try to answer the 60 second quiz with Larry Grogan it passes time.....just because the presenters have stayed with the station a long time doesn't make them less attractive to listen too.....

rick o shea is the most annoying thing on radio

telekon

I listen to 2FM for the latest pop music tunes....this is what I would have said in 1985. I gave up on music in the late 90s.

snugglebear

I used to like the Colm andJim Jim show in the morning- can't stand Hector- haven't listened to 2fm in ages (Nova convert)- but I gather from previous posts I'm not missing much- :rolleyes:

Fulton Crown

snugglebear wrote: »

I used to like the Colm andJim Jim show in the morning- can't stand Hector- haven't listened to 2fm in ages (Nova convert)- but I gather from previous posts I'm not missing much- :rolleyes:

Nomate ...not much at all.

caught a bit of 2FM today ..that annoying bint Ruth Scott and some dude with an incredible thick bogger accent.

Made the usual mistake of a two hander...never allow a second of "dead air".

Frantic talking over each other...trying to generate some "Craic"

Failing ......miserably

Nah ! :mad:

neris

i think i heard zig n zag on there at the weekend. so are 2fm trying to target people who used to watch the den or think teen agers these days wil go for them

ricman

Its like bbc radio 1 ,they shut down the pirates ,so they had to setup a station to play pop music for young people .I d say its main audience now is housewives, country people or people at work that need a bland mor station ,its probably good for rte ,gives them ad revenue .The best thing on it is the dave fanning show , at one time the gerry ryan show was worth listening to .
Some might say its irrelevant , theres lots of stations out there playing pop music and 1000s of stations on the web.

Our man in Havana

The best thing they ever did was sacking the queen of bebo Nikki Hayes.

greenbicycle

What about Hector?? you can beat a bit of hector in the mornings!

dulpit

greenbicycle wrote: »

What about Hector?? you can beat a bit of hector in the mornings!

Exactly, you can.

Our man in Havana

dulpit wrote: »

Exactly, you can.

With a hurl.

bbability

Our man in Havana wrote: »

The best thing they ever did was sacking the queen of bebo Nikki Hayes.

And what has this got to do with 2fm these days? And I don't think she was sacked merly her contract was not renewed.

Fact of the matter is it needs a serious overhaul starting with the people who are in charge of running the station. Hector has turned out to be a disaster move which is reflecting on the rest of the days figures. Why not move Zig and Zag to a weekday slot as their show on Saturday Mornings is getting good ratings and get rid of some deadwoood.
I've come to realise that nothing has changed since John Clarke reitred as head honcho if fact I'd say its a lot worse.

How many people here have 2fm preset in the car these days? I for one don't..

Jenny Greene is the only show I try to catch on a Saturday evening. A worthwhile listen..

Caledonman

bbability wrote: »

And what has this got to do with 2fm these days? And I don't think she was sacked merly her contract was not renewed.

Fact of the matter is it needs a serious overhaul starting with the people who are in charge of running the station. Hector has turned out to be a disaster move which is reflecting on the rest of the days figures. Why not move Zig and Zag to a weekday slot as their show on Saturday Mornings is getting good ratings and get rid of some deadwoood.
I've come to realise that nothing has changed since John Clarke reitred as head honcho if fact I'd say its a lot worse.

How many people here have 2fm preset in the car these days? I for one don't..

Jenny Greene is the only show I try to catch on a Saturday evening. A worthwhile listen..

Surely there is better than Zig and Zag for weekdays?? The problem with 2fm is that you have Hector & Tubridy, their 2 'shining stars' that are flopping. No matter who came in after Gerry Ryan, the ratings were going to drop so they could have brought in some new talent. No such luck. Too many chief's in there that don't live in the real world......

Bubblegums

I stopped listening to 2FM when Gerry died, the only show I might be tempted to listen to is Larry Gogan. The worst thing they ever did was get rid of Marty Whelan in the mornings. He's a class presenter and so funny.

I used to listen to Today FM, but D'Arcy got on my nerves and Ian Dempsey was the best thing on that station til the mornings just got filled up with soccer soccer and even Gift Grub just turned into soccer stuff that only soccer heads would get...

I now listen to Newstalk and Lyric. :P

wnolan1992

I used to listen to Rick O'Shea a lot about two years ago, but then they started screwing with the format of his show.

Their presenters sound as though they're forcing themselves to be "cool" and "edgy", and in the process are falling flat on their overpaid holes.

Fact is, no matter what time of day it is, you can probably find a better show on another station. Ray Foley(Today FM), Matt Cooper(Today FM), KC(Today FM, hmm pattern here I think....), Off The Ball(Newstalk), Spin Hits(Spin SW/Spin 1038), the list goes on.

About the only things worth listening to now are Ballbusters on Saturdays, which is pretty decent, and Jenny Greene's electric disco. Maybe Will Leahy at a push if you don't want to listen to what Cooper or George Hook are talking about.

Zig and Zag as well now that I think of it. But why the hell are they languishing on a one day a week slot, when they could easily draw an audience in a Breakfast show slot? Something for parents and children to listne to on school runs, bit of craic, lighthearted, nostalgia, etc?? It just doesn't make any bloody sense.

Holy Warlord

Posters here must be young.

These kind of threads always feature stuff like "it's gone downhill over the last few years" ... etc.

Believe me, it is not a recent symptom.

2FM has been on a slide since a time in the '80s.

Fulton Crown

Yeah true..Hayes was serious good riddance.

Hector....well as we all SHOULD know H is a one trick pony..have never heard his show and do not intend to.

Tubbs...just too bland in my opinion....not cutting it ...no.

Hard Ruth Scott and some Dude on an evening two hander......Christ.....spare us .

2FM in deep doo ddoo....some overpaid holes need to get the fingger OUT !

todolist

2FM in private market would be a busted flush.It's wrong and unfair to ask the Irish population to pay a television/radio tax to RTE.No more Tax to RTE and it's cronies.No,no

LimeFruitGum

2Fm feels either too housewifey in the mornings or too 'down wiv da kidz' in the evenings. I used to love the Hotline and Aidan Leonard, *swoon*

So it looks like I'm another 30sthg Today FM/Newstalk demographic :eek:

Elmo

LimeFruitGum wrote: »

2Fm feels either too housewifey in the mornings or too 'down wiv da kidz' in the evenings. I used to love the Hotline and Aidan Leonard, *swoon*

So it looks like I'm another 30sthg Today FM/Newstalk demographic :eek:

Tune into Lyric for Aidan.

I have to say I mainly listen to 2fm, In the mornings its TodayFM but then change as soon as D'Arcy starts, Hayes is good, I don't like tubs so end up flick between him and R1 if I have the radio on at that time. I like Rick O'Shea and Cormac Battle, when the 98FM crowd are on Today FM, I am talking, no you are talking, no we are all talking at once about nothing! or else it is liveline which I seem to catch most days Then its between Drivetime and the lastword, its called choice. Rarely if ever listen to NewsTalk, Hook is the main reason for that. (I don't listen to local radio).

As for RTÉ 2FM being in state hands or part of RTÉ its unlikely that it will be sold now, the station wouldn't get the kind of money that Communicorp paid for the eMap stations (~€200m) or even the €52m that UTV paid for FM104 when Communicorp where told to dispose of the service.

Also the fall in listeners can also be attributed to "Youth Stations" Beat, i and Spin in the regions. Basically Today FM have taken the older 2fm presenters and their ageing audience with them.

Also 2fm at night and Dave Fanning at the weekends are good.

wnolan1992

LimeFruitGum wrote: »

So it looks like I'm another 30sthg Today FM/Newstalk demographic :eek:

That's the thing with TodayFM/Newstalk though, you're a 30sthg listener, and I'm 18 and find both those stations great. 2FM tries far too hard to bring listeners in, and ends up failing.

Take for example the TodayFM line-up. D'Arcy, while I wouldn't listen to him regularly, he's more bearable imo than Tubbs, and there's always Tom Dunne to flick to.
Ray Foley then at lunch is a bit of craic, followed by Fenton who plays good music. Even The Last Word manages to keep me interested by covering a variety of topics other than politics/how bolloxed the country is, such as sport, gadgets, movies, etc.

You'd imagine that TodayFM, being commercial, would be more desperate for listeners? I.e. trying to get better sponsorships etc. But it doesn't come across like that on air.
2FM on the other hand is part of the public broadcaster, so not only does it gbet advertising money, but it surely gets a chunk of the licence fee as well. Yet they're the ones that come across as if they're saying "listen, listen, please listen, ah go on listen, you know you want to!!" all the time.

TheBuilder

Get Larry Gogan on for more than an hour and I'd listen for more than an hour!

mikom

wnolan1992 wrote: »

2FM on the other hand is part of the public broadcaster, so not only does it gbet advertising money, but it surely gets a chunk of the licence fee as well.

Not to mention all the cross promotion on the RTE TV stations as well.
Operation transformation on the TV, Operation transformation on the Gerry Ryan show, etc.

Elmo

mikom wrote: »

Not to mention all the cross promotion on the RTE TV stations as well.
Operation transformation on the TV, Operation transformation on the Gerry Ryan show, etc.

They say it doesn't but yes I would agree like with most cross over radio service that just by being part of any organisation the organisations money is invested into the service. You could easily say only Licence fee money goes into 2FM while only advertising revenue is given to The Performing Groups.

I can't stand Ray Foley, I also find I can't understand what is being said with the cacophony of sound coming from his team.

Also 2FM is only allowed 6mins of ads on average and 9 max per hour, Indos have 9mins on average and 12 max per hour.

Bard

wnolan1992 wrote: »

2FM on the other hand is part of the public broadcaster, so not only does it gbet advertising money, but it surely gets a chunk of the licence fee as well.

Actually this has come up a number of times. If you look at RTÉ's published figures you'll see that none of the money collected from the license fee is allocated to 2FM.

2FM has always been funded through advertising revenue (alone) and has, when in profit, helped to pay for other sections of RTÉ.

However, it is true that 2FM does indirectly benefit from the license fee, getting its news and sport content from RTÉ's News & Current Affairs department, a license fee funded source.

wnolan1992

Bard wrote: »

However, it is true that 2FM does indirectly benefit from the license fee, getting its news and sport content from RTÉ's News & Current Affairs department, a license fee funded source.

Also I would imagine that their wage bill is paid from licence money, and not advertising money. Especially since some of them double-job on TV, like Tubridy and Hector.

GSF

Bard wrote: »

Actually this has come up a number of times. If you look at RTÉ's published figures you'll see that none of the money collected from the license fee is allocated to 2FM.

2FM has always been funded through advertising revenue (alone) and has, when in profit, helped to pay for other sections of RTÉ.

However, it is true that 2FM does indirectly benefit from the license fee, getting its news and sport content from RTÉ's News & Current Affairs department, a license fee funded source.

Since 2FM made a loss last year, the money to keep it going must be coming from somewhere. The only place it can come from is the licence fee if it doesnt make a profit.

Elmo

wnolan1992 wrote: »

Also I would imagine that their wage bill is paid from licence money, and not advertising money. Especially since some of them double-job on TV, like Tubridy and Hector.

Is Hector on RTÉ TV?

Also I assume that the use accounting practices to take 2fm out of the licence fee frame as they do for RTÉ Television and RTÉ Radio, in effect part of Jerry Ryan's and Tub's wage bill is paid from 2FM and the rest from RTÉ Television (which has the licence fee). BTW The Late Late pays for itself.

wnolan1992

Elmo wrote: »

Is Hector on RTÉ TV?

I thought TG4 was part of the public broadcaster? I'm open to correction on that.

mike65

I thought 2FM was now working at a loss. Could be wrong.

Elmo

wnolan1992 wrote: »

I thought TG4 was part of the public broadcaster? I'm open to correction on that.

No TG4 even back when TG4 was part of RTÉ it was only kind of connected. TG4 is a separate company with its own staff who buy in programming, sports and commission shows. RTÉ do fund some of TG4 through News and Current Affairs and repeats of Irish Language programming. TG4's Hector programmes have nothing to do with RTÉ.

I thought 2FM was now working at a loss. Could be wrong.

Indeed RTÉ 2FM in 2009 had a loss, but prior to that it had profits which were in turn given to other areas within RTÉ.

wnolan1992

Elmo wrote: »

No TG4 even back when TG4 was part of RTÉ it was only kind of connected. TG4 is a separate company with its own staff who buy in programming, sports and commission shows. RTÉ do fund some of TG4 through News and Current Affairs and repeats of Irish Language programming. TG4's Hector programmes have nothing to do with RTÉ.

Oh Ok my mistake.
Maybe 2FM should be getting a chunk of the licence fee then. It surely couldn't hurt? More money might help them attract better DJ's. All the talent these days appears to be breaking on the independent stations. I mean, KC was on REDFM and was landed by TodayFM and that appears to be working out well.
Even with her ties to RTE, Sile Seoige has gone to work for Newstalk on Saturdays, while RTE1 has Marian Finucane. (Not strictly about 2FM but I think it highlights how the whole organisation is out of touch).

Elmo

wnolan1992 wrote: »

Oh Ok my mistake.
Maybe 2FM should be getting a chunk of the licence fee then. It surely couldn't hurt? More money might help them attract better DJ's. All the talent these days appears to be breaking on the independent stations. I mean, KC was on REDFM and was landed by TodayFM and that appears to be working out well.
Even with her ties to RTE, Sile Seoige has gone to work for Newstalk on Saturdays, while RTE1 has Marian Finucane. (Not strictly about 2FM but I think it highlights how the whole organisation is out of touch).

No probs.
No I don't think it would help 2FM to get the licence fee, perhaps its the extra digital channels that are causing the problem. Have to disagree with Marian Finucane think, while she is overpaid (someone will bring that up anyway), she is one of the better RTÉ Radio presenters, she really should return to weekdays an replace Murray who should either be replace by Finucane or Katherine Thomas (who I am surprised hasn't jumped ship).

I never really understood why in the mid-2000s RTÉ wanted a "youth" news after Dave Fanning, his drive time show was able to cover a range of Arts and Culture topics that made it typically PSB, reduced to weekends now, Will Leahy is when I start switching to R1 or NewsTalk.

wnolan1992

Elmo wrote: »

Will Leahy is when I start switching to R1 or NewsTalk.

No arguments there. When Rick O'Shea's show used to end a few years back and Leahy came on it was almost an immediate switch over. Haven't listened to O'shea in a while now, but they started screwing with his show...i think twas last summer or the one before and ruined for me.
I take your point about Finucane i guess, but she should definitely be moved to a weekday slot, as should Zig and Zag(breakfast on 2FM would suit I think).

Elmo

wnolan1992 wrote: »

as should Zig and Zag(breakfast on 2FM would suit I think).

Zag and Zag V Iano and D'arcy's arse! I was waiting for Today FM to put them on after D'arcy.

Are you too young to get that connection!

wnolan1992

Elmo wrote: »

Zag and Zag V Iano and D'arcy's arse! I was waiting for Today FM to put them on after D'arcy.

Are you too young to get that connection!

Just old enough! 2Phat? GET OFF THE BIKE! hahah

EDIT: Maybe i am, actually, misread ur commeht. :P