The Ian Dempsey Show... time for a reboot?

squonk

I was unlucky enough to be off sick yesterday and, after I woke up I switched on Today FM only to hear them doing their Jokes Monday thing, you know, the bit where people send in awful jokes and the Gift Grub characters read them out. It made me feel even sicker!

I haven't been listening for a few months as I've changed job and don't have to be up as early in the mornings and don't have as far to go but I'd started to drift away before that anyway as it was nothng but the same old ding-dong over and over again each week. Half the time he's plugging something and the other half he's talking to Mario about either crap jokes or crap TV. Occasionaly there's a good Gift Grub sketch but you can hear them on the website anyway.

I'm not slagging Ian Dempsey. He's a great presenter and I've always been a fan but the show is becoming a bit jaded now I think. I'd love them to shake it up a bit to add a bit of life to it. I'm kind of amazed so many people are still listening but, in fairness, there isn't a lot of competition out there that time of the morning. Just my 2 cents and I'm wondering am I the only one who thinks the show is gone a bit past it's Best Before Date?

rossa morbeg

Dempsey is finished, Yesterdays news, His show is 5 years past its sell by date. Hector is going to trash him in the ratings.

bbability

rossa morbeg wrote: »

Hector is going to trash him in the ratings.

Lol ... Funniest thing I've read in a long time:D

He only needs 100k listeners to drop off to achieve that.

jor el

squonk wrote: »

I woke up I switched on Today FM only to hear them doing their Jokes Monday thing

Those jokes are never funny, and they have never been since they starting doing that bit a few years ago. I don't know who sends them in, or why they insist on reading out unfunny jokes, but I wish they wouldn't. Particularly unfunny are always the Ben Dunne ones.

I like Ian Dempsey, and the Breakfast Show, but I deliberately miss that bit of it.

anoh77

I can see where you're coming from. I would have been a daily listener to the Ian Dempsey show for the past 4-5 years during my morning commute. In the past 2-3 months I've found myself channel hopping which I'd never really have bothered doing before, mainly because as the OP said things have gone a bit stale and repetetive. Find myself listening too Hector or Newstalk a lot more than Iano as the weeks go by. Still like Dempsey, but think its time too shake things up a bit.
Gift Grub still has its moments, maybe not as often, but fully agree on the Monday jokes thing, time to drop it

Cheese Princess

Yeah I used to love that show but it has definitely gone downhill and it is definitely gone very commercial with pushing products etc.

I've been channel hopping a lot in the mornings now as well. I'd listen mostly to Jim Jim on FM104 now.

Desire.

vampire of kilmainham wrote: »

dont listen to radio crap just listen to music on CDs or i pod

I hope you're having a good time in the Radio forum.

prettygurrly

i dunno, i'm finding it hard to agree with you all. I still listen to the dempsey show although it is only 2 or 3 times per week when i'm in the gym and yes the format hasn't changed and they could do with some new ideas but i think the general drive of the show has never really changed. i dont think he promotes things any more than he did before. I can't stand any presenters who are really bright and breezy in the morning and i'm not a fan of Hector on the radio though I like him on TV. I think Iano has the right tone (for me anyway) and Mario is still brilliant. Some of the sketches he did lately had me in stitches and he's still the best impersonator in the business...

I wish they'd bring back some things they used to do like the poems on wedding days by michael d etc.

EIREHotspur

rossa morbeg wrote: »

Dempsey is finished, Yesterdays news, His show is 5 years past its sell by date. Hector is going to trash him in the ratings.

If you think that then maybe you should have your own Radio Show.

Hilarious!

Badabing

Ruth and Rick, Marty, Jim Jim and Colm all failled to beat Iano. He could do with a shake up i agree but nothing to radical.

Uncle Mclovin

His main competition is that fool Hector so I can't see him having any trouble with the ratings any time soon.

Plazaman

I think Dempsey is the most condescending fúcker I've ever heard. His "banter" with the AA roadwatch girls is cringeworthy at times and he regularly make little remarks about them just as they know they're gone off air so can't answer back. The same with callers, he says something under his breath that he thinks is funny about a caller, their job, where they live and more often than not, the caller doesn't get the dig on the phone line and when the ask "What?" he says something else.

The irony of one of the Radio Roy sketches where he trashed every caller was probably and insider dig at him. The Monday Jokes thing (which can be quite funny at times) is a wee bit jaded but would listen to it everyday of the week if Dempseys chair was empty. Move him to the 2am - 6am slot I say.

_feedback_

If he was putting out the worst radio in Ireland for two hours every day I'd still find it hard to say anything about him. He's just such a damn nice guy!

Agree that aspects of the show could do with a bit of freshness and the jokes item is a bit of a dud.

Plazaman wrote: »

I think Dempsey is the most condescending fúcker I've ever heard. His "banter" with the AA roadwatch girls is cringeworthy at times and he regularly make little remarks about them just as they know they're gone off air so can't answer back.

Just on the AA point, for the last number of weeks, the AA reports come from Louise Duffy, who is sitting in front of him in studio, so anything he says he is saying straight to her face.

squonk

prettygurrly wrote: »

I wish they'd bring back some things they used to do like the poems on wedding days by michael d etc.

NO!!! That was always one of the worst features. It was a 15 minute slot aimed at one particular person. I'm sure it was great if you were involved in the wedding or knew the person but for the other 99.9% of the listenership it was like ending up at the wrong wedding and not being able to get out. I thought it was total tripe.

100% agree with another poster who said Ian was such a nice guy. I met him back in his 2FM days in the 80's and he was as sound as a pound then and you couldn't fault him at all.

It's just one of those things that the show is getting on my nerves now!

Clanket

Was anyone just listening to his show?

What was the clip he played right at the end. just came back into a room and heard the very tail end.

Was some fella getting a bit flustered about the state of the country.

Anyone know what and who it was?

_feedback_

Clanket wrote: »

Was anyone just listening to his show?

What was the clip he played right at the end. just came back into a room and heard the very tail end.

Was some fella getting a bit flustered about the state of the country.

Anyone know what and who it was?

It was a clip from the BBC, a caller got a bit worked up about all the coverage the royal wedding is getting. Quite funny.

Audio here

Btr

rossa morbeg wrote: »

Dempsey is finished, Yesterdays news, His show is 5 years past its sell by date. Hector is going to trash him in the ratings.

You must be related to Hector- only his family could believe it. You did put a smile on my face - funniest thing I've read on forum in years

bbability

Plazaman wrote: »

I think Dempsey is the most condescending fúcker I've ever heard. His "banter" with the AA roadwatch girls is cringeworthy at times and he regularly make little remarks about them just as they know they're gone off air so can't answer back. The same with callers, he says something under his breath that he thinks is funny about a caller, their job, where they live and more often than not, the caller doesn't get the dig on the phone line and when the ask "What?" he says something else.

The irony of one of the Radio Roy sketches where he trashed every caller was probably and insider dig at him. The Monday Jokes thing (which can be quite funny at times) is a wee bit jaded but would listen to it everyday of the week if Dempseys chair was empty.

The funny thing here is that you are quite familiar with his show content so you obviously listen to the show? Would I be correct?

The thing is I never liked Ian Dempsey's Radio Show but I dont listen to him to find out what I hate or dislike. I always felt Mark Byrne was never given the chance to grow into that slot. Don't forget Mario was already there doing his thing before Iano made the switch.

mrsdewinter

elviscostello wrote: »

It was a clip from the BBC, a caller got a bit worked up about all the coverage the royal wedding is getting. Quite funny.

Audio here

That clip is hilarious. I thought the wedding was great - largely because I didn't have to do anything more taxing than get in to work a little early and make sure I could see the office telly. Not sure how I'd feel if my taxes were going towards supporting a pampered elite who will never be called to account for their actions.
Oh wait...

Itssoeasy

Jesus Christ he played an interview from jedward at the eurovision talking about the country of Russia. It was.........different.

Dub Ste

Itssoeasy wrote: »

Jesus Christ he played an interview from jedward at the eurovision talking about the country of Russia. It was.........different.

Different is one way of putting it,embarrassing is another way.They've had their five minutes in the spotlight,now just go away,their schtick isn't funny,it's just as I said,embarrassing.

ste88m

It seems someone in Today FM has noticed that things are going a bit stale.

Got an email today from the Today FM Panel inviting me to do a survey on the Breakfast Show.

Questions included...

How satisfied am I with:
Sport,
Paul Collins,
Weather,
Ian Dempsey,
News,
Traffic & Travel,
The Show Overall,
Music,
Competitions,
Gift Grub,

Along with asking me did I think that Ian sounded too laid back or does he play too much David Bowie, did I like the movie review slot, the showbiz slot etc..

There were also questions on things such as the news not going out on time, is it too busy etc...

Overall a very comprehensive survey which would lead me to think that there's gonna be some pretty big changes soon on the Today FM breakfast show...

Also note how Sport & Paul Collins were the first two questions... A sign of shorter, more to the point sports bulletins maybe? :rolleyes:

Poochie05

ste88m wrote: »

Also note how Sport & Paul Collins were the first two questions... A sign of shorter, more to the point sports bulletins maybe? :rolleyes:

We can only hope :rolleyes:
He is the one thing that annoys me on Iano's show,
oh and the useless travel reports

OK so 2 things

Liam Byrne

Used to listen regularly.

Now listen to GO'C on 4fm

Switch back to Today to check if Antonio Savage is filling in for Ray.

Gift needs to realise that funny accents don't cut it.....when they've a good script they're great, but they're far too hit & miss and even hearing them via the promos or the repeats on Saturdays wouldn't encourage you to consider them worth tuning in to.

squonk

Liam Byrne wrote: »

Used to listen regularly.

Now listen to GO'C on 4fm

Switch back to Today to check if Antonio Savage is filling in for Ray.

Gift needs to realise that funny accents don't cut it.....when they've a good script they're great, but they're far too hit & miss and even hearing them via the promos or the repeats on Saturdays wouldn't encourage you to consider them worth tuning in to.

I'd moved on to GO'C myself. 100% agree on Gift Grub. In my view when the effort is put in and he's gone to the trouble of writing and recording a segment, I'll listen and give him plenty of credit, even if the sketch that particular day isn't all that great but at least the guy is getting off his ass and doing something. What I particularly hate is the lazy arse, pointless stuff like Daniel talking about Fair City or Big Brother... who the hell cares? Similarly going on about soccer. I couldn't give a hoot about soccer and I don't care if he's there in the studio voicing Stan talking to Iano about last night's latest match between whoever it was. It's just ****e and and not good radio.

Frankly they need to shut the hell up about Soaps, Soccer and David Bowie. I know Soaps and Soccer are popular and I'm not the demographic but for the rest of us, please just give it a bloody rest!

louise5754

I listen to Ian every morning and I enjoy his show. My sister however switched ages ago and when I asked why she said he always seemed to be braodcasting from somewhere foreign and it used to piss her off!! I thought about it and he does get a lot of holidays on the show!

squonk

louise5754 wrote: »

I listen to Ian every morning and I enjoy his show. My sister however switched ages ago and when I asked why she said he always seemed to be braodcasting from somewhere foreign and it used to piss her off!! I thought about it and he does get a lot of holidays on the show!

Oh you're right about that. I'd actually forgotten. That's spot on and whats worse, talking to John & Mary on their honeymoon in some far off clime makes for crap radio. Having Mario as Michael D interviewing and then writing a poem for John & Mary makes for even crappier radio. Playing clips from 'the craic in the bar the night before' makes for total crap radio. That Ski trip thing should be shelved. It's a complete junket and it's there to advertise whatever Ski company sponsors it, plus it's a complete pile of crap because punters queue up to buy the ski holidays for that week and Ian & co. get a free gig out of it.

I do remember once they did a National Council for the Blind ski trip I think which, while being fairly nauseating all the same, was actually a good thing to do but the rest of the junkets since then have been cack.

Gophur

ID Breakfast Show has had it's day.

Mario isn't funny any more.

Paul Collins is one annoying clown. Is it supposed to be "cool", or what, to insert random (or not) word, like "bainnistoir" into every buletin?

Too many annoying give-away competitions. Fun for whoever wins but not stuff one should have to endure/listen to each morning.

Mental Mickey

Gophur wrote: »

ID Breakfast Show has had it's day.

Mario isn't funny any more.

Paul Collins is one annoying clown. Is it supposed to be "cool", or what, to insert random (or not) word, like "bainnistoir" into every buletin?

Too many annoying give-away competitions. Fun for whoever wins but not stuff one should have to endure/listen to each morning.

:eek: Gerroutofit.

On the subject of Gift Grub, can anyone supply a link to the sketch that was played on "The Last Word" by Matt Cooper yesterday afternoon, I think it was? I caught the end of the sketch, but want to hear it again. Ta.

onway

I'm usually a big Ian Dempsey fan and listen to his Breakfast Show every morning but I was really fed-up with it this morning. He was broadcasting from Google HQ and it was just so un-interesting and completely irrelevant to probably most of the listeners....well, unless you were interested in getting a job in Google or just wanted to get jealous over their free food and chill-out areas and massage facilities etc etc.Sometimes they seem to forget on outside broadcasts that it is radio.....

Fran1985

squonk wrote: »

it's there to advertise whatever Ski company sponsors it, plus it's a complete pile of crap because punters queue up to buy the ski holidays for that week and Ian & co. get a free gig out of it.

kinda how it works alright. The company probably pay through the nose for it, and while i'm not a fan of Dempsey's show at all (does he use a different mic, cos it always sounds duller than the rest of the programs), he has huge listenership and the company get to reach a huge amount of people for the duration of the promotion. Advertising is the only thing to keep the station going so if a company shows up with 10-20-30-40k in their pocket and says lets go skiing, then you'll be dam sure the bosses aren't gona turn around and say "look actually it makes for **** radio so here's the phone number for 2FM, give them a call, they do **** radio all the time and will glady take your money". Unfortunately radio is all about the €€€ at the end of the day, much like any business

Skyrim

Does anybody know how many people are selected for the happy bank segment every morning? Thanks.

pauldoo

i just googled this and the tread came up. Recently started to drive to work again after 3 years and the radio show is the same oul ****e. between 8 and 9 we have the following,

Traffice
News
Sport

Takes up to about 8.15

Crap compeition
Gift grub

Then at 8.30

Traffice
News
Sport

thats till bout 8.45 then a couple of songs and thats it, im pretty sure 7-8 is the exactly the same show as 8-9. I dont know how he gets away with it. And the constant plugging of what ever the sponser is, like the last few weeks is the gift grub live show.Had to stop listening, listen to newstalk in the morning instead

Gophur

Gift Grub needs to move on. He's done his bit, he's stale.

Iano needs a new station. A complete an utter lack of originality in the show.

That_Guy

I've not listened in a while but does Ian still talk over the sports report at 8:30am

Used to really annoy me.

rossc007

Suddenly I feel un-cool for liking Gift Grub and Ian Dempsey. Tried Hector for a while, he's OK but gets under the skin the odd time with his fake laugh.

bubbaloo

I have to admit I think Gift Grub is great - Mario is very talented and still makes me laugh.
Ian however is a bit bland. He's just nicey nice and there's nothing exciting about him.
Having said that I can't even bear to hear Hector say the word "hello" and I can't be arsed with talky programmes in the morning, so what's the alternative?

prettygurrly

i'm still enjoying the ian dempsey show. i still love mario and have bought tix for gift grub two next may in drogheda. true it's the same format but it covers what i want to hear in the morning and i enjoy trivia quizzes. I must be in the majority cos his ratings are still great.

efb

Growed Up now, it's Morning Ireland all the way...

canonball5

Ian is really starting to Pi$$ me off plugging Gift Grub everyone second of the show.I heard on George Hook that he and Mario have put their own money into the show..

I also lost a lot of respect when he plugged the $hit out of Prince for weeks and the admitted he never even went to the dam show himself !!

squonk

canonball5 wrote: »

Ian is really starting to Pi$$ me off plugging Gift Grub everyone second of the show.I heard on George Hook that he and Mario have put their own money into the show..

I also lost a lot of respect when he plugged the $hit out of Prince for weeks and the admitted he never even went to the dam show himself !!

That's a bit of a vested interest if he's plugging something he's got a financial interest in through his show. On the other hand, I'm sure it could be 'accounted for' in that it's most likely MCD buying the plugs.

MCD must definitely be a silent show sponsor. As was said, he plugs the hell out of upcoming gigs and announces upcoming gigs long before the tickets go on sale. So, then, say there's a Prince gig coming up, there'll have to be a Prince song every morning. I'd be happier if it was the 'Ian Dempsey Breakfast Show sponsored by MCD and a list of other comapnies'.

The problem is that it's one big sponsorship cash cow and they've lost sight of turning out quality radio.

_feedback_

squonk wrote: »

That's a bit of a vested interest if he's plugging something he's got a financial interest in through his show. On the other hand, I'm sure it could be 'accounted for' in that it's most likely MCD buying the plugs.

MCD must definitely be a silent show sponsor. As was said, he plugs the hell out of upcoming gigs and announces upcoming gigs long before the tickets go on sale. So, then, say there's a Prince gig coming up, there'll have to be a Prince song every morning. I'd be happier if it was the 'Ian Dempsey Breakfast Show sponsored by MCD and a list of other comapnies'.

The problem is that it's one big sponsorship cash cow and they've lost sight of turning out quality radio.

He also did a countdown to Westlife tickets going on sale this morning, which was a bit obvious.

I like Ian, he seems like a nice guy. Not much of an alternative in the mornings if you don't want talk.

pauldoo

yeah heard that this morning, very obvious, now that it was mentioned above, he actually does that a lot

I tuned in to hear the gift grub this morning, it was one of the unfunniest things ive ever heard. A Joe Duffy skit with people phoning up about computers and using terms like floppy, zip, hard drive etc, awful ****e

Henwin

Ive been a fan of ian since he was on 2fm and i moved to todayfm in the morning when he moved. I enjoyed gift grub for the first few years. it was new, funny and original. that was then.
Now it is seriously boring. the whole show. Gift grub is not funny anymore. the sports goes on way too long for me and im a big sports fan.

Its constant promoting products. Worse than d apprentice!
Ian is a nice friendly chap but its needs a revamp. i went to a gift grub show in the inec in killarney last year. everything was rehashed stuff from the radio. nothing new. Its like someone telling you a joke, then a week later charging you 30 euro to hear the same joke. not funny.

Hector isnt an option, ivan yates on newstalk is cringworthy so i suppose its morning ireland or radio kerry for me from now on!

Dub Ste

Gophur wrote: »

Gift Grub needs to move on. He's done his bit, he's stale.

Iano needs a new station. A complete an utter lack of originality in the show.

The thing with Gift Grub now,reminds me of the recent storyline in Corrie,with Chesney and Schmiecel(spelling)????

Ches knows the oul dog is dying,but didn't want to put him out of his misery,eventually it got too much for the pooch,and he went to the big kennel in the sky......................................Sound familiar Iano???????

It's time for Gift to take a trip to the audio vet;)

mulphisto

Used to listen to this all the time and turn off when Paul (I'm hilarious) Collins came on.
But how the hell are they getting away with the constant plugging of GiftGrub Live!?

I flick around the stations a lot and I have yet to flick onto Ian Dempsey and not hear him plug it. They even had a GG sketch that plugged GG live!
Is there not some advertising rule they are breaking here?
So long Ian Dempsey, I know you legally own 20% of Mario's soul so I hope you are making a fortune, I can't blame you but I can't believe you are getting away with it.
Like a previous poster said, it's now just Sport, crap competitions (which are really just adverts), actual adverts and then Ian advertising Gift Grub.

Access

Its getting worse... Ian Dempsey is turning into Alan Partridge!!! - he seems clumsy on the air... talking over people and adverts... getting cues all wrong most of the time... always uncomfortable talking to people on air... which in turn makes the listener uncomfortable.

This morning, before handing off to the news at 9am, he stated that Lidl had sent him in one of their own brand perfumes, and that "he is now all set for christmas presents"... Plug Lidl why dont you.

Its like that scene in "Im Alan Partridge" where Alan keeps on plugging terrys chocolate oranges available from Rawlinsons on his radio show!

I tuned out long ago and went to newstalk but had to endure it this morning on the bus.

DuckStab

It doesn't help that at the end of every song we get a "BEAWWWWWW" or a "DAAAAAAAA" or some other replacement for the final few seconds that makes me wonder if he has lost his faculties.

LimeFruitGum

Oh man, they HAVE to get rid of the crappy Ben Dunne Monday joke slot!!

I enjoy Gift Grub, but other than that, Paul Collins gets to rabbit on too long, Ian is basically turning into Smashie & Nicey with all the David Bowie and endless plugging.

At the same time, there is no other breakfast show that appeals to me, other than Phantom's pure morning. The rest are either too zany & "down wiv da kidz" for me or too political (guess I'm not mature enough yet to appreciate Moaning Ireland).

heybaby

Yeah Paul Collins always sounds depressed and uninterested which isnt a good thing for a breakfast show. I do like dempsey but he could resist talking over songs and playing Louise duffys bed far too loud.

squonk

LimeFruitGum wrote: »

Oh man, they HAVE to get rid of the crappy Ben Dunne Monday joke slot!!

They don't still do that do they? Please tell me he doesn't still do 'Are you listening, bored housewives?' ? Christ that's so old if he does that I can barely remember the actual Ben Dunne gym ads at this stage.

That Joke Monday thing was always remarkably unfunny anyway. A crap joke doesn't suddenly turn hillarious just because Daniel, Roy or Michael D reads it out. FFS!!!!