Tony Fenton's Producer

heybaby

Why on god's green earth does Tony Fenton need a producer? His show is a 2 hour music show peppered with texts , the daily download feature and a couple of observations about pop culture and the odd competition, I cannot for the life of me understand why he needs a producer. Is it because he is a name in the business? Is it because Today fm have the money to employ a producer where other local / regional stations cant afford a similar indulgence for a music show ? Im all for giving people opportunities in a recession in a tough business but this is just an abject waste of money. The practice is similar in rte where practically all 2fm shows have producers, utter nonsense and unnecessary.

spank_inferno

I assume it was the same producer doing the previous show(s) and possibly the shows that follow.

Its not just about Fenton's slot.

heybaby

spank_inferno wrote: »

I assume it was the same producer doing the previous show(s) and possibly the shows that follow.

Its not just about Fenton's slot.

Yes thats probably the case but still doesnt explain why an experienced presenter of 30plus years needs 'help' from a producer . Tony clearly picks his own music and loading roughly 24 songs into master control would take an hour max. Still see no need for a producer whether dedicated specifically to Tony's show or not.

GSF

I thought producers were there to keep presenters ego's in check.

wnolan1992

spank_inferno wrote: »

I assume it was the same producer doing the previous show(s) and possibly the shows that follow.

Its not just about Fenton's slot.

No. Each show has their own producer.

Ray D'Arcy has Will and Mairead (not sure which is the producer).
KC has Adele.
Cooper probably has a team.

As I understand it, the producer is there to make sure the show runs smoothly. Preparing questions for quizzes, doing research, getting the details of competition winners, preparing a running order and making sure he sticks to it.

I'd imagine it'd be rare to find a show on national radio that doesn't have a producer.

LeakyGee

heybaby wrote: »

Why on god's green earth does Tony Fenton need a producer? His show is a 2 hour music show peppered with texts , the daily download feature and a couple of observations about pop culture and the odd competition, I cannot for the life of me understand why he needs a producer. Is it because he is a name in the business? Is it because Today fm have the money to employ a producer where other local / regional stations cant afford a similar indulgence for a music show ? Im all for giving people opportunities in a recession in a tough business but this is just an abject waste of money. The practice is similar in rte where practically all 2fm shows have producers, utter nonsense and unnecessary.

You're obviously someone who has an interest in radio but may not have actually worked in radio.

His producer would have to sort promotions, deal with winners, book live acts, research guests, get audio drops for features, get callers on air, go to meetings about show planning, write scripts & make tae.

All of these tasks are vital for a show. And, a prime time show on national radio with only two people on it is nothing !!!

D'arcy has 7 people on the show inc himself.

Will, Mairead , Jenny, Pam, Roisin, Siobhan .... Thats why its the biggest show on independent radio.

highlydebased

wnolan1992 wrote: »

No. Each show has their own producer.

Ray D'Arcy has Will and Mairead (not sure which is the producer).
KC has Adele.
Cooper probably has a team.

As I understand it, the producer is there to make sure the show runs smoothly. Preparing questions for quizzes, doing research, getting the details of competition winners, preparing a running order and making sure he sticks to it.

I'd imagine it'd be rare to find a show on national radio that doesn't have a producer.

In some stations the same producer works with a couple of shows

There are assistant producers/broadcast assistants in many circumstances too

Horse84

LeakyGee wrote: »

His producer would have to sort promotions, deal with winners, book live acts, research guests, get audio drops for features, get callers on air, go to meetings about show planning, write scripts & make tae.

All of these tasks are vital for a show. And, a prime time show on national radio with only two people on it is nothing !!!

So what the hell does tony do?? ;-)

Synode

Horse84 wrote: »

So what the hell does tony do?? ;-)

Spends hours making up stupid cockney rhyming slang

SNORBEAST

You're the winnnnneeeeeerrrrrrr

Horse84

Get in theeerrrrrrre!!!!

SNORBEAST

Tony's d d d d d d daily download.................

heybaby

LeakyGee wrote: »

You're obviously someone who has an interest in radio but may not have actually worked in radio.

His producer would have to sort promotions, deal with winners, book live acts, research guests, get audio drops for features, get callers on air, go to meetings about show planning, write scripts & make tae.

All of these tasks are vital for a show. And, a prime time show on national radio with only two people on it is nothing !!!

D'arcy has 7 people on the show inc himself.

Will, Mairead , Jenny, Pam, Roisin, Siobhan .... Thats why its the biggest show on independent radio.

I have more than a passing interest in radio. Promotions will be sourced by the sales team, not Tony. A script or mechanic for the promotions will most likely be written by the sales team in conjunction with the client, sometimes it may be left up to the dj but more often than not it isnt, especially if its a big prize.

Dealing with winners involves a phone call, absolutely no reason why Tony couldnt do it himself.

Having listened to is show on a daily basis for a while, its apparent that live acts are a rarity, so researching acts and booking them would be far from time consuming and not beyond the remit a music dj.

Getting audio drops would involve knowledge of cool edit, a prerequisite for any dj.

Getting callers on air is again a prerequisite for a music dj, zero necessity for a producer unless you have more callers than lines on the studio phone.

Meetings about the show would be attended by the dj. And writing scripts? not sure what scripts you're referring to here, Tony seems to rely on a plethora of radio crutches when linking, i hardly think Tony puts that much planning into his links that necessitates script writing.

Again I reiterate what I said, Today fm simply put, indulge Tony by providing him with a producer because they can afford one for for him not because he needs one. If Tony was working for a local / regional station he would be doing absolutely everything himself and for no extra money.

ofcork

Some producers also present and fill in such as alan mcquillan on 2fm.

Pat2107

Alan McQuillan isn't a producer. He operates the desk at Montrose whilst DJ are live from the roadcaster/ regional studios/ Dundrum Town Centre. Also is a fill in presenter!

leggo

...it's a commercial station. They can spend their money as they like and succeed or fail based on how they spend it. This isn't RTÉ were they're spending public money: if it's a 'waste', then it's their own money to waste. What's the problem, exactly?

soc160

heybaby wrote: »

I have more than a passing interest in radio. Promotions will be sourced by the sales team, not Tony. A script or mechanic for the promotions will most likely be written by the sales team in conjunction with the client, sometimes it may be left up to the dj but more often than not it isnt, especially if its a big prize.

Dealing with winners involves a phone call, absolutely no reason why Tony couldnt do it himself.

Having listened to is show on a daily basis for a while, its apparent that live acts are a rarity, so researching acts and booking them would be far from time consuming and not beyond the remit a music dj.

Getting audio drops would involve knowledge of cool edit, a prerequisite for any dj.

Getting callers on air is again a prerequisite for a music dj, zero necessity for a producer unless you have more callers than lines on the studio phone.

Meetings about the show would be attended by the dj. And writing scripts? not sure what scripts you're referring to here, Tony seems to rely on a plethora of radio crutches when linking, i hardly think Tony puts that much planning into his links that necessitates script writing.

Again I reiterate what I said, Today fm simply put, indulge Tony by providing him with a producer because they can afford one for for him not because he needs one. If Tony was working for a local / regional station he would be doing absolutely everything himself and for no extra money.

You obviously have an opinion on this, but more people will disagree with you than agree here.

Tony is there to present and keep the listeners entertained, the producer will screen the texts for suitable ones and possible callers on air. The producer will also work behind the scenes when Tony is not there booking acts, rarely would a presenter be dealing with bookings and guests, they might well suggest them but the producer will book them.

Of course meetings would be attended by the presenter, but the producer is the one providing the content for that, going through the running order and making sure it goes smoothly.

As for the fact he would be doing this for himself if he was working on a local or regional station, well that's a lie. In Dublin alone, Dermot & Dave have a producer, Ray Foley has a producer, Joe and Keith Have a producer, Strawberry Alarm Clock have a producer, Fm104 Phoneshow has a producer and a researcher along with someone on the phones, Q102's talkshow has a producer to name a few.

I understand that Tony is doing a music show and might not need one, but the anyone listening his show is obviously more than that, he regularly has guests and callers on, something most generic music shows dont have and thus need a producer for.

Also to add to this, Todayn Fm share offices with other stations, so it is quite possible that the producer works on other stuff within the stations.

gavindowd

soc160 wrote: »

Also to add to this, Todayn Fm share offices with other stations, so it is quite possible that the producer works on other stuff within the stations.

True, remember that 98fm have a crime correspondant. She can't just be reporting on crime....

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