BANDSCAN THREAD

radioguru02

I am by no means on the defence, I don’t listen to FM Radio at all really. But I do not believe that Fm radio is a dead medium just yet
OK, it is falling into decline fast with people under 25, you must remember how many people just turn on their cars and leave on the same station all day long

Radio fan 88.1

Declan A Walsh wrote: »

Extreme FM used to be on 107.1. I thought Club FM now on 107.1 was the same station, not Kiss FM.

Extreme, kiss,pure, the vibe are all the same crew extreme was run by a few people before it ended on 107.1 i believe its one guy kept Extreme computer that is linked to the kiss crew from time to time.
Put it this way they need to get a job and stay away from the band because non of them have a breeze what there doing.

And if its true about Knox on doors it should be them they seem to have no respect for other operators and there only a Parasite to the band without a brain between them they are muppets that no one is listening too.

seenn00J

I miss listening to club fm and easy radio (strange combination I know) in the car over the last few days.

Infoanon

Sunnyboy11 wrote: »

Turbocab is spot on with everything he has commented on, FM is dead and almost buried here in Ireland. Very little people listen to FM whether it is legal or otherwise and that’s it whether you like it or not.

Facts - 81% of the population listen to radio in Ireland daily.
The vast majority of that listening is done via FM.
If you look at the UK Internet / on line listenetship is 8%.
On line numbers in Ireland are very low.

FM is king in Ireland - why else would a pirate put a FM transmitter on....

Sunnyboy11

Infoanon wrote: »

Facts - 81% of the population listen to radio in Ireland daily.
The vast majority of that listening is done via FM.
If you look at the UK Internet / on line listenetship is 8%.
On line numbers in Ireland are very low.

FM is king in Ireland - why else would a pirate put a FM transmitter on....

I don’t agree , have a look at how many people have a mobile phone with internet access and also have a look at how many people that have Alexia etc etc. listening to online radio The choice goes on and on and on. I will agree there are a small number of people that listen to FM, but the choice of FM stations that play what people want to hear is very poor particularly in Dublin. All you get is the same 200 songs day day out, that’s why people go listening to internet radio a massive choice of music from around the world.

tiswasfan

Infoanon wrote: »

Facts - 81% of the population listen to radio in Ireland daily.
The vast majority of that listening is done via FM.
If you look at the UK Internet / on line listenetship is 8%.
On line numbers in Ireland are very low.

FM is king in Ireland - why else would a pirate put a FM transmitter on....

While I agree a large percentile listen to 'radio' I question the definition and percentile of FM listeners. Almost all mobile phone devices have no FM tuner, no tablets I know of have FM tuners. They all have 'radio-esque' apps though...

Take a look at the listenership figures of You tube, Spotify and Apple music -

Eminem Godzilla ft Juice WRLD - 197 million youtube listens since March 2020
Future Life is good (feat Drake) - 669 million youtube listens since Jan 2020
Roddy Ricch The Box - 188 million youtube listens since March 2020

“Today’s Top Hits” Spotify playlist is followed by 26 million people (April 2020)
Spotify quarterly revenue in Q1 2020 stood at €1.85 billion ($2 billion), €1.7 billion ($1.84 billion) of which came from Spotify Premium subscribers.
There were 286 million monthly active users of Spotify according to the company’s Q1 2020 report. Of these, 130 million were Spotify Premium subscribers.

Apple Music reports above 68 million subscribers end-2019 and growing....

THIS is the big picture, this is where the ears go to listen, mainstream radio is circling the drain, future is non-linear and AI-curated personalised playlists - FACT

And now.... back to Friday Night 80s on NOVA, or Classic Hits (where a classic doesn't need to be old......)

TallGlass2

FM is still king in most cars/vans/trucks. However the IOTs will really wipe the floor with FM, it's doomed if you ask me. If I was a legal I would be hoping for decent pirate stations to come on board to bring more listeners to the platform. That been said, it seems legals complain more on that front as they don't see it the way I do.

The more stations to flick around on FM the better the chance of landing the listener on an FM station, rather then have them switch over to an IOT device.

IOT = Internet of Things for example a Mobile Data enabled in car entertainment system capable of Spotify, YouTube Music, Google Music etc..

As a side note, you can see IOTs rocking the core FM platform. As the likes of Global Radio (Capital FM) implementing Geo Blocking. Something 4/5 years ago was never even considered by any radio stations broadcasting online as a problem as the main stay was the FM brand. Now online [FM] is just as big and licencing rights are coming into play. However that's another conversation.

Declan A Walsh

I picked up the following stations this evening on the traditional (!) car radio this evening, driving around south Dublin,

FM:
91.0 - Hot FM (could not get an RDS)
99.5 - Relay of Energy Power
102.5 - Kiss FM (could not get an RDS, so it could be called something else now, seeing as it has changed names before)

MW:
1395 kh - Energy (Power) AM (what else?!)

I think they are unlikely to get a knock on the door Saturday evening, and even less likely tomorrow (Sunday), so maybe there will be a couple more tomorrow.

hustlergraham

TallGlass2 wrote: »

FM is still king in most cars/vans/trucks. However the IOTs will really wipe the floor with FM, it's doomed if you ask me. If I was a legal I would be hoping for decent pirate stations to come on board to bring more listeners to the platform. That been said, it seems legals complain more on that front as they don't see it the way I do.

The more stations to flick around on FM the better the chance of landing the listener on an FM station, rather then have them switch over to an IOT device.

IOT = Internet of Things for example a Mobile Data enabled in car entertainment system capable of Spotify, YouTube Music, Google Music etc..

As a side note, you can see IOTs rocking the core FM platform. As the likes of Global Radio (Capital FM) implementing Geo Blocking. Something 4/5 years ago was never even considered by any radio stations broadcasting online as a problem as the main stay was the FM brand. Now online [FM] is just as big and licencing rights are coming into play. However that's another conversation.

On the note of online radio licencing, I think the PPI are the body who look after that here. I know a couple of Irish online only stations they hounded a few years back informing them they must buy a licence etc... Most of them don't make any money at all.

However, they eventually gave up. PRS For Music in the UK is a bit more strict I believe.

JDxtra

Declan A Walsh wrote: »

I picked up the following stations this evening on the traditional (!) car radio this evening, driving around south Dublin,

FM:
91.0 - Hot FM (could not get an RDS)
99.5 - Relay of Energy Power
102.5 - Kiss FM (could not get an RDS, so it could be called something else now, seeing as it has changed names before)

MW:
1395 kh - Energy (Power) AM (what else?!)

I think they are unlikely to get a knock on the door Saturday evening, and even less likely tomorrow (Sunday), so maybe there will be a couple more tomorrow.

There is no RDS on 102.5 currently. I couldn't get RDS in the house today either on Hot - but the signal didn't seem as strong as normal so I just put it down to that. Will check tomorrow.

For 99.5, is that still a relay of the AM signal? I believe this is also mono with no RDS.

Declan A Walsh

JDxtra wrote: »

There is no RDS on 102.5 currently. I couldn't get RDS in the house today either on Hot - but the signal didn't seem as strong as normal so I just put it down to that. Will check tomorrow.

For 99.5, is that still a relay of the AM signal? I believe this is also mono with no RDS.

I'm not technically-minded at all (as regards radio) but I think you are right about 99.5. It does not appear to be in stereo. It was reasonably good quality around Clonskeagh and Stillorgan Road (near UCD) areas. Around Dundrum and Ballinteer, the quality was not great and it was much better on Medium Wave.

Infoanon

Declan A Walsh wrote: »

I'm not technically-minded at all (as regards radio) but I think you are right about 99.5. It does not appear to be in stereo. It was reasonably good quality around Clonskeagh and Stillorgan Road (near UCD) areas. Around Dundrum and Ballinteer, the quality was not great and it was much better on Medium Wave.

99.5 is in stereo - it's not a relay of AM (ie it's not doing a Nova ) , there is no processing on the audio

Dipole Keith

That signal on 102.5 is much weaker than the transmitter that was on there last week called Kiss FM, I wonder what play out system they are using it’s quite ruff with song crossovers, No RDS the stereo light keeps flicking which indicates that the audio is on the high side.

Hot FM RDS working away on 91.0

TheBMG

Currently in Kildare Village. There’s a station on 95.1 playing 90s love songs without ID plus another rig on 96.0 with an almighty hum on it

end of the road

TheBMG wrote: »

Currently in Kildare Village. There’s a station on 95.1 playing 90s love songs without ID plus another rig on 96.0 with an almighty hum on it

96.0 may be inner city country.
95.1 may be inner city gold but i think that is actually supposed to be on 95.3, so 95.1 might be another station.

Declan A Walsh

end of the road wrote: »

96.0 may be inner city country.
95.1 may be inner city gold but i think that is actually supposed to be on 95.3, so 95.1 might be another station.

Does Inner City Country reach that far? It can barely be picked up near Churchtown.

This afternoon I picked up Energy Power AM on 1395 kh Medium Wave and relayed on 99.5 FM at the Dublin end of Bray. It was coming in great on 1395 and improved on 99.5 as I drove towards Shankill.

Sunnyboy11

Dipole Keith wrote: »

That signal on 102.5 is much weaker than the transmitter that was on there last week called Kiss FM, I wonder what play out system they are using it’s quite ruff with song crossovers, No RDS the stereo light keeps flicking which indicates that the audio is on the high side.

Hot FM RDS working away on 91.0[/doing

Sunnyboy11

Sunnyboy11 wrote: »

Dipole Keith wrote: »

That signal on 102.5 is much weaker than the transmitter that was on there last week called Kiss FM, I wonder what play out system they are using it’s quite ruff with song crossovers, No RDS the stereo light keeps flicking which indicates that the audio is on the high side.

Hot FM RDS working away on 91.0[/doing

Sunnyboy11

Sunnyboy11 wrote: »

Sunnyboy11 wrote: »

The signal on 102.5 fm is poor and the audio sounds terrible. I don’t think these guys know what they are doing. Do us all a favour and switch off so as to bring thIs embarrassment to an end.

tiswasfan

Sunnyboy11 wrote: »

Sunnyboy11 wrote: »

The signal on 102.5 fm is poor and the audio sounds terrible. I don’t think these guys know what they are doing. Do us all a favour and switch off so as to bring thIs embarrassment to an end.

Fresh FM doing a Lazarus job on 102.5?

TheBMG

end of the road wrote: »

96.0 may be inner city country.
95.1 may be inner city gold but i think that is actually supposed to be on 95.3, so 95.1 might be another station.

Not Inner City out in Kildare Village for sure

Sunnyboy11

tiswasfan wrote: »

Sunnyboy11 wrote: »

Fresh FM doing a Lazarus job on 102.5?

If that be the case that if it’s Fresh FM I now understand why the whole set up is rubbish from what I have been listening too. Absolute muck

castle2012

Sunnyboy11 wrote: »

tiswasfan wrote: »

If that be the case that if it’s Fresh FM I now understand why the whole set up is rubbish from what I have been listening too. Absolute muck

Ah no. What is wrong with these guys

tiswasfan

To be fair, if Fresh tests on a new frequency for a few more years they might get the hang of it. They've even got shiny new antennas apparently

TAFKAlawhec

turbocab wrote: »

I would say Fm is not far behind,ask any 18 to 30 year ild do they listen to fm radio,I know from that age group in work they dont listento fm at all . the smartphne has killed fm radio for the younger generation,even the high end smartphones dropped the fm tuner on them.The commerical stations chasing the younger audiences are wasting ther e time ,

Just because the under 30 y.o. demographic holds little to no interest in linear radio doesn't mean that FM - or any linear programming - will disappear any time soon IMHO. Those that are older are still listening to such stations, not to mention that while generic popular music led stations don't have much of a bright future ahead of them in terms of broadcasting, more specialist focused stations - in particular those for whom a non-linear schedule would appear to be a worse or at least a more awkward format to produce, that are appealing to a demographic whom grew up "tuning that dial" are still going out there - in the UK this can be seen with "spin off" stations featuring decades (Absolute, Heart) and narrower genres (Magic, Virgin) while there are still recently launched stations in the form of Scala (light classical) and Times Radio. Of course, the radio broadcasting environments in Ireland and the UK aren't exactly alike for various reasons, but I think it would be foolish to write off linear radio in either jurisdiction for a good while yet. Indeed a lot of this can be seen on this thread concerning pirate stations in Dublin - I remember 20 years ago many of them focused on a youth & young adult audience; today, a good amount of them are still focused on that same audience that are now 20 years older - those aiming for that same age range from the late 90's/early 00's now in 2020 are largely wasting their time.

It's just like everything else when it comes to dissemination via the media, linear radio - and the same with podcasts - is only one means to an end of reaching an audience. And linear radio still has in its advantage a potential level of immediacy & intimacy with its audience that the likes of weekly podcasts, AI playlist generators & print newspapers either cannot or have struggled to capture. This doesn't have to be achieved with standard broadcasting, but it helps those where the entry to such a platform is limited compared to IP delivery.

JDxtra

Band scan from Liffey Valley...

91.0 HOT FM
94.1 Dance, no station ID (very weak)
98.9 80S (local only)
99.5 RetroNow
102.5 Dance, no station ID (mono, no RDS)
104.2 Storm NE
105.7 DISCO (local only)

JDxtra

...and now there's also a tone on 99.5.

Declan A Walsh

JDxtra wrote: »

Band scan from Liffey Valley...

91.0 HOT FM
94.1 Dance, no station ID (very weak)
98.9 80S (local only)
99.5 RetroNow
102.5 Dance, no station ID (mono, no RDS)
104.2 Storm NE
105.7 DISCO (local only)

JDxtra wrote: »

...and now there's also a tone on 99.5.

RetroNow does not seem to be having much luck with its choice of frequencies lately. Why did it not stay on 93.2 where it was recently?

Most of those on today are low-powered stations, apart from Hot FM and possibly whatever is on 102.5. Storm NE is of course not a Dublin pirate. All the other citywide pirates are keeping their heads down for the moment. Over the weekend, Energy Power AM and its relay were on.

JDxtra

Interesting to see that both Today FM and Classic Hits are using RT+ (Radio Text Plus) in their FM broadcasts.

For example, this allows artist & track title to be sent in a better way to receivers. It will split artist and title onto separate lines on an in-car display. This is better than sending it as part of the normal radio text data.

Example...




I'm not a fan of the way FM104 fill the radio text with a repeat of the artist/track name...

radioguru02

https://ibhof.blogspot.com/2020/07/revealed-worlds-largest-pirate-radio.html?spref=fb&m=1
An interesting article on the Catholic Church’s use of the radio bands