Who will get the axe at 2fm ?

DR GOODMAN

Will the new boss be the man who gives Larry Gogan the boot after 50 years on air ?

endacl

Is Larry Gogan still around??

Is 2fm still around?!?!?

dpofloinn

Only the Grim Reaper will terminate Larry

endacl

dpofloinn wrote: »

Only the Grim Reaper will terminate Larry

Unless....... the Grim Reaper and Larry have never been seen in the same place at the same time!!

DR GOODMAN

Hector will surely have to go, they can't win back Dublin when their breakfast show sounds like something from killnaskully

dpofloinn

That station needs a good Stalinist style purge but its 2fm so all we will get is a half arsed re shuffle of the usual suspects

hufpc8w3adnk65

They'll prob just swap Colm and Tubs slots and announce "an exciting new line up " ha ha

Btr

MrMac84 wrote: »

They'll prob just swap Colm and Tubs slots and announce "an exciting new line up " ha ha

2fm can't be all things to all men and women and first task of Dan Healy is to decide where it's going and what audience. They've tried oldies and 20s and neither delivered and if JNLRs showed anything it's that inevitable has happened and 20s are not listening anymore (iPod generation) . Personally I'd drop talk shows and play music. If 20% obligation is still there they should fight tooth and nail for derogation ala Spin and Nova. As for sport , what's its doing on 2fm is beyond me .

Healy may be the man but he's an administrator and will need a PD like Bannister as previously suggested. As for dropping existing couldn't agree more but who to bring in Darcy, Miller or Foley for example - please god - no !

DR GOODMAN

I can imagine Tubs moving to breakfast and Hayes on 9-Midday

Skid X

dpofloinn wrote: »

That station needs a good Stalinist style purge but its 2fm so all we will get is a half arsed re shuffle of the usual suspects

If ever a station needed a complete purge it is 2FM. There are huge similarities with BBC Radio 1 when Matthew Bannister took over (with the notable difference that Radio 1 was still pulling in huge audiences)

In case anyone hasn't seen it, This documentary gives a good account of the Radio 1 Story ...

heybaby

Skid X wrote: »

If ever a station needed a complete purge it is 2FM. There are huge similarities with BBC Radio 1 when Matthew Bannister took over (with the notable difference that Radio 1 was still pulling in huge audiences)

In case anyone hasn't seen it, This documentary gives a good account of the Radio 1 Story ...

Excellent post, in fact the parallels are staggering, will the outcome be the same though ? ...

NIMAN

Gogan is older than time itself.

The new boss needs to grow a set and throw out a lot of trash.

wnolan1992

Hector, Tubs (move to R1 or Lyric), Hayes, and Gogan and Game On (move to R1) would immediately get the chop from the weekday schedule if it were me.

But really, it's all dependent on what 2FM wants to be. Does it want to be a Today FM competitor going for the 35's? A hodgepodge mix of talk and music? A fully music driven station? Or does it want to be a youth oriented station going for the teens and 20s focusing on breaking new music?

At the moment, I don't think they even know.

withless

Wheres the compassion?

Don't forget that these man have families.

wnolan1992

withless wrote: »

Don't forget that these man have families.

That doesn't mean they should be immune from redundancy if they're doing an incompetent job and hemorrhaging listeners.

Skid X

withless wrote: »

Wheres the compassion?

Don't forget that these man have families.

Nobody should go into Radio expecting to stay presenting on the same station for life. It is the nature of the industry that things change. It's not personal.

If 2FM had been run on a purely Commercial basis there would have been big changes long ago.

The resistance to change has caused the mess they are in now, you can't keep changing your target demographic while keeping mostly the same presenters. It looks and sounds phoney.

withless

Ah fer gods sake, wheres the compassion? Is this the kind of Ireland we want? Larry Gogan is a pensioner! He probably can only heat one room in his mansion!

heybaby

withless wrote: »

Wheres the compassion?

Don't forget that these man have families.

Compassion ? Really? for presenters long past their sell by date and getting paid massive money ?

Gogan has had it bloody good, he's been on air for 50 years, time to hang up the cans Larry.

Fanning has enjoyed a regular substantial wage for 30 years at the tax payers expense, Id say he is more than financially comfortable by now.

Colm hayes was well paid on fm104, although nothing compared to his salary on rte, in 2011 he was paid 213k, now if you bear in mind he has been with rte since Jan 2007, on those wages Hayes alone has earned over 1 million euros at the tax payers expense in 6 years for essentially talking into a microphone and being a poor man's Gerry Ryan. Compassion for a millionaire when local radio presenters are on as little as 20 quid an hour ? EH NO, i dont think so.

Tubs is Hayes by a factor of two in terms of cost. Tubs is a young man ,yet again already a millionaire and fairly obviously wants away from RTE to the BBC, i suggest RTE fulfil half of that wish, and get rid of him, see how quickly he ends up on the BBC then.

John Clarke ironically started off on the pirates yet forgot his anti-establishment past long ago. Theres a great youtube clip of Clarke talking about Radio Nova being anti-corporation and organic, you couldnt get more corporation than RTE. I enjoy the music on Clarke's show but there's nothing new about playing golden oldies on a Sunday, personally I'd ditch both Clarke and the golden oldies with the station. Clarke must be past 60, time for new blood.

Will leahey is a likeable chap but ive said it before, how can a fulltime solicitor genuinely prepare for a drive time show 5 days a week , its not possible and its notvalue for money especially considering he has a team of people to make up for his inability to prep each show. Last time i looked solicitors were blooody well paid. will doesnt need the money. His family would be well catered for on his solicitor salary alone id say.

I like hector but 2FM has become too 'country-oriented', to the point that it totally alienates Dublin listeners hence fm 104 and spin's success. Id take hector off 2fm and stick a neutral presenter that has neither a city or country biase. Breakfast is the most important show for gaining momentum through the day, despite his recent rise in the figures, Hector mate sorry you gotta go.

Personally I like Rick o Shea but not with a sidekick. Cormac Battle, another of John mc Mahons strokes of genius, is a pure annoyance and he just sounds like one of those tiny dogs that nips at your heels yelping for attention. Rick is an articulate intelligent bloke, he can do it alone.

Dan hegarty gets very little mention on these boards, he keeps himself to his alternative music playing self, and has done so for ten years in montrose having been poached from Phantom, perhaps a change of alternative dj is needed after a decade?

Jenny Greene has always been underused for me. At one point when Nikki Hayes was doimg the All Request Lunch , Jenny would cover for her and to be honest I preferred Jenny because she was a pure music radio dj that would throw in a bit of banter now and again rather than Nikki would always divulged far too much personal information about herself. Fill 2fm with music dj's with a splash of personality like Jenny Greene and I guarantee you RTE will win listeners from Red FM, Spin South West, FM 104 , Spin 1038, I radio etc

I say all of the above in the context of local / regional radio and the highly cut-throat nature that reserves no compassion for local presenters who earn 20 quid an hour with zero benefits let alone a pension.

Tombo2001

heybaby wrote: »

Compassion ? Really? for presenters long past their sell by date and getting paid massive money ?

Gogan has had it bloody good, he's been on air for 50 years, time to hang up the cans Larry.

Fanning has enjoyed a regular substantial wage for 30 years at the tax payers expense, Id say he is more than financially comfortable by now.

Colm hayes was well paid on fm104, although nothing compared to his salary on rte, in 2011 he was paid 213k, now if you bear in mind he has been with rte since Jan 2007, on those wages Hayes alone has earned over 1 million euros at the tax payers expense in 6 years for essentially talking into a microphone and being a poor man's Gerry Ryan. Compassion for a millionaire when local radio presenters are on as little as 20 quid an hour ? EH NO, i dont think so.

Tubs is Hayes by a factor of two in terms of cost. Tubs is a young man ,yet again already a millionaire and fairly obviously wants away from RTE to the BBC, i suggest RTE fulfil half of that wish, and get rid of him, see how quickly he ends up on the BBC then.

John Clarke ironically started off on the pirates yet forgot his anti-establishment past long ago. Theres a great youtube clip of Clarke talking about Radio Nova being anti-corporation and organic, you couldnt get more corporation than RTE. I enjoy the music on Clarke's show but there's nothing new about playing golden oldies on a Sunday, personally I'd ditch both Clarke and the golden oldies with the station. Clarke must be past 60, time for new blood.

Will leahey is a likeable chap but ive said it before, how can a fulltime solicitor genuinely prepare for a drive time show 5 days a week , its not possible and its notvalue for money especially considering he has a team of people to make up for his inability to prep each show. Last time i looked solicitors were blooody well paid. will doesnt need the money. His family would be well catered for on his solicitor salary alone id say.

I like hector but 2FM has become too 'country-oriented', to the point that it totally alienates Dublin listeners hence fm 104 and spin's success. Id take hector off 2fm and stick a neutral presenter that has neither a city or country biase. Breakfast is the most important show for gaining momentum through the day, despite his recent rise in the figures, Hector mate sorry you gotta go.

Personally I like Rick o Shea but not with a sidekick. Cormac Battle, another of John mc Mahons strokes of genius, is a pure annoyance and he just sounds like one of those tiny dogs that nips at your heels yelping for attention. Rick is an articulate intelligent bloke, he can do it alone.

Dan hegarty gets very little mention on these boards, he keeps himself to his alternative music playing self, and has done so for ten years in montrose having been poached from Phantom, perhaps a change of alternative dj is needed after a decade?

Jenny Greene has always been underused for me. At one point when Nikki Hayes was doimg the All Request Lunch , Jenny would cover for her and to be honest I preferred Jenny because she was a pure music radio dj that would throw in a bit of banter now and again rather than Nikki would always divulged far too much personal information about herself. Fill 2fm with music dj's with a splash of personality like Jenny Greene and I guarantee you RTE will win listeners from Red FM, Spin South West, FM 104 , Spin 1038, I radio etc

I say all of the above in the context of local / regional radio and the highly cut-throat nature that reserves no compassion for local presenters who earn 20 quid an hour with zero benefits let alone a pension.

This post does get me thinking....

Gender balance is an issue here.

(And on every other Radio station).....

cro mags

I wouldn't tweak the daytime too much. A move for tubs to R1 appears a more suitable scenario. I think the opportunity lies within the evening and weekend slots. A number of dj's and/or shows don't add anything to the station and more importantly don't add listeners. I'd like to see more underground shows.

Skid X

cro mags wrote: »

I wouldn't tweak the daytime too much.

Hugely overpaid presenters delivering terrible JNLR numbers - Daytime is exactly where the new regime needs to start.

Tombo2001

cro mags wrote: »

I wouldn't tweak the daytime too much. A move for tubs to R1 appears a more suitable scenario. I think the opportunity lies within the evening and weekend slots. A number of dj's and/or shows don't add anything to the station and more importantly don't add listeners. I'd like to see more underground shows.

Where would slot Tubs in at R1?

I would have John Murray ahead of him.....

Loafing Oaf

Tombo2001 wrote: »

Where would slot Tubs in at R1?

I would have John Murray ahead of him.....

I suggested elsewhere moving PK back to 9 and having a full-length 'lite' show between 11 and 1, with Tubs the most obvious host (Murray is hardly a sacred cow is he?).

I don't know what to do with 2FM, as the fella says I wouldn't start from here. In an ideal world R1 would be a combination of BBC4 & 5, and 2FM a BBC2, but I don't know if it's feasible for 2FM to do such a volte face at this stage. Whatever, as Pat Rabbitte once said of Fine Gael, any form of ideological clarity on the part of 2FM would be helpful, and preferable to the current mish-mash...

Deedsie

Larry Gogans goose is surely cooked? Imagine being a young up and coming DJ and being blocked by a man who has had an unbelievably successful but way to long career. It's not a personal thing, it's business... He just shouldn't be there any more.

Super Sprinter

2FM just needs a complete overhaul, it needs to follow the Spin/Beat/FM104 format and this is where it needs to source it's next generation of DJs too.

There are some very talented presenters on Spin South West, Spin Dublin, Beat FM, 98/104 etc and these are the people I think could turn 2FM around. If it rebranded itself as a hip youth station then it may have a chance.

Look at 2FM back in the day; young edgy presenters like Ian Dempsey, Dave Fanning, Gerry Ryan made it what it was. They weren't big names when 2FM started but they grew in popularity with a youth style and thus 2FM also grew in popularity. That is the road they need to go down now, they don't need so called big names like Tubs, Gogan etc who are good in their own right but not for a 2FM audience. It's the presenters making waves at the smaller but very successful regional stations that could take 2FM back to it's best.

I don't know much about this new boss who is coming in but hopefully he has what it takes to turn things around and make the big decisions. I think it would be great to see 2FM go back to the number 1 youth station in the country.

DR GOODMAN

DR GOODMAN wrote: »

Will the new boss be the man who gives Larry Gogan the boot after 50 years on air ?

wow Larry on air 50 years? miracle that seeing as 2fm opened in 1979

wnolan1992

Deleted User wrote: »

wow Larry on air 50 years? miracle that seeing as 2fm opened in 1979

There was a radio station before 2FM you know...

DR GOODMAN

DR GOODMAN wrote: »

Will the new boss be the man who gives Larry Gogan the boot after 50 years on air ?

wnolan1992 wrote: »

There was a radio station before 2FM you know...

Im aware of that my friend but the thread is specific to 2fm!

Tow

52 Years tomorrow, according to this http://ibhof.blogspot.ie/2012/08/larry-gogan.html

armchair fusilier

I'm afraid the JNLR figures for Larry are not that great There is a very obvious dip when he comes on and they pick up again when he goes off. A station that made a 5.4 million loss last year can't really afford to be overly sentimental. I assume he's not a contractor and has been employed directly by RTE for the last 52 years. If that's the case his pension entitlements must be fairly substantial - it is RTE after all.

wnolan1992

wnolan1992 wrote: »

That doesn't mean they should be immune from redundancy if they're doing an incompetent job and hemorrhaging listeners.

Is Larry Gogan haemorrhaging listeners? Last I heard he was still doing well.

About Will Leahy, I much prefer him to any of the other shows on at that time.

siblers

I'd have no compassion for Will leahy, the man is a solicitor and is jockeying one of the worst radio shows on national radio. It would be hard to have any sympathy for that Hayes fella either, on absolutley ridiculous money for doing a god awful job.

mikeym

Super Sprinter wrote: »

2FM just needs a complete overhaul, it needs to follow the Spin/Beat/FM104 format and this is where it needs to source it's next generation of DJs too.

There are some very talented presenters on Spin South West, Spin Dublin, Beat FM, 98/104 etc and these are the people I think could turn 2FM around. If it rebranded itself as a hip youth station then it may have a chance.

Look at 2FM back in the day; young edgy presenters like Ian Dempsey, Dave Fanning, Gerry Ryan made it what it was. They weren't big names when 2FM started but they grew in popularity with a youth style and thus 2FM also grew in popularity. That is the road they need to go down now, they don't need so called big names like Tubs, Gogan etc who are good in their own right but not for a 2FM audience. It's the presenters making waves at the smaller but very successful regional stations that could take 2FM back to it's best.

I don't know much about this new boss who is coming in but hopefully he has what it takes to turn things around and make the big decisions. I think it would be great to see 2FM go back to the number 1 youth station in the country.

I agree with you 100%. 2fm could learn a few things from the regional radio stations.

dublin_Horse

Larry has never been a staff member at RTE. He has always been on contract so therefore has no pension entitlements at RTÉ. Same with Pat, Tubs, Ronan collins etc

elvis jones

2Fm needs to find its market before it makes any changes. Does it go for youth, a more mature market or Radio 1 lite.

In BBC terms is it Radio 1, Radio 2 or Radio 4.

I think moving towards a BBC Radio 2 model aiming for 30 to 45 year olds is the best option. Iradio etc have the youth market, Radio 1, Lyric and rural regional have the older generations.

So that leaves the "middle" that only Today Fm seems to be aiming at.

Decide on your demographic and then your line up is easier to make up when you know who you are aiming at.

For me the breakfast show is rubbish, Tubs is 70 yrs old ( in his head ), Hayes is zzzzzz, larry has to go, the current sports show is a bore and parts of the weekend are so bad i'd rather listen to michael graham podcasts.

One pair that seems to growing numbers are Ruth & Paddy so i'd move them to breakfast 7 to 10.

I'd nick Moncrieff and put him on 10 to 12.

Now finding someone before Rick is the problem for me and i can't think of anyone but Jenny Greene was mentioned and wouldn't be bad at all. But i'd like KC in there, i like him.

I'd leave Rick & Leahy there.

Now i'd put in the guys who left off the ball in there instead of the current sports show.

Then from 10 onwards meh

Super Sprinter

elvis jones wrote: »

I think moving towards a BBC Radio 2 model aiming for 30 to 45 year olds is the best option. Iradio etc have the youth market, Radio 1, Lyric and rural regional have the older generations.

Let's be honest 2FM would crush the likes of iradio and other regional stations if they put their mind to it. They have the resources to do it ten times over but just don't seem to have the brains running the operation to do it.

All they need to do it adopt the right policy and get the presenters from the stations who are doing well; both Spin stations, 104FM, Beat etc etc. Those presenters might slag 2FM off now but the regional stations can't pay the money that RTE can so they would all jump ship to 2FM without a moments thought I think

They need to sort out their music policy too, it's all over the place at the moment and surely there is no place for the golden hour in this day and age.

heybaby

Super Sprinter wrote: »

Let's be honest 2FM would crush the likes of iradio and other regional stations if they put their mind to it. They have the resources to do it ten times over but just don't seem to have the brains running the operation to do it.

All they need to do it adopt the right policy and get the presenters from the stations who are doing well; both Spin stations, 104FM, Beat etc etc. Those presenters might slag 2FM off now but the regional stations can't pay the money that RTE can so they would all jump ship to 2FM without a moments thought I think

They need to sort out their music policy too, it's all over the place at the moment and surely there is no place for the golden hour in this day and age.

While i would agree with adopting a spin / fm 104 music policy I dont believe that adopting their presenters' presenting format would work nationally. Spins links are often speed links with some lasting a maximum of ten seconds, FM104's links always start with a strap line and often incorporate a reference to a sponsor , lasting up to ten seconds before the dj even back announces a song and artist before name checking the website or cross selling another show on the station, my point is neither spin nor fm104 has much dj personality, you have to have this on a national. Look at BBC radio 1, Fearne Cotton , Scott Mills , greg james will all chat to the listener about their own lives in some small way during several links per show in order to connect with the listener, this never happens on fm 104 outside of breakfast.

flutered

hopefully the lot of them, it is a retirement village, not a well run, customer focused, never mind profit driven organisation.

westmidlands

heybaby wrote: »

Jenny Greene has always been underused for me. At one point when Nikki Hayes was doimg the All Request Lunch , Jenny would cover for her and to be honest I preferred Jenny because she was a pure music radio dj that would throw in a bit of banter now and again rather than Nikki would always divulged far too much personal information about herself. Fill 2fm with music dj's with a splash of personality like Jenny Greene and I guarantee you RTE will win listeners from Red FM, Spin South West, FM 104 , Spin 1038, I radio etc

I totally agree about Jenny Greene, I think she is the best DJ on Irish radio currently and such a pity to only hear her on the air around the weekends.

Personally I just don't bother with Irish Radio at all any more, and I would be a big radio listener. I now just stream BBC Radio 1 from the UK. My local station Galway Bay FM cater for a younger audience better than 2FM. The station needs a total and utter clear out and rebuild or they should forget about a younger audience altogether.

Such a pity there is no proper national radio service for 15-30 year olds in Ireland. The likes of IRadio, Beat, Red FM and Spin are the UK equivalent of Capital FM and stick quiet close to the top 40. No equivalent of BBC Radio 1 which is a bit more adventurous in its music choice and gives a lot of opportunities to new music. Would it be so hard to have an equivalent of 'BBC Introducing...' over here?

OU812

Most 2FM presenters would have signed new contracts in the last year or two. I wonder are there any play or pay implications?

elvis jones

OU812 wrote: »

Most 2FM presenters would have signed new contracts in the last year or two. I wonder are there any play or pay implications?

Do you not remember the whole tony fenton thing when he was on a rolling 30 day contract at RTE

hufpc8w3adnk65

What happened then with Fenton?

elvis jones

MrMac84 wrote: »

What happened then with Fenton?

He left and went to Today FM where he was given a longer contract and more stable employment.

hufpc8w3adnk65

elvis jones wrote: »

He left and went to Today FM where he was given a longer contract and more stable employment.

Was he on 2fm one day and today fm the next?

elvis jones

MrMac84 wrote: »

Was he on 2fm one day and today fm the next?

Now that i can't rememer, i think he took an extended break of over a year before starting on Today FM.

I do know that the rolling contract was one of the main reasons he left.

gavindowd

The likes of 104 & SPIN have taken the younger listeners, and don't expect those listeners to come flocking over to 2fm if they changed format...

Skid X

You can take you pick from these stories about Tony Fenton.

He was either a) going to launch a new station b) moving into production or c) another story at the time was that he was planning to produce and present his own show and sell it to the Local Stations. Jim Corr was to have been involved in that one.

Tony Fenton's departure from RTÉ's national pop station 2FM was not an amicable one, according to a gossip- column in today's Ireland on Sunday. Station controller John Clarke attempted to force a format change on Tony, according to the paper. At the time, it appeared that Tony was leaving the station on good terms, but he was apparently given the choice of changing his show to include more 'public service' elements or be relegated to a weekend slot at the station.

The article also revealed that Tony was only ever on a rolling 3 month contract, with his position at the station facing review four times a year.
Light is also shed on Tony's future plans. According to the newspaper, Fenton - along with popstar Jim Corr - is planning to apply for a licence to run a station of his own.

Tony Fenton, who today voiced his last link on 2FM, will not be joining another radio station. Speaking to the Evening Herald, Tony's agent says that Tony will be taking 'a backroom role and will help to make independent radio shows'.

http://www.radiowaves.fm/old/news/2003/March.shtml

elvis jones

Yeah he was involved with Corr in the few things, including the failed attempt to win a radio licence.

chef without a plane

gavindowd wrote: »

The likes of 104 & SPIN have taken the younger listeners, and don't expect those listeners to come flocking over to 2fm if they changed format...

I believe there is a desire for 2fm to become something akin to BBC radio 1, and that the key demographic would follow if RTE were to attempt such a thing. It already has an abundance of new talent to harvest already producing shows on its digital stations, and some of those shows are better than anything on their FM stations currently.

Would be great to have a national music orientated station aiming toward a more youthful demographic. Time will tell I guess?

withless

Showbands!

Eunan Plumb

Skid X wrote: »

Nobody should go into Radio expecting to stay presenting on the same station for life. It is the nature of the industry that things change. It's not personal.

If 2FM had been run on a purely Commercial basis there would have been big changes long ago.

The resistance to change has caused the mess they are in now, you can't keep changing your target demographic while keeping mostly the same presenters. It looks and sounds phoney.

Hit the nail on the head there buddy....thats just the problem...look at Gaybo ..look at Fanning...look at Gogan FFS.

This station has no direction...whoever put that idiot Hector on a morning prime time slot need his/her head examined.

Bogger radio....... presided over by a one trick pony.

Much needs to be done !