IBI wants Oireachtas committee to investigate 2FM

RadioRetro

The IBI's demanding the Dail Communications Committee investigate 2FM about it's "public service broadcasting" claims and finances.

Evan DietrichSmith

Might be no harm.

Infoanon

RadioRetro wrote: »

The IBI's demanding the Dail Communications Committee investigate 2FM about it's "public service broadcasting" claims and finances.

IBI not doing themselves any favours with this kind of nonsense - reminds me of TV3 and their complaints about RTE.

Jhcx

I dont blame them. I never understood what 2FM do. Its more talking than music either needs to be investigated and revamped to a BBC Radio 1 styling or Closed. imo. Not that it bothers me but its just loosing a ton of money. and producing nothing.

eiresandra

Infoanon wrote: »

IBI not doing themselves any favours with this kind of nonsense - reminds me of TV3 and their complaints about RTE.

What do 2FM do that can't be heard (at least at the same standard if not higher) in the independent sector? Why should the public pay 13 million for it when they have chosen not to listen to it?

I can understand us paying for Lyric despite it's tiny audience. If it wasn't there, people who like that kind of thing would have no service. But 2FM? You're having a laugh.

Rabelais

They might as well just turn it into RTE Gold at this stage. I believe in the remit of a public service broadcaster, but 2FM isn't serving any community at this stage. The independents are knocking out hours of mainstream music, and even they are feeling the pinch against the online streaming and music selection services. The era of the 'Jock' reading out requests, trying to be spontaneous and playing chart music is on the way out.

More Music

Meh.

Dan Healy is the boss of 2fm.

Dan Healy was on the board of the same IBI and involved with other independent sector outfits.

Dan Healy is still heavily involved with independent radio. Deborah Fagan (CEO of iRadio) and himself belong to Wilton Radio Ltd., who own a good chunk of, and setup iRadio.

IBI are up to something else, this is just cage rattling.

foxtrot101

Infoanon wrote: »

IBI not doing themselves any favours with this kind of nonsense - reminds me of TV3 and their complaints about RTE.

While I'm expecting Pat Rabbitte to completely ignore this, they do make some valid points. 2fm's budget surplus being used to fund public service broadcasting on RTE's other radio stations was always trotted out as a justification for RTE having a purely commercial radio station like 2fm. This no longer applies and I can't really think of anything that could justify 2fm being propped up by the licence fee.

Then there's Dan Healy coming out with a line like "needing to make 2fm more leinster-centric". Which might make perfect sense demographically- wise, but brings into question how committed 2fm are to being a national radio station. That's what they have a licence for after all. It's one thing thinking it, but for a the head of 2fm to say this out loud, in public, was the height of stupidity. If the head of RTE television had said the same thing there would have uproar, but because it was 2fm related - nobody cared.

Mr Pseudonym

The problem for RTE is that 2FM's commercial revenue has slumped from around €18m in '06, '07, '08 to €5m in '12. In those peak years, 2FM was running a surplus of ~€5m which subsidised other operations. Radio 1's revenue has also decreased since then (although not by as much) but shows signs of improvement having increased for two consecutive years after '09; 2FM's commercial revenue, on the other hand, has decreased year-on-year since '08. If there is a reasonable chance that it will return to profitability, I would recommend that the station be retained. If it is to be a permanent loss-maker, I volunteer to hand-deliver Mr Tubridy his P45.

ThisRegard

Ivan Yates this morning said that a little birdy told him that 2FM is to be sold.

L1011

To who? Communicorp can't buy it, UTV have other priorities and a new entrant is improbable.

ThisRegard

Who knows, it may have been leaked on purpose in light of the demand for the investigation and Savage saying he's dismayed in the cut in subvention to the free licence fee, to put the frighteners up RTE and there's no truth behind it.

L1011

Now that I'm not commenting from the train:

You'd need an awful lot of money (RTE will at least look for 8 figures to let go of the station, although it may go for less) and experience of succesful commercial broadcasting in a similar market to here.

Beyond Communicorp and UTV, the other broadcasting groups (Bay and what remains of TCH) don't have the cash. Bauer in the UK would be the only even partially obvious candidate I can think of but the radio group has been making operating losses for a decade now (when it was still Emap UK).

The elephant in the room is the staff on lengthy contracts as well as the actual full-time employees who have public sector pension entitlements which would need to be respected by the new owner - the future liabilities from these will hang over any prepared sale like an albatross.

Evan DietrichSmith

MYOB wrote: »

Now that I'm not commenting from the train:

You'd need an awful lot of money (RTE will at least look for 8 figures to let go of the station, although it may go for less) and experience of succesful commercial broadcasting in a similar market to here.

Beyond Communicorp and UTV, the other broadcasting groups (Bay and what remains of TCH) don't have the cash. Bauer in the UK would be the only even partially obvious candidate I can think of but the radio group has been making operating losses for a decade now (when it was still Emap UK).

The elephant in the room is the staff on lengthy contracts as well as the actual full-time employees who have public sector pension entitlements which would need to be respected by the new owner - the future liabilities from these will hang over any prepared sale like an albatross.

Not trying to be smart, but is redundancy not an option?

That's what would happen in the private sector.

L1011

Evan DietrichSmith wrote: »

Not trying to be smart, but is redundancy not an option?

That's what would happen in the private sector.

Also quite expensive

mike65

ThisRegard wrote: »

Ivan Yates this morning said that a little birdy told him that 2FM is to be sold.

They should have sold it when the going was good (and Ryan was still alive). Whatever they get for it now they'd have got twice as much 6/7 years ago.

Mr Pseudonym

mike65 wrote: »

They should have sold it when the going was good (and Ryan was still alive).

He may have lost half the listeners of his predecessor, but Ryan's alive and kicking...

mike65

Gerry not Tubbs!

end of the road

Evan DietrichSmith wrote: »

Not trying to be smart, but is redundancy not an option?

would probably be as expensive as honouring the current contracts, i can't see it being a problem as 2fm being sold off is probably nill IMO

Evan DietrichSmith wrote: »

That's what would happen in the private sector.

a lot of things happen in the private sector that don't in the public sector, means nothing TBH, 2 different sectors with 2 different ways of doing things.

Fuzzy Clam

mike65 wrote: »

They should have sold it when the going was good (and Ryan was still alive). Whatever they get for it now they'd have got twice as much 6/7 years ago.

Why would they have wanted to sell what was then a profitable station?

mike65

Cos they could have got a massive wedge for it.

eiresandra

Interesting comments from the Minister today... "Questions need to be asked about 2FM's future."

http://radionation.ie/2014/01/minister-weighs-2fm-debate/

Infoanon

eiresandra wrote: »

Interesting comments from the Minister today... "Questions need to be asked about 2FM's future."

http://radionation.ie/2014/01/minister-weighs-2fm-debate/

Would not take to much notice - Labour are apparently a bit upset over the recent (lack of) coverage for Eamonn Gilmore - must be a (local) election coming up !

Rabelais

Infoanon wrote: »

Would not take to much notice - Labour are apparently a bit upset over the recent (lack of) coverage for Eamonn Gilmore - must be a (local) election coming up !

Jaysus, the politicians are damned if they do, and damned if they don't. If they suggest that 2FM might need to be looked at, then they are engaging in some sort of Machiavellian plot to gain revenge for lack of coverage. If they say nothing, then they are continuing to allow RTE to run a station that no longer has a remit.

Infoanon

Rabelais wrote: »

Jaysus, the politicians are damned if they do, and damned if they don't. If they suggest that 2FM might need to be looked at, then they are engaging in some sort of Machiavellian plot to gain revenge for lack of coverage. If they say nothing, then they are continuing to allow RTE to run a station that no longer has a remit.

This is the Labour party - they are never going to act against the public servants in RTE , dont forget that Labour policy was for RTE to run all the local stations before the 1988 legislation - this is all bluster.

Bard

Infoanon wrote: »

This is the Labour party - they are never going to act against the public servants in RTE , dont forget that Labour policy was for RTE to run all the local stations before the 1988 legislation - this is all bluster.

Yes... Let's blame the current communications minister for what his party did over a quarter of a century ago. Let's assume that the party and it's policies haven't changed in that considerable length of time. And let's take this discussion on 2FM's future and turn it into one on party politics. Smashing ideas, those...

SpaceTime

Even if it were sold it would be very difficult to disentangle it from RTE.

A lot of RTE Radio services are shared like advertising sales, technical services, news, communications/marketing etc.

Would they just sell the brand and FM frequencies? DJs being given new contracts with a new entity?

What would happen to the other staff? They've mostly got very secure RTE contracts and may well work across several stations or even across other units if its a shared function.

RTE also rebranded all the stations prefixing them with RTE several years ago and linked all the branding.

Before that, 2FM had a distinct band that could have been easily sold off.

I'm not convinced it's worth THAT much money because it's just a band really. Getting the infrastructure and staff would be really messy.

I also can't see RTE wanting a competitor sitting in the Radio Centre nor could I see a commercial operator wanting an expensive lease at RTE or some highly restrictive arrangement.

My guess is that if it were sold the buyer would probably take the brand and frequencies together with key presenters and build new studios elsewhere with their own tech staff and production people.

I can't see how else you'd work it really.

The alternative would be for RTE to just close it if it's commercial and loss making.

Maybe completely relaunch it as a non commercial music station with a remit to be an alternative to chart-based / playlisted stations?

I don't think it's reasonable to say BBC R1 is a true PSB either. It behaves like a commercial station just without running adverts!

I've never fully understood what BBC is trying to do either. Radio 1 and 2 as well as Five Live strike me as being formatted very much like commercial radio. However they generate no revenue yet compete head to head with commercial radio.

You could justify 3, 4 and 6 as PSB

Although 3 competes with Classic FM.