Schedule changes - Lyric FM

Woodville56 · 28-12-2015 10:00am #1

Just been looking at the 2016 RTELyricFM schedule - some changes afoot ?
Seems like Eamonn Lenihan is leaving the weekend "Blue of the Night" slot ? Pity - quite enjoyed his broadcasts, being a nighttime listener at weekends.
Ellen Cranitch replacing him. Some reshuffling of daytime presenters too !

jmcc · 28-12-2015 3:31pm

But Marty Whelan still remains? Don't listen to the station as much now.
http://www.rte.ie/lyricfm/info/2015/1224/756072-rte-lyric-fm-announces-its-news-schedule-for-2016/

And it still has Gay Byrne on his Nth digout from RTE.

Regards...jmcc

Comhrá · 28-12-2015 4:51pm

jmcc wrote: »

But Marty Whelan still remains? Don't listen to the station as much now.
http://www.rte.ie/lyricfm/info/2015/1224/756072-rte-lyric-fm-announces-its-news-schedule-for-2016/

And it still has Gay Byrne on his Nth digout from RTE.

Regards...jmcc

Yeah, but I have to confess I enjoy his spot of Jazz on Sunday afternoons.

28-12-2015 4:53pm

jmcc wrote: »

But Marty Whelan still remains? Don't listen to the station as much now.
http://www.rte.ie/lyricfm/info/2015/1224/756072-rte-lyric-fm-announces-its-news-schedule-for-2016/

And it still has Gay Byrne on his Nth digout from RTE.

Regards...jmcc

Have to admit to liking Martys show. Daphne, Hugo et al are brilliantly done.

Woodville56 · 28-12-2015 9:07pm

Not wishing to ignite the Marty Whelan on Lyric debate again, but I do have to admit that I enjoy his banter and most of his music, although some perhaps more suited to an easy listening format than Lyric. I'm not a big fan of the Gay Byrne soapbox / time warp thing, it's mostly redeemed by the music ! I do enjoy and listen regularly to John Kelly and the night owl in me tunes in to Carl Corcoran and Eamonn Lenihan in Blue of the Night when I can. Sorry to see Eamonn go - no word of why ?

jmcc · 29-12-2015 6:58pm

Perhaps that's RTE's real problem. It wants three easy listening stations because that's the limit of the management talent in RTE.

Regards...jmcc

Expunge · 29-12-2015 7:32pm

The axing of Tim Thurston's gem of Sunday morning choral show, Gloria, is the one that's going to cause the biggest ructions with the musos and luvvies of the tiny classical/period music world in Ireland.

Expect the Irish Times to be outraged as well as this.....

https://www.change.org/p/conor-o-reilly-after-18-years-rt%C3%A9-has-decided-to-axe-tim-thurston-s-wonderful-programme-gloria

I loved the show and can't understand why they'd axe it.

Mr Sea Wolf · 29-12-2015 7:39pm

Has it been "axed" or is Mr Thurston simply retiring ? He must be a good bit past pension age

Expunge · 29-12-2015 7:42pm

He is indeed a good age now, but judging by the comments on that online petition, it would appear to not be his choice to leave now.
Many of the names of those commenting, as far as I can see, are people well known in choral and sacred music and would certainly know Tim Thurston personally.
That's what leads me to believe that it's not a graceful goodbye by Mr. Thurston.

Woodville56 · 29-12-2015 8:37pm

Eamonn Linehan also saying he is sorry to be leaving The Blue of the Night - doesn't seem like it's his choice either !
A while back they ditched the excellent "Reels to Ragas" programme of world music, now Tim Thurston and Eamonn Linehan going also ?? Someone up there in RTE/Lyric need to stop meddling with perfection, as were these programmes and their presenters.

NorthDown2 · 30-12-2015 9:19pm

Have always enjoyed Lorcan at weekends so it will be interesting to see how he performs in weekdays. Glad to see George still in place with Aedin on Saturdays. I am in the camp who enjoys Marty I'm afraid - it is different to anything else out there, the nearest in output I heard to it was some of the programming on Jazz FM when it was still on DAB. I know there is the counter argument that it shouldn't be on on the arts station.
Has Niall suffered in the ratings of late that Liz is in to try to help with?
We'll see how Evelyn does in Weekend Drive - I'll wait and see.
It does leave me wondering who is the replacement for MITM when Marty is away? Lorcan I thought always did a good job deputising - knew where MITM was coming from and tended to keep to light classical and movies to keep his own stamp on things. Please not Michael Comyn who comes across as if he's been called upon with 5 minutes to broadcast. Think Trish attempted MITM some time ago too but didn't get her.
No Classical Kids either - is it the end of that - it seemed to reappear on RTE Jr radio did it not? It appears the specialist programmes are in danger of extinction - what is the state of RTE's finances - are things as bad as the BBC ahead of charter renewal?

The Rape of Lucretia · 31-12-2015 11:24am

I doubt they hate it j, I would guess they simply know nothing about it.

A bit like asking an accountant to do heart surgery, and then wondering why the patient died.

Which makes those in RTE appointing incompetents to the running of Lyric (I await a rebranding of it one of these days to 'Crossover Lite with Bants FM' - everything else is now in place) the real villains of this national disgrace and waste of public money.

jmcc · 31-12-2015 1:54pm

The Rape of Lucretia wrote: »

I doubt they hate it j, I would guess they simply know nothing about it.

Just another case of the dumbing down of society. Rather than aspiring to be better, smarter, more cultured, Lyric FM seems to be going the way of 2FM and the rest. Apparently I was being "uncivil" in my last post about Gloria being cut by the management of Lyric FM. Lyric FM seems to be losing the Classical Music demographic (people who want to listen to Classical music rather than the babbling of superannuated DJs) and plundering the talk radio market of the Tubridys and D'Arcys of Irish radio. Perhaps the management of Lyric FM thinks it is all about advertising revenue and that Classical Music doesn't matter.

Regards...jmcc

galway111 · 01-01-2016 12:06pm

Not only have they decided to cut out Gloria but also Eamonn Linehan, Jazz Alley, Reels to Ragas, Grace Notes.

What "market " are they trying to corner. All light classical and hits.

I am way below the supposed demographic for Lyric but have listened to it for many years since it had some brilliant shows that could not be found together on any other station. I know this as I've tried many shuffles up and down the digital universe.

Public service broadcasting is supposed to do just that. Service the niches and challenge us to be better listeners and viewers. Not just listen to endless waltzes.

Woodville56 · 01-01-2016 1:25pm

galway111 wrote: »

Not only have they decided to cut out Gloria but also Eamonn Linehan, Jazz Alley, Reels to Ragas, Grace Notes.

What "market " are they trying to corner. All light classical and hits.

I am way below the supposed demographic for Lyric but have listened to it for many years since it had some brilliant shows that could not be found together on any other station. I know this as I've tried many shuffles up and down the digital universe.

Public service broadcasting is supposed to do just that. Service the niches and challenge us to be better listeners and viewers. Not just listen to endless waltzes.

Was a big fan of Eamonn Lenihan's weekend "Blue of the Night" here - his final sign off last night added a touch of poignancy to new year and his wonderful contribution to the station for over 14 years - a real loss to broadcasting and a dismal outlook for Lyric if this is what they're about as a public service broadcaster !Hopefulky Eamonn and his music will surface elsewhere soon! Likewise sad to see Tim Thurston & Reels to Ragas gone from the schedules.

pjproby · 01-01-2016 5:58pm

Where is Liz Nolan going?

Mr Sea Wolf · 01-01-2016 6:19pm

pjproby wrote: »

Where is Liz Nolan going?

10 till Noon

pinkypinky · 03-01-2016 12:15pm

They've axed Jazz Alley! That is a crime. I still miss Reels to Ragas too. I'm not in the Marty fandom and I feel the station has gone downhill since he started there.

But still love Carl on the Blue of the Night (sorry to see Eamon go). I did catch Ellen's weekend version: The Purple Vespertine, on Friday, and it's vg. Listening to Aedín right now.

The Rape of Lucretia · 03-01-2016 4:15pm

The Rape of Lucretia wrote: »

I doubt they hate it j, I would guess they simply know nothing about it.

A bit like asking an accountant to do heart surgery, and then wondering why the patient died.

Which makes those in RTE appointing incompetents to the running of Lyric (I await a rebranding of it one of these days to 'Crossover Lite with Bants FM' - everything else is now in place) the real villains of this national disgrace and waste of public money.

Last edited by bbability; 31-12-2015 at 12:27.

Hey, aware you dont like criticism of Lyric (and criticism of Marty in particular being explicitly banned), but what up with editing my posts ?

Woodville56 · 03-01-2016 5:21pm

Declan Lynch article on LyricFM schedule changes http://m.independent.ie/opinion/columnists/declan-lynch/the-inexplicable-vanishing-of-some-of-lyric-fms-finest-34331333.html

Mr Sea Wolf · 03-01-2016 7:38pm

Aonghus McAnally filled in for Gay Byrne this afternoon, has he presented on Lyric before ?

CelticRambler · 16-01-2016 8:43am

Just caught up with this thread, searching for "WTF happened to Lyric FM recently?" after I realised that what I thought were a few changes for the "holiday season" haven't gone away. When they replaced Reels to Ragas, I thought it was a one off for "internal" reasons, but that was a real bummer for me. It was the only programme where I could regularly hear French trad music (cos French radio doesn't play any.

) But now there's no "world music" at all, just wall-to-wall bite-sized heard-it-before classics ...

Oh well, at least you can still get a bit of trad on RnaG. :rolleyes:

phelixoflaherty · 17-01-2016 1:50pm

Same here, loved walking the dogs listening to Reels to Ragas waiting for the surprises.
And Jazz alley too
Gerrys love/passion for the music came across.

Probably RTE copying some BBC format.

phelixoflaherty · 17-01-2016 1:54pm

On what other program would one hear this...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZBqBnuRlBQ

CelticRambler · 17-01-2016 9:47pm

phelixoflaherty wrote: »

Probably RTE copying some BBC format.

Classic FM. Loved it when it first started (nice change from the ever-so-high-brow Radio 3 with interminable silences); was bored out of my mind with most of it after a few years. :rolleyes:

Except for Rainer Hersch's Saturday night programme. That included a proper, tough, cryptic phone-in quiz with just six questions. After every caller, he'd say how many answers were right but not which ones, until someone got all six. Sadly they dropped him (or he gave up on them) after a few years, and that was the end of Classic FM's place in my schedule.

Jeez, fifteen years later, I still miss that quiz!

And my more recent weekly dose of fado!