Weeknight Late Date

Red Fred

With Alf McCarthy now almost 4 months "retired" from the Late Date post, when will RTE finally decide on a permanent replacement. Aonghus MacAnally and Lillian Smith seem to be regular weeknight stand-ins, but for how long, nobody seems to know. Even Lillian has commented on-air that she is not sure how much longer she will be filling in for. Surely Alf's retirement wasn't a surprise to RTE?

Euphoria Intensifies

Maybe they're waiting until the rumoured summer exodus from 2fm to pick a permanent host?

ford fiesta

Lillian has 'left' Radio 1/Late Date twice in the past 1.5 years and over the past few weeks she once again has returned to Late Date.

Alf announced his leaving a good 3-4 months before his final show last December.

I wear socks

Whatever happened to Cathel Murray since he left weekend mornings ?

I wear socks

Has anyone noticed the way the have gotten rid of continuity announcers from weekday evenings and now included the book on one as part of late date?

Trebor176

I wear socks wrote: »

Has anyone noticed the way the have gotten rid of continuity announcers from weekday evenings and now included the book on one as part of late date?

I wonder what the reason for that is. It's only occurred within the last couple of weeks. The Book On One appears to be part of Late Date now, but I could be wrong. It's the impression I'm getting anyway.

Lilian has been appearing more on Late Date since January, and she had a good stint for the few weeks, which was very welcome. She still appears now and again, perhaps if either Aonghus or Fiachna aren't available. But, her stints are short and she will usually sign off at the end saying she will be on again somewhere at some point, but we never know. Coming up to the summer break, I'm sure she'll be on Risin' Time as well as Late Date.

SPDUB

Trebor176 wrote: »

Lilian has been appearing more on Late Date since January, and she had a good stint for the few weeks, which was very welcome. She still appears now and again, perhaps if either Aonghus or Fiachna aren't available. But, her stints are short and she will usually sign off at the end saying she will be on again somewhere at some point, but we never know. Coming up to the summer break, I'm sure she'll be on Risin' Time as well as Late Date.

She did say a few weeks ago that she would be presenting Rising Time sometime during May

I wear socks

Afaik both late date and the weekend on one are now without permanent presenters, is this a new way of doing things at radio 1 ? Will this become a trend with other slots ?

ford fiesta

I wear socks wrote: »

Afaik both late date and the weekend on one are now without permanent presenters, is this a new way of doing things at radio 1 ? Will this become a trend with other slots ?

...so is 'Through the Night' which is presented by continuity. I heard Gerry Ryan's brother, Mike Ryan, introducing the programmes for 2 nights in a row, around 3 weeks ago.

Though Paul Moriarty (Ex Radio Nova) seems to be on 'Weekend on One' and 'Through the Night' the most.

Red Fred

Fiachna will be filling in for Ronan Collins for the next two weeks, so expect to hear more of Lilian on Late Date.

I wear socks

God that Fiachna guy is f cking terrible, they should put Creedon filling in for Collins, I'd say he'd enjoy being back on daytime after 10 years.

Euphoria Intensifies

Ah Fiachna's not that bad. He's easy to listen to and plays decent enough stuff.

Red Fred

Heard him read a text a month or two ago from a listener who basically said he was boring and rubbish. Shay Byrne had a post on Facebook about a message he got basically slating him. He said it's a regular thing. Suppose there's lots of cranks out there - just listen to Liveline!!

Trebor176

Will Leahy will be presenting Late Date all this week. Lilian said she will be on Risin' Time on Friday morning and all next week.

I wear socks

He'll be tired in court all week so

ford fiesta

Trebor176 wrote: »

Will Leahy will be presenting Late Date all this week. Lilian said she will be on Risin' Time on Friday morning and all next week.

Does Lillian make her Cork accent stronger on purpose when she says "Live from Cork" (kind of in the style of Bill O'Herlihy)??... it is annoying!

I wear socks

I think it's pretty ridiculous that Late Date is now hosted by however happens to be free on a week by week basis, why didn't they just keep Alf on like he wanted ?

Joe_ Public

I get the impression RTE see the late night slot as an inconvenience and hope to spread enough apathy that they can eventually drop it and start the re-runs at midnight. Nothing would surprise me anyway.

Incidentally, was just doing some googling and was reminded that at the same time they got rid of the incomparable Val "Airs and Races" Joyce in 2006, they also jettisoned John Kelly and Donal Dineen and decided to give Derek Mooney and Joe Duffy "more exposure", which, alas, did not mean stripping them bollok naked and tying them to the RTE mast.

Red Fred

Joe_ Public wrote: »

I get the impression RTE see the late night slot as an inconvenience and hope to spread enough apathy that they can eventually drop it and start the re-runs at midnight. Nothing would surprise me anyway

Maybe they should just relay RTE Gold from 12 onwards.

I wear socks

Actually I thought that might have been their plan for the future when they did that on Xmas eve.

ford fiesta

Red Fred wrote: »

Maybe they should just relay RTE Gold from 12 onwards.

..and relay it on RTE 2FM before 12

SPDUB

Well during the week we got Aonghus till Wednesday then Will Leahy ( with no advance notice from Aonghus )

According to Will it will be Jim Lockhart on Sat and Sun then Lillian on Mon

He said he is sure they will be have him back at some point later this year

Trebor176

SPDUB wrote: »

Well during the week we got Aonghus till Wednesday then Will Leahy ( with no advance notice from Aonghus )

According to Will it will be Jim Lockhart on Sat and Sun then Lillian on Mon

He said he is sure they will be have him back at some point later this year

From what I heard of Will last week and the last two nights, he had a great choice of music. I'm not saying that the other presenters don't play a good choice. They do, but his playlists stood out for me for some reason. I've never heard Jim Lockhart on the airwaves before, so it will be interesting to hear what he plays.

Anorak34c

They should give the gig to Donal Dineen

ford fiesta

Will plays more well known music, than Lillian.

Red Fred

Was listening to Late Date on the Irish Radio Player app last night and in the description for the show it says it is hosted by Cathal Murray. Cathal has also tweeted in the past week that he will be back on air very soon but didn't specify where. Putting 2 and 2 together I would guess it will be on Late Date.

Losty Dublin

Trebor176 wrote: »

From what I heard of Will last week and the last two nights, he had a great choice of music. I'm not saying that the other presenters don't play a good choice. They do, but his playlists stood out for me for some reason. I've never heard Jim Lockhart on the airwaves before, so it will be interesting to hear what he plays.

I actually thought that a lot of what he played is too much like commercial daytime output; the sort of music that Late Date is not about.

Joe_ Public

Losty Dublin wrote: »

I actually thought that a lot of what he played is too much like commercial daytime output; the sort of music that Late Date is not about.

Fully agree. He seemed to play an awful lot of 80s chart stuff, at least when I was listening. Nothing wrong with that, I grew up with and love 80s stuff, but it's not for that slot.

I like Jim Lockhart. Picked up at 4 or 5 new songs from him over the weekend that'll I'll be adding to my playlist, that's as much as I'd get from Will in two months.

Anorak34c

Late date has bloated in recent years, in the begining it was only 55 minutes long.

Red Fred

Lillian's name came out of the hat to present tonight's show.

Trebor176

Red Fred wrote: »

Lillian's name came out of the hat to present tonight's show.

She'll be on tonight and tomorrow night as well. I'm guessing that Fiachna will be back on for the rest of the week and weekend. As Lilian put it last night, she'll be on until Wednesday "and that will be it." Usually when she's on her final night of a current run, she will usually say something along the lines of that she doesn't know when she'll be on again, but that she'll pop up again somewhere, some time.

Anorak34c

It has been confirmied today that cathel murray will be taking over late date sunday - thursday from from this sunday night.

Joe_ Public

Anorak34c wrote: »

It has been confirmied today that cathel murray will be taking over late date sunday - thursday from from this sunday night.

Not a bad choice. Liked him on Weekend on One well enough.

Trebor176

I never heard Cathal, but I've heard good things about him, so he'll no doubt be a welcome addition to Late Date. Fiachna will be doing Friday and Saturday nights, but I had guessed that already.

Joe_ Public

He's quiet and unassuming and knows his music. I liked how he'd play tracks for specific reasons and relate interesting and purposeful stories behind them, you knew he'd spent quite some time putting the tracklists together. I didn't think anybody would fill that morning slot after the great and still missed Donal Broughan but I got used to Cathal very quickly. Hope he gets a good long stretch and gets away from the infernal requests business.

Anorak34c

Meh.... It would have been more interesting if they gave cathal murray lunchtime and booted ronan collins to late date,

Oscar Bravo

Cathal Murray the new man on Late Date, Sunday-Thursday, first show on now

ford fiesta

new tagline 'into the music, into the night' for late date. Is the still using the old signature tune?

wonder is he getting abusive texts from the old listeners who adored alf ?

Anorak34c

RTE r1 seems to have an no oap music presenter policy now, maxi, balfe, alfie all shown the door on their 65th birthday.

serfboard

Anorak34c wrote: »

RTE r1 seems to have an no oap music presenter policy now, maxi, balfe, alfie all shown the door on their 65th birthday.

Yeah it's a terrible thing they don't keep on all these pensioners, particularly since there's a dearth of young(er) people ...

You're wrong about Maxi, by the way:

Maxi fronted Risin' Time for more than a decade until October 2011, when she took extended leave from the gruelling show after a severe stomach bug and chronic exhaustion.
Shay Byrne took over the 5.30am-7am show.
But Maxi was kept busy with several TV projects after she confirmed she would not return to early morning radio.

So Maxi voluntarly left the radio before she retired.

In relation to Alf, IMO they should have got rid of him several years before - he was painful.

And RTE still employ two very old presenters - Larry Gogan, who's in his late 70s and Gay Byrne who's in his 80s!

Joe_ Public

Val Joyce and Ciaran MacMathuna were both well past 65 when they finally finished. MacMathuna, I think, was still broadcasting when he died a few years ago. Is Donnchadh O Dulaing still doing the ceili stuff on Saturdays? He must be pushing 90 now. I thought Val could have gone on for another 10 years, I still miss him terribly to this day.

serfboard

Joe_ Public wrote: »

Is Donnchadh O Dulaing still doing the ceili stuff on Saturdays? He must be pushing 90 now.

No, they finally got rid of Donnacha.

And while we're on the topic, Sean "Og" O'Ceallachain was still presenting in his 90s - in the end it got too much for him. I think he dropped the "Og" from his name sometime after his 90th birthday!

Joe_ Public

ford fiesta wrote: »

wonder is he getting abusive texts from the old listeners who adored alf ?

Ha, I'm sure he probably is, just as Alf got them when he first took over the gig. I should know because I sent one myself (mildly critical rather than abusive) which he then proceeded to read out on air. I gradually warmed to him after that.

ford fiesta

Joe_ Public wrote: »

Ha, I'm sure he probably is, just as Alf got them when he first took over the gig. I should know because I sent one myself (mildly critical rather than abusive) which he then proceeded to read out on air. I gradually warmed to him after that.

Well maybe abusive was a strong word!!. Last night Cathal kept putting the listeners at ease saying that Fiachna would be doing the shows at the weekends and then played Friends in Time by the Golden Horde, introducing it by saying how 'we should be all friends here on late date'

I know when Alf retired late last year, Lillian who then filled in, was getting so many texts that she had to tell listeners that the decision for Alf retiring was not hers or RTE's and to only text in requests!

Joe_ Public

ford fiesta wrote: »

Well maybe abusive was a strong word!!. Last night Cathal kept putting the listeners at ease saying that Fiachna would be doing the shows at the weekends and then played Friends in Time by the Golden Horde, introducing it by saying how 'we should be all friends here on late date'

I know when Alf retired late last year, Lillian who then filled in, was getting so many texts that she had to tell listeners that the decision for Alf retiring was not hers or RTE's and to only text in requests!

Ah no, I'd say you are probably right. He has sounded a little bit uncertain, but it's a new role and it takes time to bed in. And that slot is very much built on the (often unspoken) rapport between presenter and audience for whom change puts a little out of whack. No doubt by the time Cathal finds his feet and people begin to warm to him, some genius in Montrose will decide its time for the shephers crook!

Trebor176

The usual 23:25 weekday start seems to be gone out the window now. After sport, it seems to be a bit of music and then The Book On One, rather than starting with the extract and then launching into the music at 23:25 or thereabouts. I'm not a fan of the change, if it's for the foreseeable.

serfboard

Trebor176 wrote: »

The usual 23:25 weekday start seems to be gone out the window now. After sport, it seems to be a bit of music and then The Book On One, rather than starting with the extract and then launching into the music at 23:25 or thereabouts. I'm not a fan of the change, if it's for the foreseeable.

I suppose that as part of Cathal getting the job, it was decided to freshen up the format a little bit to see if it works. Maybe they'll revert if it is found not to be.

I'd agree with you though - I preferred the talk (news->sport->book) followed by music approach than the new one. They had changed it slightly before Cathal started with the Late Date presenter taking over immediately after The Late Debate, and effectively acting as continuity until the programme proper started. I could see the benefit in that alright.

As an aside, I think your man (Marcus Lambe?) is doing a great job on Great Expectations.

dixiefly

Does anyone know why Lilian Smith did not get the job as permanent weeknight or weekend presenter. I accept that Cathal Murray did a good job as presenter of Weekend On One and I believe that he could / should replace John Creedon who could take over a revamped midday slot.

However, maybe its because we are used to her but I feel that Lilian's voice and choice of music is more suited to Late Date than Cathal (and I prefer her to Fiachna for that matter).

I just feel that, unless there was some good reason for it, that Lilian shouldnt have been dropped from the slot. Sexism shouldn't come into it but RTE Radio 1 is dominated by male presenters.

Trebor176

dixiefly wrote: »

Does anyone know why Lilian Smith did not get the job as permanent weeknight or weekend presenter. I accept that Cathal Murray did a good job as presenter of Weekend On One and I believe that he could / should replace John Creedon who could take over a revamped midday slot.

However, maybe its because we are used to her but I feel that Lilian's voice and choice of music is more suited to Late Date than Cathal (and I prefer her to Fiachna for that matter).

I just feel that, unless there was some good reason for it, that Lilian shouldnt have been dropped from the slot. Sexism shouldn't come into it but RTE Radio 1 is dominated by male presenters.

Was she dropped, or did she leave for personal reasons? It has been pointed out that she has a young family, so maybe it's something to do with that. Anyway, I do believe that she is recording another series of Sisters Are Doing It For Themselves with Sandy Harsch, so at least she will still be doing work for RTE.

I do agree that she's great to listen to, and she has a great choice of music. I have always looked forward to her presenting, even though when she was a more permanent fixture, I didn't hear much of Late Date back then anyway. But, I guess we won't hear her on the slot for another good while now that Cathal Murray has taken over, and Fiachna remains in his weekend slot, bar Sundays, which he used to do.

Lilian did get a good run the last few months, to be fair. But, she never knew at the end of her runs when she'd be presenting again, as tends to be the usual case whenever she is finishing up filling in.

P. Breathnach

Trebor176 wrote: »

Was she dropped, or did she leave for personal reasons? ...

In a sense, I think it's neither. She is not on staff, and is contracted in when RTÉ find it convenient. A precarious situation for her. I presume that is why she doesn't complain - because she doesn't want to alienate anybody who might give her a gig.

It might not help her cause that she is based in Cork.

Joe_ Public

I think she's been hard done by alright, though whether that's due to sexism or even placeism, I wouldn't want to say. Generally I think others play better music - or at least music I prefer - but I still like her in that role. She has the kind of low, quiet, dreamy voice that soothes, almost the perfect delivery for that time of night. Conversely, I could not take her on the early morning slot at all.