Today FM Megathread Mod warning post #1 / #1401

The Parish priest

The Today fm ceo has announced major changes are coming in 17...Any predictions ? My guess cormac and daniella for breakfast, Chris and Ciara for mid morning and Ian Dempsey goes to drive time

Mod:
Yes there has been made some accusations against a presenter and no you can't discuss them because everything you post about the subject can, and will, be held against boards (and yourself if they decide to sue you) as libel until proven in court basically. Sucks for us but such are the laws of Ireland and unlike major news papers boards do not have an standing army of attorneys to deal with such legal cases. Hence a whole lot of deleted posts and bringing up the subject until further notice will lead to cards and bans.

prunudo

I predict they'll loose thousands of loyal listeners because some pr consultant reckons there's more money to be made from younger listeners who don't even care about Fm radio.

Maybe I'm wrong and the youth of today will start listening but they're all used to Spotify and other ways of listening to music etc. Be like trying to persuade a teenager or 20 year to buy a newspaper or magazine, they'll look at you sideways.

Maybe I'm too cynical, but watching the mess of 2fm over the last 8 years I wouldn't hold my breathe.

djemba djemba

The Parish priest wrote: »

The Today fm ceo has announced major changes are coming in 17...Any predictions ? My guess cormac and daniella for breakfast, Chris and Ciara for mid morning and Ian Dempsey goes to drive time

Cant see Ian getting moved at all. All the rest may change but if they move him I would say he walks.

Ursus Horribilis

They might not be allowed to get rid of The Last Word even if they wanted to. Even though Today FM is a commercial station, it still has to abide by the regulations as laid down by the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland. They're not allowed to broadcast wall to wall music programs.

Anyway, why should they kill off The Last Word? It's a successful, credible current affairs program?

I could see Ian being moved to where D'arcy/Savage was, move Dermot and Dave to Breakfast and put someone else in D&D spot....please get rid of Louise Duffy or at least let her have more leeway with musical selections as the musics getting dire on her show

Ursus Horribilis

I've a feeling that if they gave Anton Savage the bullet, they have a heavy hitter lined up to take his place. Who that actually is, I have absolutely no idea.

PeterTheNinth

Ursus Horribilis wrote: »

I've a feeling that if they gave Anton Savage the bullet, they have a heavy hitter lined up to take his place. Who that actually is, I have absolutely no idea.

I think the fact that they dont have him lined up would give substance to Anton's version of things. To think that they landed on their feet when D'Arcy left of his own volition, they got Anton who's fantastic... potential to be the best broadcaster in the country imo... And now they have ballsed it up.

Sideshow Cecil

PeterTheNinth wrote: »

I think the fact that they dont have him lined up would give substance to Anton's version of things. To think that they landed on their feet when D'Arcy left of his own volition, they got Anton who's fantastic... potential to be the best broadcaster in the country imo... And now they have ballsed it up.

I couldn't agree more, I think they've really missed the beat on this one, no way anton should have been left leave,used to have today fm on from 7 to 2:30 and back on a 4:30, as someone said in a different tread earlier what ever station anton pops up on my dial will be travelling in that direction!

KReid

The Parish priest wrote: »

The Today fm ceo has announced major changes are coming in 17...Any predictions ? My guess cormac and daniella for breakfast, Chris and Ciara for mid morning and Ian Dempsey goes to drive time

That's a pretty out there call.... Why would they take two sets of presenters who arent exactly pulling up trees over to host primetime shows?

Pedalare Pedalare!

They won't get rid of The Last Word. It's great and a steady pair of hands in Cooper. The Chris and Ciara suggestion sounds like it would make sense but given could Today FM pay to take them over?

L1011

Sufficient people in management are gone from when Foley 'left'. May be a way back in there.

Mc Love

Iano wouldnt be a bad shout for the Mid morning slot, and get some young buck in to do the morning slot

gimmick

I'd imagine Dempsey and Cooper are pretty powerful within Today FM and not a hope they would get moved unless they want to.

Anyone expecting anything good to come from this is in for a harsh landing.

My prediction - the morning show goes to the likes of Karen Koster and or Glenda Gilson and the morning show is an "Exposé" type shíte.

Atlantic Dawn

Mc Love wrote: »

Iano wouldnt be a bad shout for the Mid morning slot, and get some young buck in to do the morning slot

I think though if they moved Ian to the mid morning slot they would lose a a huge amount of people on the morning slot and it would just be replicating the 2FM, FM104, 98FM setups.

I doubt they have anyone whatsoever lined up to take Antons place and they are going to struggle to bring in anyone similar, surely with the figures Anton retained from D'Arcy's departure he was the man to keep for another year or so. December is probably the biggest advertising revenue period for any radio station, it wouldn't have been any master plan to ditch your DJ at the start of it with nobody lined up to take over him a few days later.

thesaurus2

A couple of pressing things they could address before they shuffle the presenters deck and hire/fire are:

1. Change the branding. It is literally yellow pack radio.
2. Get rid of that male voice that introduces/voiceovers EVERYTHING from station promos to show promos to id's to ads to intros to competitions, directions to the exit...
3. Get in new production talent: Presenters always take the hit, but it's the people making the shows that are really at fault. It seems that with Today FM the same old producers and researchers are shuffled around the shows. I've lost count of the number of shows the likes of Ann, Pam, Ed and whoever else have worked on. And in a station like Today FM which like 2FM has undergone big changes in recent years, one can only imagine the amount of unhappy people working behind the scenes, dealing with such horrors as 'new management' and being left behind when a presenter leaves for a new gig.

Hubstan

Let me get this right, Denny has bumped up the ex-CEO and APD from the basket case that is 98FM and given them a national to play around with?

I'll get the popcorn.

Itssoeasy

Hubstan wrote: »

Let me get this right, Denny has bumped up the ex-CEO and APD from the basket case that is 98FM and given them a national to play around with?

I'll get the popcorn.

Ex CEO correct and right sir. APD ? Assistant program director perhaps ? I know the ex CEO is there now an yep seems like he's putting his stamp on the place alright.

iseegirls

The Parish priest wrote: »

The Today fm ceo has announced major changes are coming in 17...Any predictions ? My guess cormac and daniella for breakfast, Chris and Ciara for mid morning and Ian Dempsey goes to drive time

Never really thought of Cormac and Danielle being that good to be promoted to national radio. Although Danielle seems to be more focused on her online travel series and modelling than radio - as she seems to be off a lot. Don't think Today FM would offer her the same flexibility.

marvin80

djemba djemba wrote: »

Cant see Ian getting moved at all. All the rest may change but if they move him I would say he walks.

Ian is the only presenter I can tolerate on the radio early in the morning. Some awful drivel on other stations.

wnolan1992

L1011 wrote: »

Sufficient people in management are gone from when Foley 'left'. May be a way back in there.

Foley "left" on good terms by all accounts. The current management are actually less likely to hire him, given the current CEO was CEO of 98 during Foley's tenure there, Foley has been pretty vocal about issues with Today FM both on NTN and even on an interview on Anton's show which was cut from the website.

I'd love to see it happen, but tbh I'll believe it only when Ray is sitting behind the mic and the news is over.

nc6000

Actually when I heard Alison Curtis saying just after nine this morning that she was on until noon it reminded me how long a slot they have for that show.

Maybe as part of the shake-up the show times might also change?

L1011

wnolan1992 wrote: »

Foley "left" on good terms by all accounts.

Not going on what I've heard... although the people he had problems with were not there long after.

ads20101

Don't get me wrong, I'd hate to see the last word going.....

However, there have been rumours for a while now that they want to differentiate between newstalk and today fm.

People have been commenting that today fm are obliged to supply a current affairs programme as part of their regulatory agreement. Even if this is true, they might have a loop hole etc.

its not beyond the bounds of possibility that Matt transferres to Newstalk drive, possibly talking the last word brand with him. Then they can have a national music driven drive time show.

Personally, I feel that it'll be a monumental mistake but if they are prepared to let someone like Anton slip through their fingers anything is possible.

Ursus Horribilis

The Last Word has decent listenership figures, presumably brings in good advertising numbers and is one of the station's flagship programs. Why would they jettison that?

Anton never quite made his way into the public consciousness in the way Matt Cooper has. That was part of the problem I think.

Declan A Walsh

I wonder what would happen if 4FM or Radio Nova approached Ian Dempsey - not offering more money but relatively free rein with his program. Would he be tempted?

Ursus Horribilis

Declan A Walsh wrote: »

I wonder what would happen if 4FM or Radio Nova approached Ian Dempsey - not offering more money but relatively free rein with his program. Would he be tempted?

To go from a successful national station to ones that only can be picked up in certain parts of the country? He'd have to be out of his mind, in my opinion.

ads20101

Ursus Horribilis wrote: »

To go from a successful national station to ones that only can be picked up in certain parts of the country? He'd have to be out of his mind, in my opinion.

It's worth a thought alright.

It depends how shîty things are in today fm?

He's probably made a fair bit of money by now. Put a bit aside for a rainy day / retirement etc.

4fm despite only transmitting to only certain parts covers a vast majority of the population - nova is Dublin centric.

Saying that, the word on the street is that 4fm are seriously cash strapped and could hit the wall at any moment.

wnolan1992

You'd also have to wonder how happy Ian is. He's been in the same slot for 18 years, and has been doing early mornings for what, almost 30? The show is, IMO, sounding a bit tired, and has basically become the Gift Grub Breakfast Show featuring Ian Dempsey.

I'm sure he's on a fair whack of money, and maybe he's still loving it, but maybe if you combine the obvious annoyance at management with the above, he might want a change himself?

Ursus Horribilis

It's a brutal business Ian's in and I'm sure Anton's not the only friend/colleague who has been given the bullet over the course of his career. Whoever was in the breakfast slot before Ian possibly felt aggrieved too.

I have wondered from time to time why he continues to work those godawful hours. Maybe he's so used to it now, he's happy to do so. He wouldn't be the worst person to put into the afternoon slot, in my opinion. The station bosses were happy to have Tony Fenton doing the afternoon show and perhaps he'd still be in situ if he hadn't succumbed to cancer.

ziggyman17

well the major change for me in 2017 , is that I will not be tuning into Today fm..

Losty Dublin

wnolan1992 wrote: »

You'd also have to wonder how happy Ian is. He's been in the same slot for 18 years, and has been doing early mornings for what, almost 30? The show is, IMO, sounding a bit tired, and has basically become the Gift Grub Breakfast Show featuring Ian Dempsey.

I'm sure he's on a fair whack of money, and maybe he's still loving it, but maybe if you combine the obvious annoyance at management with the above, he might want a change himself?

ID will retire from radio when he retires from breakfasts, and it will come in a few years time. With a little voiceover work and the odd personal appearance to supplement his nest egg, he won't want for a lot

doc11

could foley be back?

JoeA3

Declan A Walsh wrote: »

I wonder what would happen if 4FM or Radio Nova approached Ian Dempsey - not offering more money but relatively free rein with his program. Would he be tempted?

No chance of "free reign" on 4FM. It surely has the most tightly formatted and playlisted schedule in Ireland... here's yet another dose of Classic Song Investigations.... Can't imagine Iano being tempted by that.

farmerjj

Besides Ian there's nothing really to get 2bothered about, could sake the lot and start over, unfortunately its been on a downward spiral for a few yrs(as well as most stations especially 2fm)

ads20101

doc11 wrote: »

could foley be back?

Wouldn't be against the idea myself.

I used to loath listening to him when he started but he grew on me.

Damn it, he is the heroin of radio.

When he left I was rather addicted. The start of the downward rot imho

Declan A Walsh

In relation to Ian Dempsey, I was speculating what he would do if he was approached by another station and if we was fed up in Today FM - of course, he may be quite happy where he is. Also, money may not be an issue for him at this stage so he might be tempted by a setup which suited his other needs in radio.

I thought of Radio Nova and 4FM because the target audience are at the older end of the scale and he would be comfortable with the music on both stations. In the case of Nova, he would know Marty Miller (from Today FM), John Clarke, Mike Maloney and, of course, from pirate radio many moons ago Pat James. He may not know as many on 4FM - he would know Gareth O'Callaghan very well.

_Brian

A lot of people mentioning that Anton got the bullet, I can't see that being the case. Really, dump a talent like Anton and have Alison Curtis lined up to take over. No way plan to have a light weight take over a prime time slot !!
Seems to me they were trying to hardball Anton and he wasn't taking it.

Today FM seem to be in a decision making tail spin. Loosing a presenter like Anton is bad but deciding the answer is a major change is very risky. As is the decision to chase a new demographic who as far as I know have no interest in radio and prefer streaming, maybe some but surely not in big numbers anyway.

I said before, they're in danger of becoming 2FM. Second rate with a line up of second rate presenters. Every time I switch to 2FM it sounds like a local station maybe LMFM.

flangemeistro

I have wondered from time to time why he continues to work those godawful hours.

I'd happily do two hours a day from 7-9 for 30 years on that money.
If you think they are godawful hours then don't have a look at KC's hours on Red Fm, he's on from 5am till 9.
And won Breakfast show off the year a few weeks back.

_Brian

Was just listening to the handover from Ian to Alison... you could hear Ian had no interest in it, very forced and false, nothing like the genuine respect during the interaction between Ian and Anton..

reg114

Deadmau5 followed by Iggy izalia just now on today Fm, yeah defo goin after spin listener age group

statto25

Even Tonys club classics are gone very safe. The last few weeks they have all been late 2000s or into the teens.

prunudo

reg114 wrote: »

Deadmau5 followed by Iggy izalia just now on today Fm, yeah defo goin after spin listener age group

At leaat the deadmau5 one was a good tune

Or should that be choon!

Owryan

Today FM must have it in for me. It used to be the default channel for me but with Friday night 80's, Jim O'Neill and now Anton gone the only show I still tune into is the Last Word.

Yer one that replaced Anton is dire.

crazyguy01

doc11 wrote:

could foley be back?

Didn't Savage interview Foley a couple of months back and he made some comments about Today FM? I never heard it but I believe the comments were not favourable and the last hour that he was on with Anton never went on the website to listen back, anybody able to fill in what was said?

Ursus Horribilis

Ursus Horribilis wrote: »

I have wondered from time to time why he continues to work those godawful hours.

What hours would he actually work, out of curiousity?

Say for argument sake he's on from 7-9am, I presume he doesn't show up for work at 6:45?

robo

_Brian wrote: »

Was just listening to the handover from Ian to Alison... you could hear Ian had no interest in it, very forced and false, nothing like the genuine respect during the interaction between Ian and Anton..

Havent heard it but Ian & Alison worked together for a good few years on the Breakfast show, so they know each other well.

I do like Ian Dempsey but I don't think that we need more than 2 hours of him a day. And I just can't see him taking an afternoon or mid morning stint. Ian has been good cos he has a lot of activities in his show - the competition usually lasts almost 10 minutes, Kick start, gift grub, long sport news with interaction with PC, and lots more. There isn't much room for lulls in the 2 hour breakfast show but a 3 hour mid morning show...I dunno And form listening to Iano interviewing people over the years, he is not the greatest interviewer - and maybe thats to do with the interview types that he has done. Its talking mainly to bands and singers etc and he is usually fawning all over them, which is fine. But that for 3 hours with other types of giests...no thanks.

The Last Word imo has changed in the last few months - and I like it - Paul Kimmage on a Monday, longer TV slot on a Wednesday, your man from LCB, plus I do like Matt. They better keep hold of that show.

I said in another thread that I think the front runner for Anton's slot is Neil Delamres for the taking - I dunno if I like that but he has grown on me over the last year.

One other thing - Pat Kenny jumped off of the RTE ship years ago and who would have thought it. So what RTE star might leave it for TodayFM??? Just putting it out there...Mr Fanning? I do enjoy his Saturday & Sunday morning shows - beats Alison on TodayFM.

Thats my tuppence worth!

robo

Owryan wrote: »

Today FM must have it in for me. It used to be the default channel for me but with Friday night 80's, Jim O'Neill and now Anton gone the only show I still tune into is the Last Word.

Yer one that replaced Anton is dire.

Oh agree - I so miss Friday Night 80's, cant understand why they changed it! Crazy idea...
Watch out the classic 9 at 11 will be cut next :eek:

wnolan1992

robo wrote: »

Oh agree - I so miss Friday Night 80's, cant understand why they changed it! Crazy idea...
Watch out the classic 9 at 11 will be cut next :eek:

The only crazy about getting rid of FN80's was, IMO, that Phil Cawley was left in the slot. According to Phil himself, the reason it was cancelled was that it was felt that it was giving the station "too old a sound". Now, if management really felt that, why wouldn't they bring in a younger DJ with a proper Friday night show, maybe even a dance/EDM show or something, rather than the horrific middle ground that is Friday Night Anthems which really pleases no-one.

(And to be clear, I loved FN80's and would be much happier if it stayed, but I see the argument management are making here)


I mean, it would have made a huge amount of sense if FN80's was replaced by FN90's. The people with the most amount of nostalgia for 90's music are now entering their mid-20's and early 30's. Y'know, Today FM's demographic...

robo

I'd agree with FN90's too - and with Cawley. But he did sound a bit miffed at the time that they were getting rid of it.
Would have made good sense to have a new section at 7pm with a completely new show.

wnolan1992

robo wrote: »

I'd agree with FN90's too - and with Cawley. But he did sound a bit miffed at the time that they were getting rid of it.
Would have made good sense to have a new section at 7pm with a completely new show.

Phil spoke at an event I was organising about a month back. IIRC, he basically said that he understood that the station needs to attract younger listeners, but he felt that they were going at it in too extreme a way, and would end up alienating existing listeners faster than they would attract new ones.

I think people here need to realise that Today FM needs (or wants) to skew younger. People are saying that they are aiming for the Spin audience. However, I disagree. I think they are aiming for the Spin audience who are outgrowing Spin. I think that's a sensible move to make. These are the people who will, hopefully, be us in 10 years time bemoaning that the station they've listened to in the office or the car pretty much constantly all this time is now going after the filthy youth!

lambayire

They need to quickly realise that younger listeners have little or no interest in radio.

It's Spotify and the like for them.