RTE Gold discussion thread

alzer100

Has Keith Walsh gone off RTE Gold? He's not on the schedule for what looks like Monday and Tuesday anyway.

ford fiesta

ford fiesta wrote: »

The show is 4 hours long too! The longest jukebox yet..original one on 2FM was 3 hours and RTE Gold was 3 and while Aidan was off 2 hours (Mike Moloney and Michael Cahill covering) ...then it was axed with all weekend presenter shows.
Great to have it back. Lets hope its not a regular playlist.

John Clark's on Nova was 4 hours

Infoanon

alzer100 wrote: »

I think the reason why people just adapted a disliking to the music played by 2fm and others like it goes deeper than a person's age. I know if I hear a good song regardless of its age I will view it as being a good .

There is a format referred to as Oldies / Contemporary - oldies/classic hits fixed in with a lot of current / recurrent CHR.

There is a station called Riviera Radio - Monaco based ,programmed by Paul Kavanagh - yes the same Paul Kavanagh of Sunshine and Atlantic 252 fame - that's well worth a listen to , though there is high rotation and note format changes at 11pm .

I agree that RTE Gold is a mixture of formats .

alzer100

Infoanon wrote: »

There is a format referred to as Oldies / Contemporary - oldies/classic hits fixed in with a lot of current / recurrent CHR.

There is a station called Riviera Radio - Monaco based ,programmed by Paul Kavanagh - yes the same Paul Kavanagh of Sunshine and Atlantic 252 fame - that's well worth a listen to , though there is high rotation and note format changes at 11pm .

I agree that RTE Gold is a mixture of formats .

Yes, Paul Kavanagh (sometimes referred to as "Kavo") is a highly respected radio programming figure in Ireland and now continental Europe. I think he got his start on Sunshine 101. According to Robbie Robinson (Radio Today interview), he was well spotted by Sunshine's then director of programs Bill Cunningham. Paul took over the PD position when Cunningham left Sunshine. Paul eventually took the "Hot Hits" format to Atlantic 252.

Declan A Walsh

alzer100 wrote: »

Yes, Paul Kavanagh (sometimes referred to as "Kavo") is a highly respected radio programming figure in Ireland and now continental Europe. I think he got his start on Sunshine 101. According to Robbie Robinson (Radio Today interview), he was well spotted by Sunshine's then director of programs Bill Cunningham. Paul took over the PD position when Cunningham left Sunshine. Paul eventually took the "Hot Hits" format to Atlantic 252.

AFAIK, Paul Kavanagh spent a relatively brief period on Radio Nova before he joined Sunshine Radio /Sunshine 101. I think that was 1984. I would hazard a guess that he must have been with some other pirate before joining Radio Nova, as it was rare to start with Nova without any previous experience.

alzer100

Declan A Walsh wrote: »

AFAIK, Paul Kavanagh spent a relatively brief period on Radio Nova before he joined Sunshine Radio /Sunshine 101. I think that was 1984. I would hazard a guess that he must have been with some other pirate before joining Radio Nova, as it was rare to start with Nova without any previous experience.

I don't know to be honest as I think Paul Kavanagh was of a generation that was post heyday Nova? Presenters like Paul Kavanagh, Nails Mahoney, Mark Byrne and Dusty Rhodes all seemed to come out of the Sunshine stable relatively around the same time. I think Robbie Robinson also mentioned Paul's love for Abrakebabra which was just below Sunshine's offices in Lower Baggot Street and that he was just a kid in his mid to late teens at the time when Bill Cunningham recognised his potential. This would have been around late 1986.
I don't know if Chris Carey would have given him a start as Nova was now Energy 103 and things in the Chris Carey camp were becoming unstable around that time.
Paul Kavanagh may have been a little too young to be a presenter especially for Nova in 1984. I could be mistaken.

Infoanon

Paul Kavanagh was on Sunshine in the afternoons and one of their star presenters before moving to Nova for a short stint which unfortunately coincided with things starting to unravel at Nova.

Paul then returned to Sunshine and obviously observed and learned from Bill Cunninghams programming methods and applied them very successfully when Bill left (and later turned up at Q).

As an aside Sunshines offices where in Baggott Street, the studios where in Portmarnock (with Robbie living close by ).

ford fiesta

strange how RTE Gold have changed their text number...would they not gave changed it to 51555?
Lyric FM must get a lot of their texts.

AwaitYourReply

ford fiesta wrote: »

strange how RTE Gold have changed their text number...would they not gave changed it to 51555?
Lyric FM must get a lot of their texts.

I thought RTÉ Gold had been using the studio Text Number: 51551 which is normally reserved for contacting RTÉ Radio 1 while doing RTÉ Gold on RTÉ Radio 1 programmes on Sat/Sun afternoons. I'm sure I heard the 51551 text number mentioned by Rick O'Shea and Will Leahy when they first began the weekend afternoon simulcasts with Radio 1.

It would have been better for RTÉ Gold to promote their own dedicated Text Number for those live presenter-led shows currently NOT simulcast with RTÉ Radio 1 one would have thought.

As more & more live sport gradually resumes, I expect the RTÉ Gold live presenter-led simulcasts with RTÉ Radio 1 to be phased out apart from the overnight RTÉ Gold on Radio 1 automated playlist service.

Currently:
Rick O'Shea 5-7pm Saturdays
Will Leahy 4-6pm Sundays

AwaitYourReply

HildaOgdenx wrote: »

You and me both. I loved that show. It was the start of the weekend, for me, just sitting back on a Friday night listening to it.

I was often heading away on a Friday Night for the Weekend and I just knew I would enjoy the journey cos Friday Night 80's was a staple on Today fm in it's early years.

However; in later years it probably did get a bit stale and required some fresh innovation and less repeats of same tracks hanging around week in, week out. Failure to keep the playlist and format interesting made it sound jaded at certain times and there was no need for this to happen as there was no shortage of material from the 80's decade!

Presenters who worked on the show included, Phil Cawley, Tim Kelly and others.

AwaitYourReply

alzer100 wrote: »

Has Keith Walsh gone off RTE Gold? He's not on the schedule for what looks like Monday and Tuesday anyway.

Keith was a guest of Brendan O'Connor's show last Sat/Sun 11am-1pm on RTÉ Radio 1. A very personal interview and I would imagine it's probably available as a podcast for anyone wanting to hear that interview. I can't recall if it was Saturday or Sunday's programme but was definitely weekend of 20th/21st June.

ford fiesta

alzer100 wrote: »

Has Keith Walsh gone off RTE Gold? He's not on the schedule for what looks like Monday and Tuesday anyway.

Niamh mcmanus was presenting the 1 to 4 Afternoon Gold slot today

alzer100

ford fiesta wrote: »

Niamh mcmanus was presenting the 1 to 4 Afternoon Gold slot today

I think he is still with RTE Gold. I think Niamh is just filling in for him.

Declan A Walsh

ford fiesta wrote: »

Niamh mcmanus was presenting the 1 to 4 Afternoon Gold slot today

Who is Niamh McManus? She is a name I have not heard of before.

Damian F

Declan A Walsh wrote: »

Who is Niamh McManus? She is a name I have not heard of before.

I think she's a producer usually. She's filled in presenting late date on R1 too.

ford fiesta

Declan A Walsh wrote: »

Who is Niamh McManus? She is a name I have not heard of before.

Used to be Will Leahys sidekick doing news and papers on his RTE Gold breakfast show up until last year. Recently had her own RTE Gold show on Friday afternoons. Also works on RTE Junior Digital radio and TV/Radio continuity.

Damian F

I reckon the ad agencies are to blaim for both 2fm & Todayfm axing all oldies shows. A few years ago, Today Fm had an 80s show followed by an 90s show on Friday night, Carwash 70s on Saturday night and 50/60s/70s/80s with Jim O'Neill on a Sunday. When Ireland's biggest jukebox was on 2fm, it was the most listened to music program on Irish radio at the weekend but when it was axed 2fms weekend ratings collapsed to Lyric FM levels and have never recovered.

AwaitYourReply

Damian F wrote: »

I reckon the ad agencies are to blaim for both 2fm & Todayfm axing all oldies shows. A few years ago, Today Fm had an 80s show followed by an 90s show on Friday night, Carwash 70s on Saturday night and 50/60s/70s/80s with Jim O'Neill on a Sunday. When Ireland's biggest jukebox was on 2fm, it was the most listened to music program on Irish radio at the weekend but when it was axed 2fms weekend ratings collapsed to Lyric FM levels and have never recovered.

I think you have a good point. When 2FM began axing/downgrading many of it's shows and then moving it's top performing experienced presenters to quieter time slots it was clear they must have thought it was gonna be a simple task to adjust the schedule to attract and grow it's younger listenership. Station management did not care if it lost loyal listeners along the way as their aim was to shift to a youth audience. Meanwhile it could not push veteran presenters out completely so you had the late Larry Gogan, Dave Fanning and others no longer suited to 2fm's latest image. Only thing was 2fm never recovered much of the ground it surrendered and probably lost more than they gained but that's alright as RTÉ could always ask the government of the day to sanction an increase in Licence Fee etc; except everything did not go to plan on that front.

Gerry Ryan's sudden & unexpected death in 2010 also showed 2fm up for it's complete over reliance on one presenter's programme which was said to generate most of the station's commercial revenue for so many years. They had no replacement capable of satisfying the audience judging by the constant chopping & changing afterwards.

Elmo

AwaitYourReply wrote: »

Gerry Ryan's sudden & unexpected death in 2010 also showed 2fm up for it's complete over reliance on one presenter's programme which was said to generate most of the station's commercial revenue for so many years. They had no replacement capable of satisfying the audience judging by the constant chopping & changing afterwards.

The press also didn't question Tubrity's pay when he took over from Gerry Ryan. 2fm's Tubrity show as even below the kind of audience he had with The Full Irish, yet it took them nearly 5 years to send Tubs back to Radio 1 to get an audience.

I think Gerry Ryan was always going to be difficult to replace, especially as Ray D'Arcy was making in roads up to that point.

Sorry OT.

ford fiesta

Been listening lately to Michael Cahill...I hear he is still inaccurate with music facts and stats. Can he not do some googling if he is unsure?

Peter from Gort

ford fiesta wrote: »

Been listening lately to Michael Cahill...I hear he is still inaccurate with music facts and stats. Can he not do some googling if he is unsure?

He was always an awful radio host, he never lasted too long on any slot he was given on 2fm

alzer100

Aidan Leonard now doing Saturdays 10am -1pm
Any additional live presenter programming on RTE Gold especially at weekends could be a good sign?

ford fiesta

alzer100 wrote: »

Aidan Leonard now doing Saturdays 10am -1pm
Any additional live presenter programming on RTE Gold especially at weekends could be a good sign?

I don't think Aidan's weekend shows were ever presented live??
Yes it is a good sign..

Genghis

There's also a jingle playing out that says, RTE Gold All Summer Long. Significance being not the 2/3 months left in Summer, more so that they are signalling any future.

All good signs.

Heard on 6Music that Monday 6 June marks 10 years since BBC reversed their decision to end that station following a popular campaign to keep it.

leoXX

RTE Gold Fans have no reason to fear, RTE management are pathological liars, they announced a whole load of cutbacks last winter and not a single one of them has been implemented. This is the organization that's had 5 closure dates for longwave 252 over 7 years and it's still on air.

alzer100

I just don't want to get complacent due to the fact they just have not announced anything with respect to the DAB channels.

RTE will be under pressure from some quarters to follow through with at least some of their cost cutting measures that they announced last November. When they do release their figures for this year (towards the end of the year), that is when I would expect an official announcement regarding the DAB network and channels including RTE Gold.

BTW Music One, a new Irish based Gold formatted station goes on the air at 9am tomorrow morning. I think it may have a "wide variety" playlist which may put it it in direct competition with RTE Gold. This can only be good IMO.

Elmo

alzer100 wrote: »

I just don't want to get complacent due to the fact they just have not announced anything with respect to the DAB channels.

RTE will be under pressure from some quarters to follow through with at least some of their cost cutting measures that they announced last November. When they do release their figures for this year (towards the end of the year), that is when I would expect an official announcement regarding the DAB network and channels including RTE Gold.

BTW Music One, a new Irish based Gold formatted station goes on the air at 9am tomorrow morning. I think it may have a "wide variety" playlist which may put it it in direct competition with RTE Gold. This can only be good IMO.

RTÉ have said that they are closing the network, they do not need permission to drop DAB.

RTÉ have said that they are currently putting in a proposal to the Minister to close their digital stations, that was only last month. I am assuming that they have put that proposal in at this point, either way until the minister gives them the go ahead RTÉ are stuck with the Digital channels, the minister must ask the BAI to carry out an SIA (Strategic Impact Assessment) and call on opinions from relevant stakeholders such as the IBI, Virgin Media and TG4 etc, she may ask the audience/public for their views. I assume the minister is Catherine Martin as Minster for Media (and almost everything else).

leoXX

Elmo wrote: »

RTÉ have said that they are closing the network, they do not need permission to drop DAB.

RTÉ have said that they are currently putting in a proposal to the Minister to close their digital stations, that was only last month. I am assuming that they have put that proposal in at this point, either way until the minister gives them the go ahead RTÉ are stuck with the Digital channels, the minister must ask the BAI to carry out an SIA (Strategic Impact Assessment) and call on opinions from relevant stakeholders such as the IBI, Virgin Media and TG4 etc, she may ask the audience/public for their views. I assume the minister is Catherine Martin as Minster for Media (and almost everything else).

Keeping these digital stations online and on Saorview would cost almost nothing, the DJs are all rte staff so they'll have to put them somewhere and pretty much every radio station these days has spin off online streams. Furthermore the radio lineup on Saorview would be extremely empty without the digital stations. DAB is the elephant in the room though, the problem with it is, RTE are never going to roll it out any further so why should licence fee payers in Dublin/Limerick/Cork get DAB but not licence fee payers in Donegal or Galway

alzer100

It seems like it's not so straight forward for RTE management then.

In fairness, I think people within RTE such as Dan Healy are for keeping RTE Gold on the air. Look, if they end up closing down the DAB network, I really hope that they may keep RTE Gold as a digital streaming service as I think the station has definitely increased it's listenership figures. Unfortunately we may also see situations like COVID19 becoming a bit more frequent. Hence the need for alternative outlets like online music streaming stations that particularly originate in this country. RTE Gold did help to make the whole "thing" this year that bit more bearable for a lot of people. Hopefully the minister and the powers that be will take that into consideration.

leoXX

It never made sense to me that RTE direct the Gold audience (aged 45+?) to digital platforms and have their youth station on old-fashioned FM. Moving Ireland's biggest jukebox from FM to digital made zero sense as most of it's target audience wouldn't really like fiddling around with apps while making the Sunday roast just to hear a radio show.