Will TXFM ever return?

its_steve116

I think it would be great if TXFM came back, they played great music that you wouldn't hear anywhere else.

California Dreamer

Pointless poll as there is no license in the first place and you hide the poll results.

its_steve116

I think it would be hugely beneficial for the alternative music scene.

petejmk

From memory the specialist shows were good but the main output was generic enough drawn from a narrow playlist and influenced by whatever gigs were coming up/recently announced and advertised on the station.

Thought I'd be sorry to see it go but Spotify easily filled the gap unfortunately.

end of the road

no .
the BAI will never advertise another new license again for anything i reccan.
renewals of existing licenses for existing operators, unless there is a shock and there is a second bidder, or temporary licenses here and there will be yer lot.
stations like TX won't ever be able to pay the bills under the existing high cost regime even if an alternative license was advertised.

ford fiesta

Probably not. I think it was the last of the specialist FM stations that won the hearts of both real and passing music fans, before streaming and accessing any song / podcast on your phone became the norm.

Although there was a big fuss when it ceased, if it remained on air it would struggle to keep the listeners it had 5/6 years ago

L1011

TXFM - no. That's dead and gone.

Another similar station - the tiniest chance if the BAI re-advertise the licence and very significant derogations can be agreed with a bidder - no Irish % imposed (although they'd probably meet it), no news/current affairs requirement at all, minimal studio and office space allowed and so on.

GBX

Can't see it. In its absence I listen to 8radio online.

Hurrache

8Radio is more than good enough as a replacement.

Tabnabs

BBC 6 Music, the only radio station I ever listen to nowadays.

Former Former Former

TXFM never got the listenership it needed and I would guess that most of the audience it did have were carried over from its glory days of Phantom. Trying to start a new station from scratch would be almost impossible.

The Today XM stream is very similar in its content, I listen to that a lot.

Tork

There are far more online options now. I listen to all sorts online when I'm at home. I've also been pleasantly surprised at how well TuneIn works in the car when it's connected up to Android Auto. It's not perfect - it still buffers at times - but that is only going to improve as technology progresses.

Declan A Walsh

OP, any chance that you could unhide the poll results? I can see that 25 people (at the time of typing) have responded, but I don't know the breakdown between the options provided.

I think the TXFM ship has sailed. The people involved with it, and its previous incarnation Phantom FM, have moved on to other projects - some radio, some not. The original founder of Phantom Simon Maher set up 8Radio.com- some of the presenters were with Phantom/TXFM. Some are involved with Today FM, including John Caddell, former PD of TXFM, who is now Assistant PD.

I think a more pertinent question might be: will there ever be an FM license for an Alternative Rock Station again - for Dublin or anywhere in Ireland? Given the experience of Phantom/TXFM and the changing listening habits of what would likely be the primary target audience, I would have my doubts about that. I think the best that could be hoped for would be temporary licenses and I think that will be covered by 8Radio.com.

its_steve116

Declan A Walsh wrote: »

OP, any chance that you could unhide the poll results? I can see that 25 people (at the time of typing) have responded, but I don't know the breakdown between the options provided.

I think the TXFM ship has sailed. The people involved with it, and its previous incarnation Phantom FM, have moved on to other projects - some radio, some not. The original founder of Phantom Simon Maher set up 8Radio.com- some of the presenters were with Phantom/TXFM. Some are involved with Today FM, including John Caddell, former PD of TXFM, who is now Assistant PD.

I think a more pertinent question might be: will there ever be an FM license for an Alternative Rock Station again - for Dublin or anywhere in Ireland? Given the experience of Phantom/TXFM and the changing listening habits of what would likely be the primary target audience, I would have my doubts about that. I think the best that could be hoped for would be temporary licenses and I think that will be covered by 8Radio.com.

"No" has the most votes at the moment, followed by "Maybe". I don't want to influence the vote.

Hurrache

Is everyone voicing an option actually voting? I know I didn't as it doesn't really make much sense.

Declan A Walsh

I'm bumping up this thread so that you can see the results of this rather bizarre poll.

JJKC

I still don't understand why did communicorp go to all that trouble of rebranding and relaunching phantom in 2014, only to not reapply for the licence in 2016.

Declan A Walsh

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118328444#Comment_118328444

I think it was the last throw of the dice. Give it a new name, reduce the schedule, streamline the staff, link it to Today FM and see if those changes would improve the figures. It was worth a shot as the license was not due to expire until October 2016. Two years later, it was clear to the owners that it was not going to make much difference, so they confirmed in spring of 2016 that they would not be reapplying to renew their license. That's how I see it.

Ironically, the fact that they knew they would not be renewing their license in their final year made TXFM be more adventurous with their music mix than normal, akin to Phantom's pirate days! I remember the day they went all 1991 - that was great!

It was a shame it did not work. It was always going to be difficult for such a commercial niche station to succeed in Ireland, even without any stipulations attached to the license. At least 8Radio.com is more or less filling that gap, albeit on a largely voluntary basis with, accordingly, part-time presenting of programs.