nav[aria-label="Primary Navigation"] { padding: 0; & ul { list-style: none; width: 100%; display: flex; flex-direction: row; justify-content: start; align-items: start; gap: 30px; padding: 0; & li { margin: 0; } & ul li { list-style: none; } } }

Child Item

The future of RTE Radio 1 LW

The Cush

Announced this morning - http://www.rte.ie/about/en/press-office/press-releases/2014/0923/645685-rte-radio-1-moves-from-longwave-transmission/

http://www.rte.ie/radio1/static/2014/0821/638554-stay-tuned/
http://static.rasset.ie/documents/radio1/rte-radio-1-staytuned.pdf

Find more posts tagged with

Quick Links

Comments

dulpit

[Deleted User] wrote: »

But did you not read my posts showing the control the Government have over what we see and hear, do you not think that it's wrong to have such extensive control ?

Surely if the owners of a radio station are paying through the nose for a license they should be entitled to play whatever music they want when they want or whatever content in general without Government interference ?

There is a limited bandwidth, so access needs to be controlled. I don't see a problem with the licences being set up to cover various remits (eg talk, mixed, Irish language, local etc). I don't see that as the government controlling it.

[Deleted User]

dulpit wrote: »

There is a limited bandwidth, so access needs to be controlled. I don't see a problem with the licences being set up to cover various remits (eg talk, mixed, Irish language, local etc). I don't see that as the government controlling it.

Oh but they do control it and control the content and this is wrong, it's there in black and white on the BAI site.

Limited bandwidth ? then don't' give licences if there's no space, I wonder if anyone tried to get 567 Khz up and running commercially and whether RTE blocked it ?

The Government should not be allowed to control and sensor what we hear it's bad enough the media control what they want us to hear/see.

the BAI will give effect to the principles set out in its Compliance and Enforcement policy through measures that are fair and proportionate, that reflect audience needs and are adequate for the purposes of statutory reporting and holding broadcasters to account.

The compliance activities of the BAI are one of the core elements of its work. They have been developed over many years, principally with the aim of monitoring, encouraging and promoting a culture of compliance within the broadcasting sector in Ireland and providing safeguards for audiences. Compliance also informs key areas of work such as the awarding of licences, the development of codes and rules and provides useful information on overall industry trends.

A Compliance and Enforcement Policy has been developed by the BAI to provide a framework for all broadcaster and compliance activities. The Policy sets out the BAI’s general approach to dealing with compliance by, and enforcement against, all broadcasters and contractors licensed in the State. It is a general guide to how the BAI currently operates and is not intended to be exhaustive, but informative.

It's a sad day if anyone doesn't see how wrong all that above is in a free world but then again, Ireland has no free speech and that above certainly proves it.

I accept we need licensing and there needs to be certain rules but controlling the content of a radio station is just wrong.

[Deleted User]

I tried to endure Rising time again this morning but the usual News and Covid adds is a real turn off, + the music choice by the program manager leaves a lot to be desired.

[Deleted User]

I turned on Spirit today because it's not a station I would listen to and I thought it's supposed to be a Christian station ?

What's with the music, surely a Christian station talks about God and Jesus, the Bible and play songs devoted to God and Jesus so what's with their music ? it's head wrecking like what you hear on normal radio, I'm baffled as to why the songs have words like him and paradise but can't mention God or Jesus or did I tune in at the wrong time ?

KildareP

Deleted User wrote: »

I turned on Spirit today because it's not a station I would listen to and I thought it's supposed to be a Christian station ?

What's with the music, surely a Christian station talks about God and Jesus, the Bible and play songs devoted to God and Jesus so what's with their music ? it's head wrecking like what you hear on normal radio, I'm baffled as to why the songs have words like him and paradise but can't mention God or Jesus or did I tune in at the wrong time ?

Don't have the dedicated audience for it here so they end up having to lean heavily on "family friendly" Top 40 to try and get the more middle of the road listener to stay listening. There's lots of mainstream songs that have been badly chopped and hacked, remember happening upon them while playing Don Henley's Boys of Summer, they've completely chopped out the "Remember how I made you scream?" line :pac:

Whereas the likes of KLOVE and KWAVE in the US who are 100% religious, non-mainstream programming have significantly more listeners per % of marketshare than Spirit does - although like Spirit these seem to opt out of the US equivalent of JNLRs in most of their markets so true listenership isn't necessarily verifiable.

The US also love their evangelical monster churches and country-music-for-Christians style of music a lot more than we do here!

dxhound2005

When RTE closes 252, they should give the facilities to Radio North and/or Radio Star Country. They have kept going on Medium Wave for a long time. They sell most of their air time to hellfire preachers, so there must be a good market for that sort of stuff.

http://www.radionorth.net/listenlive.htm

http://radiostarcountry.com/schedule/

It's slightly less painful than listening to the old pirates who used to read out lists of the price of tins of beans and sliced pans from local shops.

[Deleted User]

KildareP wrote: »

Don't have the dedicated audience for it here so they end up having to lean heavily on "family friendly" Top 40 to try and get the more middle of the road listener to stay listening. There's lots of mainstream songs that have been badly chopped and hacked, remember happening upon them while playing Don Henley's Boys of Summer, they've completely chopped out the "Remember how I made you scream?" line :pac:

Whereas the likes of KLOVE and KWAVE in the US who are 100% religious, non-mainstream programming have significantly more listeners per % of marketshare than Spirit does - although like Spirit these seem to opt out of the US equivalent of JNLRs in most of their markets so true listenership isn't necessarily verifiable.

The US also love their evangelical monster churches and country-music-for-Christians style of music a lot more than we do here!

Yeah those big churches in the US with their modern Christian music or noise are circuses and nothing to do with Christianity really, I've absolutely nothing against preachers who preach the Bible, something Catholics are not thought. If People want to listen to it then I'm fine with it.

Back to Spirit, they don't need many People to teach Real Christianity, the Bible but they probably don't have People here that Know the bible and scripture because Catholics are not thought the Bible.

So the purpose of Spirit I don't know but the so called Christian modern music made me laugh, they just couldn't say God or Jesus and just he and him. That's certainly not Christian.

Spirit are on MW too.

[Deleted User]

dxhound2005 wrote: »

When RTE closes 252, they should give the facilities to Radio North and/or Radio Star Country. They have kept going on Medium Wave for a long time. They sell most of their air time to hellfire preachers, so there must be a good market for that sort of stuff.

http://www.radionorth.net/listenlive.htm

http://radiostarcountry.com/schedule/

It's slightly less painful than listening to the old pirates who used to read out lists of the price of tins of beans and sliced pans from local shops.

RTE are hell bent on ridding Ireland of that woefully bad old technology and would rather cut down the 567 and 252 masts and burn the transmitters than see them used again even though they are taxpayers transmitters we should have some say how they're used.

I know my Mother, Aunt and loads more wouldn't care if Radio Star and Irish Country music radio were on MW they'd listen to it. I probably would too if the music was decent.

It's amazing thought to see my 73 year old Mother bopping around to Irish Country music radio or radio star, RTE would depress you and Irish radio in general and the BAI don't really cater for all that like that kind of music which is a lot of People and I admit I do too I was raised on it and because of The BAIs obsession with enforcement the local stations like KFM, KCLR and others I'm sure have to play the endless 1 man bad Irish country much we hear too much of today, the Country oldies wouldn't get on Irish FM radio I can guarantee that.

I clicked on radio north and clicked the link at the bottom and it's playing a deck of cards and OMG I haven't heard that in a long time. Is that the live stream ?

At least radio north have a Christian type schedule with Bible study, nothing wrong with that. What has Spirit got ? I hear oldies music now on radio north so not bad.

Anyway the permission is given to tear down 567 mast and boy God that's what they'll do with a big celebration on RTE news to hail the digital era and to reinforce the idea that there's no place for MW today.

[Deleted User]

RTE are missing a trick here as they could easily devolop RTE GOLD as an alternative to news,covid,talk etc and put it on FM. It seems to be very popular and I have heard it it lots of work places and shops being played,people are fed up with all the gloomy news and would welcome an alternative!

[Deleted User]

zorro2566 wrote: »

RTE are missing a trick here as they could easily devolop RTE GOLD as an alternative to news,covid,talk etc and put it on FM. It seems to be very popular and I have heard it it lots of work places and shops being played,people are fed up with all the gloomy news and would welcome an alternative!

It's not just the news and continuous covid talk it's the music is also depressing on FM in general, that muck on 2fm for instance, it's horrible, it's not music it's people talking out crap lyrics to music created on an ipad.

Gold on FM would be subject to the same Government control anyway so will have news and covid crap and they won't be allowed play what they play all day on Digital because at the moment the same BAI control does not exist for Digital probably as it's most likely a trial license.

Gold does not fit in the BAI's idea of "a station for all People"

galtee boy

zorro2566 wrote: »

RTE are missing a trick here as they could easily devolop RTE GOLD as an alternative to news,covid,talk etc and put it on FM. It seems to be very popular and I have heard it it lots of work places and shops being played,people are fed up with all the gloomy news and would welcome an alternative!

http://www.rte.ie/news/ireland/2021/0302/1200334-rte-dab-network/

Now that DAB is gone at the end of the month, I totally agree that there is an opening to do something with RTE Gold on fm, but I don't know where on the fm band it could go. BAI won't give RTE a new frequency to use.

[Deleted User]

galtee boy wrote: »

http://www.rte.ie/news/ireland/2021/0302/1200334-rte-dab-network/

Now that DAB is gone at the end of the month, I totally agree that there is an opening to do something with RTE Gold on fm, but I don't know where on the fm band it could go. BAI won't give RTE a new frequency to use.

BAI won't give Gold a new frequency because it doesn't meet the standard for then to meet the needs of everyone, even though it would probably be one of the most popular stations out there but for the last while they have been slipping in some pop sounding muck or genres I wouldn't call Gold.

Putting it on 567 Khz would have been good as most People have access to a MW radio but they're hell bent on tearing that transmitter to bits.

They should do tours and make some money.

galtee boy

Deleted User wrote: »

BAI won't give Gold a new frequency because it doesn't meet the standard for then to meet the needs of everyone, even though it would probably be one of the most popular stations out there but for the last while they have been slipping in some pop sounding muck or genres I wouldn't call Gold.

Putting it on 567 Khz would have been good as most People have access to a MW radio but they're hell bent on tearing that transmitter to bits.

They should do tours and make some money.

I can't see RTE Gold or any of the other RTE digital stations surviving by being only available online. There are tens of thousands of similar stations from all over the world available online.

[Deleted User]

galtee boy wrote: »

I can't see RTE Gold or any of the other RTE digital stations surviving by being only available online. There are tens of thousands of similar stations from all over the world available online.

If you're to look at it like that there's Spotify so no need for radio, personally I would like mostly music with a mixture of talk, no debates, politics or talk shows but a decent DJ, I still like to hear a human on the radio now and again.

galtee boy

Deleted User wrote: »

If you're to look at it like that there's Spotify so no need for radio, personally I would like mostly music with a mixture of talk, no debates, politics or talk shows but a decent DJ, I still like to hear a human on the radio now and again.

I don't listen to radio for serious music listening, I'll play music from Spotify, advert free, on a very good wireless speaker system at home, where I don't have a DJ talking over the start or end of the track. I use radio a lot for talk, sport etc, but its in the car, in my van while driving for work or on the kitchen radio at home. I use Internet radio for listening to the BBC stations, as I can't get them on FM in Cork and the mw for Five Live is too inconsistent.

Mickey Mike

Now we are waiting for the backlash from the public after announcing the closure of DAB radio, just like the tore when RTE tried to close Long Wave in 2014. It will be interesting to see what happens.

Sam Russell

Lidl have a DAB+ radio on offer next Monday 8th March for €34.99. Unfortunate timing for them.

Mickey Mike

Sam Russell wrote: »

Lidl have a DAB+ radio on offer next Monday 8th March for €34.99. Unfortunate timing for them.

I think its truly sad, they need to immediately pull them from stock, no point. Only thing is they will have FM, I'm quite surprised about the pulling of DAB.

[Deleted User]

Sure every Currys all over the Island sell dab radios, I laugh when I go into the one in Carlow and that's all you see and there no DAB to be received it's funny.

dowtchaboy

Mickey Mike wrote: »

I think its truly sad, they need to immediately pull them from stock, no point. Only thing is they will have FM, I'm quite surprised about the pulling of DAB.

Oh I don't know - Tesco have been trying to flog DAB radios in places like Wexford, Waterford, Carlow and rural Cork for years even though there's no local transmitters. They eventually get severely discounted and somebody must buy them, maybe to sell in Dublin?

If the LIDl one has FM and/or Bluetooth, and it gets discounted, it might be interesting.

dowtchaboy

Slightly OT, but someone mentioned TuneIn and other radio apps:

There's an interesting radio app called Radio Garden - claims to have all radio stations on it - both broadcasters and online, and it appears, quite a few less established operators (nudge, nudge)

Fun part is that each station is a dot on a globe, and you can zoom in on an area, maybe your old home town, and find out whats to be heard. Or pick some Carribean island and find some old-school reggae.... If you tap on a dot, you'll get a list of all the stations in the area, and then popular ones in the county, country etc.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.jonathanpuckey.radiogarden&hl=en_IE&gl=US
It's on Apple iOs as well

Strangely enough they also have radio "stations" like Dublin Airport - Control Tower, and Final Approach, Ground operations etc.

Gerry Wicklow

Deleted User wrote: »

Sure every Currys all over the Island sell dab radios, I laugh when I go into the one in Carlow and that's all you see and there no DAB to be received it's funny.

Therein lies the root of the problem. RTENL still thinks the world ends at the M50. No one in their right mind is going to buy a relatively expensive radio for a service that doesn't exist. Like so many RTE efforts it was strangled at birth. :mad:
Even for cars with DAB fitted, I doubt the average user even knows if they are listening to DAB or FM. Or gives a damn when it comes to that.

Sam Russell

Gerry Wicklow wrote: »

Therein lies the root of the problem. RTENL still thinks the world ends at the M50. No one in their right mind is going to buy a relatively expensive radio for a service that doesn't exist. Like so many RTE efforts it was strangled at birth. :mad:
Even for cars with DAB fitted, I doubt the average user even knows if they are listening to DAB or FM. Or gives a damn when it comes to that.

Well, it might not be all RTE's fault. All you can get on DAB or DAB+ is RTE stations.

If the BAI had insisted that 'national' stations like NewsTalk had to be on DAB or DAB+ and on Saorview to retain their national status, it might have increased listenership, which might have encouraged the roll out of DAB or DAB+ across the country. Local stations could have been put on local DAB transmitters.

I have a DAB radio but because I want to swap from RTE to other stations not on DAB, I just leave it on FM. It also has Web radio, but it only connects to the web when I try to switch, so I do not bother with that either. These products are not well designed for use by normal people.

The Lidl radio does not appear to have AM.

[Deleted User]

I won't be shouting about the loss of DAB as it offered nothing better to the public, RTE tried to sell it as the wonderful modern radio that offered no need to tune the radio which FM already did and does at least in a lot of modern cars, the stations just appear as they're detected, no need to tune, so what's left ? quality ? sorry, mp2 isn't what I call quality and who needs to hear Joe Duffy in CD quality sound ? lol.

[Deleted User]

One of the real issues I have with most Irish radio station internet streams is that the quality is crap, DAB was streaming in MP2 ffs, a codec invented in 1985 if I remember correctly and RTE pushing DAB as the great modern technology ? seriously RTE ? if they had Gold on 567 Khz it would have got a lot more listeners but they wouldn't dare fire it back up after telling us of the woeful sound quality and the news clip where they went around asking some spotty teen in some electrical shop " when was the last time you were asked for an AM radio" ? " No one ever asked me for an AM radio" of course not because if anyone came in asking for a radio it would be just that a radio and most people would expect it to have AM/FM or AM/FM/LW ffs.

It would be a sad day to see 567 Khz destroyed, it would be a national shame.

I would seriously love a tour of the facility before the bulldozers come, they'll probably dump the transmitter and all. It's shocking what they can do with taxpayers property. If I had the money I'd buy the site and transmitter.

Mickey Mike

You would think with all the wealth some people have in this country, not just millionaires but billionaires, that they have no interest in saving some of our natural history. It would be absolutely fabulous if they put RTE Gold MW 567kHz, surly to god someone somewhere might have a go. The word should be spread, these people are going to die millionaires anyway. But if this transmitter comes down, well that's it then.

lertsnim

Deleted User wrote: »

and RTE pushing DAB as the great modern technology ? seriously RTE ?

When did RTÉ ever push DAB? Most people in this country including those in areas with DAB coverage will have not have heard of DAB.

kazoo106

Archive from RTE Newsletter 2006

RTÉ Radio – 80 years on, the original "wireless" goes digital

RTÉ Radio is to launch a series of trials that will signal the beginning of its move into the digital age. The trials will also mark the 80th anniversary of Irish Radio.

Beginning 1 January 2006 and for approximately three months, RTÉ will test DAB Digital Radio in an area covering Greater Dublin and the North East – selected for its high population and building density. Assuming the trial is a technical success, RTÉ Radio will then seek to apply for a full broadcast licence in this area later in 2006.

Radio’s primary platform today is the familiar FM wireless broadcast which is cheap, mobile, easy to use and universally available. RTÉ remains committed to FM as a core platform while DAB is a "best fit" for the next generation of radio. DAB retains the advantages of FM, while offering immediate and tangible improvements to the listener and the sector:

• More channels and choice – DAB offers room for existing and new services.

• Low cost receivers with auto-tuning and pause/replay facilities – no need to fiddle with tuning dials, stations appear on a menu – and you can "rewind" live radio.

• Enhanced listening experience – no interference or hiss; additional programme text etc.

• Compatibility with FM – the majority of DAB radios also receive FM; so the listener keeps their existing channels.

• More efficient use of spectrum – more stations fit on the dial.

On the 1 January 1926, the station 2RN was launched on behalf of Radio Éireann by Douglas Hyde. Since then, RTÉ Radio has grown to offer 4 channels: RTÉ Radio 1, RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta, RTÉ 2fm, and RTÉ Lyric fm. These channels are broadcast over the airwaves, on satellite, cable and the web. This growth reflects the diversity of audience demand and the availability of new technologies.

In early 2004, RTÉ Radio decided that it was time to step-up planning for digital radio. FM Radio has remained substantially unchanged for the past 40 years and we are now entering a period of rapid development. Our European neighbours, especially the U.K., are moving on digital radio. This challenges the entire Irish radio sector to keep pace, but also, to lay a clear path. So, it is a key element of RTÉ’s strategy that successful national implementation of DAB will require the co-operation of all those involved in the sector – other broadcasters, policy makers, regulators, retailers etc.

Speaking to launch RTÉ Radio’s digital tests, Adrian Moynes, Managing Director of RTÉ Radio said "There is an opportunity for the radio industry as a whole to bring the benefits of digital radio to listeners. Radio has a unique place in the lives of the nation and must adapt to retain that engagement as other platforms and services develop."

Other planned advances by RTÉ Radio in 2006 include further development of its recently started podcast programme and expansion of the already extensive variety of radio content available on www.rte.ie .

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Technical brief:

There are many new digital technologies available, and in development, for the transmission of audiovisual content. In general they can be broken into three overall systems or platforms:

Terrestrial, (i.e. over the airwaves)

Satellite

Broadband/Cable

We are seeing a great deal of growth in the number of platforms and services available. What is likely in future is that the same content will be available on a wide variety of platforms. The listener will choose the platform that suits their lifestyle, pocket or listening preferences – at the moment of listening.

Radio at present is a robust and almost ubiquitous technology. The simple device that provides sound at the touch of one button remains the mainstay of radio listening and commands an enormous amount of our attention as a nation – average 270 mins per day per capita. Thus it is certainly important for RTÉ to occupy a variety of platforms, so as to meet the listener where and how they want to listen, but it is also vital that radio, and particularly RTÉ Radio as a public service broadcaster, maintains a core "primary platform" that is cheap, easy to use, highly mobile, available to all and unique.

In considering the technologies that might fit these criteria, DAB emerges a clear winner. Critics will argue that there are more efficient coding systems and that there have been difficulties in some areas, such as the U.K. with indoor reception. They also charge that the quality of DAB is in some cases worse than FM.

In order to deal with these issues it’s necessary to say a little about how DAB works. Unlike conventional radio signals, where one signal carries one channel, a single DAB transmission (or multiplex) can carry between 6 to 10 channels. The quality of each channel is therefore determined by the number of channels overall, i.e. fewer channels equals higher quality. In the U.K. there has been considerable debate on this issue between those who wish to see the highest quality possible and those who argue for more choice. What is known is that surveys repeatedly show that the average listener buys a DAB radio for the additional channels it offers rather than the quality per se. DAB is therefore an enabler of benefit to the listener rather than an end in itself. This is not to say that the quality of DAB is poor – even at a reasonably mediocre bit rate level (e.g. 128kbps) there is still a clean stereo signal with little or none of the interference or "hiss" commonly experienced on FM.

Difficulties with indoor reception have been acknowledged by the U.K. network operators but this has been much more a result of spectrum planning at an international level than of faults in the technology itself. These issues are currently being addressed throughout Europe and can be overcome in Ireland.

Finally, the question of the efficiency of the system is an extremely complex one. There are other technologies such as DRM (Digital Radio Mondiale) and DVB-H (Digital Video Broadcasting – Handheld) that, have the potential to compete with DAB in different ways. Because we are entering the digital arena, it is likely that all of these technologies will improve continuously for at least the next thirty years. So, the process of selecting a digital radio platform can give rise to the sort of anxiety experienced by anyone entering a shop to buy a digital camera – there is always something new, something better just over the horizon. It’s important to note however, that many of these technologies address different markets and can therefore be complementary to DAB. The selection of DAB as a primary platform does not preclude the development of other platforms, such as DRM.

The only way to resolve this issue and to reach decision is to ask what best suits the listener and the broadcaster now, while also providing great possibility for future development. The alternative is that the simplicity of radio becomes diluted by a confusion of digital platforms and offerings.

DAB is the only technology available that fits the bill in this respect. The technology is robust, well tested and it is possible to buy a receiver in the U.K. now for as little as £40 stg. It is also worth noting that, for all its supposed faults (and a very slow start!), DAB listening rose spectacularly in the U.K. last year (165%) and now represents 5.5% of all radio listening. It’s likely that this will accelerate further in the next few years.

In summary DAB maintains the many advantages of FM while offering new benefit to listeners and broadcasters. The key to its successful introduction will be to emphasise this continuity. Though listeners will require a new radio to hear DAB, most of these radios also offer FM and it will be important to encourage listeners to think of the purchase as an "upgrade" rather than a completely new system.

Oscarziggy

Mickey Mike wrote: »

You would think with all the wealth some people have in this country, not just millionaires but billionaires, that they have no interest in saving some of our natural history. It would be absolutely fabulous if they put RTE Gold MW 567kHz, surly to god someone somewhere might have a go. The word should be spread, these people are going to die millionaires anyway. But if this transmitter comes down, well that's it then.

Has work started on the new tower yet ?
From the planning application - Quote "Within 6 months of the commissioning of the 48m communications tower,the existing 296m high tower shall be dismantled and removed from site at the developer's expense".

Mickey Mike

Oscarziggy wrote: »

Has work started on the new tower yet ?
From the planning application - Quote "Within 6 months of the commissioning of the 48m communications tower,the existing 296m high tower shall be dismantled and removed from site at the developer's expense".

I don't know, I hope they take pictures and video the dismantling of the TX, it has been idle for 13 years, no one, group or company bothered with it, the same thing will apply with the Clarkestown TX and that won't be long.