15 Years Gerry Ryan

Will Leahy was speculating where he would be on radio today if he was still alive. He was saying it would be unlikely he would still be on 2fm at age 69. He seemed to think he be podcasting if he were still alive today

I was a very regular listener to the Gerry Ryan show.

I have never become a regular listener to any other show (or station) since. I still miss him!

Can’t see him on Rte gold but then again where would he fit on Rte radio 1. One hour 9-10am wouldn’t be enough for him! He’d presumably need to work to support his lifestyle so maybe he would have taken off to Newstalk

Gets stupidly overrated here in Ireland. He was all about smut..

Down with this Sort of Thing!!!!

As Will leahy said in his piece about him this morning on RTE Gold, one of the things he might have been involved in today if he lived, would be podcasts. I imagine he would have got frustrated with the changing radio landscape even if he moved to the independent sector such as Newstalk or Today FM and the woke brigade - he might have been one of the most popular podcasters in the country.

One of the many things about gerry compared to his radio colleagues such as larry and dave was that fairly soon after he moved to mornings on Radio 2 / 2FM in mid 1988 after doing 9 years of music radio with them, you would have not heard him filling in for other 2FM presenters, beats on the streets, having a live weekend show or voicing ads, or even voicing his own promos for the station - just like gay byrne on radio 1 his contract for radio must have been very tight in that he never really diverted from 9 to 12 noon monday to friday.

I certainly listened to him in the 80s and early 90s on his radio show but eventually, all talk radio sounded repetitive and boring and I don’t think even the great Gerry Ryan could have done much about that- it just lost its uniqueness - social media then took over in the 2010s which I think really killed talk radio.

I reckon he would have done more TV and possibly documentaries - I don’t think he could last the pace doing the same sh01te day in day out over the last 15 years on his radio show ?

Had he got The Late Late gig, (which is doubtful) he would have stayed there till retirement , cut out the radio show whilst still earning a packet and would have endorsed every thing from condoms to Christmas trees without any shame if the price was right 😀

A big gap on our broadcasting landscape appeared the day he died - but the sniffy stuff apparently impacted his relationships and personal life which was sad to see too.

While his post marriage partner has criticised his friends as ignoring him, I think the reality is that Gerry lived beyond his means, and wanted to earn more and have far more acclaim than he was actually worth - I reckon this drove a wedge between those that knew him and while they were just getting on with raising families and working away, Gerry wanted a lot more limelight - as Tubridy has now learned, he was a big fish in a very small pond.

Continued Rest in Peace Gerry -you’re probably lovin the attention 😀

As yes, “smut”- I miss smut. 😀

"The Meaning of Life" is programme from RTE's Religious Affairs department.

I think it's the least likely programme I could envisage Gerry presenting!

"Ryan Confidential" was one of his final TV ventures, this is where he interviewed personalities one to one.

Even though The Meaning of Life came under the Religious Affairs department, I think Gerry would have liked the idea of getting into someone's mind about spirituality. Ryan Confidential was almost like a precursor to that kind of programme.

I was thinking of the music shows Gerry presented on Radio 2 from May 1979 up until his move to the morning talk show (April 1988):

• Here comes the weekend
• Saturday Scene
• Rocksteady
• Guest suite
• Groovin' on a Sunday afternoon
• The Gerry Ryan show
• Lights Out

I did my secondary school homework listening to Gerry Ryan and Dave Fanning and their night shows on Radio 2. When Gerry moved to the morning chat show I enjoyed it for a few years.

I didnt enjoy his TV work and his big personality. But Ryan and Fanning opened the world of music and Irish Bands of the early 80s to me.

”Lights out” was massively popular with schoolgirls - wasn’t it on Sunday nights around 10pm? A lot of his listeners then became morning show listeners they went on to have families in their 20s - clever or wha? 😀

it’s been proven with Kenny and Tubridy that it is the time slot rather than the personality that drives the audience number and therefore the revenue. The same applies to Ryan.