RTE considering future of Lyric FM

Jim Comic · 15-09-2019 10:47am

superb doc from lyric a few weeks ago....

https://soundcloud.com/the-lyric-feature/no-journeys-end-20-june

The Rape of Lucretia · 15-09-2019 11:25am

Its just a pointless waste now, and may as well be given the bullet. In reality, it ceased to exist after the whole Martyfication rejig that destroyed it as a classical music station 10 or so years ago. The only case for retaining funding for it would be if that damage were undone and it reoriented back to its original purpose and programming. But there is unlikely anyone in command in RTE with the necessary cultural vision to see that.

Expunge · 15-09-2019 1:59pm

The Rape of Lucretia wrote: »

Its just a pointless waste now, and may as well be given the bullet. In reality, it ceased to exist after the whole Martyfication rejig that destroyed it as a classical music station 10 or so years ago. The only case for retaining funding for it would be if that damage were undone and it reoriented back to its original purpose and programming. But there is unlikely anyone in command in RTE with the necessary cultural vision to see that.

And that's it, really. Lyric has neither the focus of Classic FM nor the credibility of Radio 3. Just because some people think John Kelly's music is cool or Marty is gas is not a reason to retain it.
A reboot or closure should be the only options.
What's more likely is nothing will happen and it'll be left trundle on in MOR radio hell till the next crisis in another 24 months.

Infoanon · 15-09-2019 2:44pm

First it was Closing Lyric, now the headings are:
RTE to close Cork Studios
RTE to sell lands at Montrose

Spot a trend yet ?.

On the bigger issue:
If you want public service broadcasting - RnaG, Lyric etc then you have to pay more it,
If you don't then say goodbye to RnaG etc

Sam Smyth raised a good point on the Marian show - does RTE have any plan 10 year? Even 5 year ?

Harry Palmr · 15-09-2019 2:51pm

Infoanon wrote: »

First it was Closing Lyric, now the headings are:
RTE to close Cork Studios
RTE to sell lands at Montrose

Spot a trend yet ?.

On the bigger issue:
If you want public service broadcasting - RnaG, Lyric etc then you have to pay more it,
If you don't then say goodbye to RnaG etc

Sam Smyth raised a good point on the Marian show - does RTE have any plan 10 year? Even 5 year ?

Hard to have a plan on shifting sands to be fair! In 10 years time RTE may well not exist at all.

Expunge · 15-09-2019 3:14pm

Infoanon wrote: »

First it was Closing Lyric, now the headings are:
RTE to close Cork Studios
RTE to sell lands at Montrose

Spot a trend yet ?.

On the bigger issue:
If you want public service broadcasting - RnaG, Lyric etc then you have to pay more it,
If you don't then say goodbye to RnaG etc

Sam Smyth raised a good point on the Marian show - does RTE have any plan 10 year? Even 5 year ?

There'll be no saying goodbye to RnaG, even if the rest of RTE were to fail. That's a sacred cow with something like 65 full time staff in it.

The extent of the RTE plan was to have the Licence Fee or it's equivalent increased and index linked. That's it. There seems to be no plan B.

ford fiesta · 15-09-2019 4:20pm

Salary costs for Lyric must be huge....How much exactly??

Hamilton is on €186,195 based on 2016. Yes he does some sports commentaries too, though there a lot of Lyric presenters with RTE as staff for years such as Marty, Niall Carroll, Liz Nolan and Lorcan.

John Kelly is also a highly paid presenter on well over €130k for playing 2 hours of records in the evening. In 2007 he earned €215,636 as a contractor

Infoanon · 15-09-2019 4:49pm

Harry Palmr wrote: »

Infoanon wrote: »

First it was Closing Lyric, now the headings are:
RTE to close Cork Studios
RTE to sell lands at Montrose

Spot a trend yet ?.

On the bigger issue:
If you want public service broadcasting - RnaG, Lyric etc then you have to pay more it,
If you don't then say goodbye to RnaG etc

Sam Smyth raised a good point on the Marian show - does RTE have any plan 10 year? Even 5 year ?

Hard to have a plan on shifting sands to be fair! In 10 years time RTE may well not exist at all.

Not really - if this was the private sector there would be plans - business risk and proposals to mitigate the risks as a minimum

chicorytip · 15-09-2019 10:07pm

ford fiesta wrote: »

Salary costs for Lyric must be huge....How much exactly??

Hamilton is on €186,195 based on 2016. Yes he does some sports commentaries too, though there a lot of Lyric presenters with RTE as staff for years such as Marty, Niall Carroll, Liz Nolan and Lorcan.

John Kelly is also a highly paid presenter on well over €130k for playing 2 hours of records in the evening. In 2007 he earned €215,636 as a contractor

At least Hamilton seems knowledgeable of and enthusiastic about classical music. His shows are enjoyable to listen to as a result. Whelan, Murray and Kelly are just pop disc jockeys and their presence is jarringly at odds with the overall context of what a classical music station should be broadcasting.

Doblin · 15-09-2019 10:19pm

In about 2006 RTE decided to start using lyric as a dumping ground for djs no longer wanted on R1 or 2fm. Marty Whelan admitted in his autobiography, that he thought the head of Radio was joking when he offered him a show on lyric.

boombang · 15-09-2019 10:20pm

I think there's no sense in paying mega wages when we know the gilded circle would never make as much if they had to go and work in commercial radio. That goes for pretty much everybody in RTE.

limnam · 15-09-2019 10:22pm

chicorytip wrote: »

At least Hamilton seems knowledgeable of and enthusiastic about classical music. His shows are enjoyable to listen to as a result. Whelan, Murray and Kelly are just pop disc jockeys and their presence is jarringly at odds with the overall context of what a classical music station should be broadcasting.

Kelly a pop disc jockey?

It's almost like you've never listened to a show.

Kelly is one of the very few across RTE as a whole worth spending any of our license fee on.

Expunge · 16-09-2019 12:51am

limnam wrote: »

Kelly a pop disc jockey?

It's almost like you've never listened to a show.

Kelly is one of the very few across RTE as a whole worth spending any of our license fee on.

Kelly is a 'that was this is' merchant and sounds like he's still in a sulk about being kicked off Radio 1. The music selection should really not be on Lyric at that time. Anyway, John Creedon covers much (not all) of the same stuff in a similar time slot. Maybe one or the other should be paid for. Not both.

ford fiesta · 16-09-2019 9:06am

John Kelly is now a staffer they have nowhere else to put him

Doblin · 16-09-2019 9:13am

ford fiesta wrote: »

John Kelly is now a staffer they have nowhere else to put him

When/why did JK go from being a contractor to staff ?

Expunge · 18-09-2019 3:38pm

https://www.google.com/amp/s/evoke.ie/2019/09/17/showbiz/marty-whelan-concerned-lyric-fms/amp

Terry Wogan tribute act appeals for gravy train to continue. "Lovely livelihood" under threat.

Expunge · 13-11-2019 1:24pm

https://twitter.com/Ear_thling/status/1194535815839469568

The luvvies of Limerick will not allow Lyric to go quietly into the night.

Apart from the obvious personal distress of some staff based locally, it hardly matters where lyric is based as long as it's doing the job it was created to do.

And a great deal of the time it's not doing that.

limnam · 13-11-2019 2:03pm

Expunge wrote: »

And a great deal of the time it's not doing that.

I wouldn't say a great deal.

The morning show could be adjusted but apart from that I think it lives up to it's remit.

Expunge · 13-11-2019 4:49pm

limnam wrote: »

I wouldn't say a great deal.

The morning show could be adjusted but apart from that I think it lives up to it's remit.

Yeah. I'd say 'adjusted' is a bit of an understatement. The night time is gone to pot also with the surly John Kelly doing a version of John Creedon followed by a fella playing a fair bit of Led Zeppelin each night.

There seems to be a cadre of auld fellas who are fairly hostile to classical music with too much control in there.

They have gone a long way to ****ing up the whole project. RTE management have allowed it to happen and a load of minions in Limerick will pay the price.

ford fiesta · 13-11-2019 8:02pm

How many staff are with Lyric down in Limerick?

Expunge · 13-11-2019 11:29pm

ford fiesta wrote: »

How many staff are with Lyric down in Limerick?

Papers say somewhere around 20 full time with some freelancers and contributors.
Sadly probably too many in this day and age with the technology available.

RINO87 · 15-11-2019 5:57pm

Expunge wrote: »

Yeah. I'd say 'adjusted' is a bit of an understatement. The night time is gone to pot also with the surly John Kelly doing a version of John Creedon followed by a fella playing a fair bit of Led Zeppelin each night.

There seems to be a cadre of auld fellas who are fairly hostile to classical music with too much control in there.

They have gone a long way to ****ing up the whole project. RTE management have allowed it to happen and a load of minions in Limerick will pay the price.

The blue of the night has always played a ton of different genres tho. That being said, led zeppelin get an awful lot of air time on that show, as do Weather Report - not that theres anything wrong with either of these groups at all (great hearing them on radio in fact), but why so much of these two groups?

limnam · 15-11-2019 6:09pm

RINO87 wrote: »

The blue of the night has always played a ton of different genres tho. That being said, led zeppelin get an awful lot of air time on that show, as do Weather Report - not that theres anything wrong with either of these groups at all (great hearing them on radio in fact), but why so much of these two groups?

Is it a recent thing?

I listened to the blue when Carl was on most nights for years and can't recall hearing led zep

two wheels good · 15-11-2019 8:29pm

limnam wrote: »

Is it a recent thing?

I listened to the blue when Carl was on most nights for years and can't recall hearing led zep

I listen to Bernard regularly, not comprehensively admittedly. I don't recall hearing Led Zep .
Iif you want to an example of repetition - "That's Entertainment" on Creedon. John needs to consign his two The Jam singles to the back shelf for a while.

Foxy wolf · 16-11-2019 10:34pm

In the early years of lyric, it actually had it's own newsroom which was crazy extravagant, that time it's entire output was coming from Limerick. Henry Kelly used to fly into Shannon every Sunday morning to do a Sunday afternoon show.

RINO87 · 17-11-2019 3:36pm

two wheels good wrote: »

I listen to Bernard regularly, not comprehensively admittedly. I don't recall hearing Led Zep .
Iif you want to an example of repetition - "That's Entertainment" on Creedon. John needs to consign his two The Jam singles to the back shelf for a while.

yeah i would listen to Bernard a lot, I really like his show, some great stuff on there but over the summer especially there was a lot of zep, and robert plant. Like I said Weather Report seem to be his go to at the moment - but its not like he repeats the same tunes a la creedon,( who is still taking credit for introducing the war on drugs to ireland, by playing the same two soongs!) you get a good spread.

two wheels good · 18-11-2019 10:59pm

Ha! Is Bernard on Boards? Led Zep open this evening.

two wheels good · 18-11-2019 11:14pm

RINO87 wrote: »

yeah i would listen to Bernard a lot, I really like his show, some great stuff on there but over the summer especially there was a lot of zep, and robert plant. Like I said Weather Report seem to be his go to at the moment - but its not like he repeats the same tunes a la creedon,( who is still taking credit for introducing the war on drugs to ireland, by playing the same two soongs!) you get a good spread.

I know I first heard "Thinking of a Place" played by John or Bernard. The gentle rivalry of music fans.

BTW Apologies for my previous off-topic Creedon ref. But shame to puncture the glow of adulation on the JC thread.

PS Not sure if the introduction was from John or Bernard. Richard Swift "The Hex". On repeat on the hi-fi at the moment. Really good.

The Rape of Lucretia · 20-11-2019 9:43pm

RTE started the euthenasia of Lyric around 10 years ago, when then, or shortly after, having dabled in the 'light' with the like of George Hamilton, it went full sell out, spearheaded by Marty Whelan (and I still dont care a whit for his credentials as a Puccini authority). Its martification if you will. He was the figurehead, but not solely to blame. It was one of the greatest tragedies in Irish culture - a radio station that was better than both R3 and ClassicFM but threw it all away. To the eternal shame of the managers of the time. To put it out of its misery now would be a good move, and one I wholeheartedly support. Its not even about the money, more removal from the scene of the reminder of a self inflicted cultural vandalism.

beggars_bush · 27-11-2019 5:36pm

Marty is probably the best morning radio show
Just good light hearted content
I'd be lost without it

limnam · 27-11-2019 6:49pm

beggars_bush wrote: »

Marty is probably the best morning radio show
Just good light hearted content
I'd be lost without it

What time will Sean Connery be at Wimbledon? Tennish…

How could you live without it shur.

RoTelly · 23-03-2022 9:33pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058014972/rte-considering-future-of-lyric-fm

Remember this ?

Just remember RTÉ were awarded an extra €10m when they were highlighting this.... only the cut funding to Lyric FM by nearly a Million or 16%, while they gave 2fm 300,000 extra in funding for 2020.

I am guess that cut was pretty much the cut they'd plan in the end.

Expunge · 24-03-2022 11:34am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118825981#Comment_118825981

Ha, true enough, that's how it all panned out. I suppose we can expect some more dark mutterings this or next year and a threat to Lyric or some other small time arm of RTE from "sources" in RTE.

Meanwhile Lyric continues to waste away with a 3 per cent share of the listening audience. And I suppose 2FM will continue to waste away also.

ford fiesta · 18-02-2024 4:05pm

Donal Dineen back on the radio this weekend, filling in on Lyric FM ...

"After a very long hiatus in the radio desert I’m delighted to say I’ll be back on RTÉ lyric fm for the next few weekends, sitting in on Vespertine; a show that I love. It’s been a full decade of dead air in the wilderness so there isn’t just a mountain of tunes to whittle down but a whole range to get through. Join me from tonight while I try cram the Macgillycddy reeks into 3 hours! Or listen on playback"

Deep Thought · 18-02-2024 4:09pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/111875837#Comment_111875837

Gotta agree.

would listen to him no matter what station he was on.

pinkypinky · 18-02-2024 11:09pm

Gosh, Marty is not for me at all. I stopped listening to Lyric in the morning because of his style.

jmcc · 19-02-2024 12:39am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121786158#Comment_121786158

He should have replaced Tubridy on RTE 1. He's totally unsuited to LyricFM but the fact that he successfully gets listeners is a tribute to his skill as a broadcaster.

Regards...jmcc

limnam · 19-02-2024 10:18am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121786477#Comment_121786477

Depends what people expect from Lyric.

If your expectation of the remit is classical music elitism. Then you're right he doesn't suit it.

But Lyric has long moved away from that.

Those with refined sophisticated tastes can all sigh a relief by 10 am.

But in order to survive it needs to tick boxes for a broader audience and he does that very well.

jmcc · 19-02-2024 10:25am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121786984#Comment_121786984

It is the banter. He's a much better fit for RTE1. The music should be the star of the show. Not sure that I'm elite in terms of music though. :)

Regards...jmcc

Expunge · 19-02-2024 11:49am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121786984#Comment_121786984

Fine, in theory. But the audience does not seem to have become broader. It's still hovering between 3 and 4 per cent daily.

The only thing that's changed is them having to build a new audience from 10am after the "banter merchants" have had their fill and go bore their friends in the golf club.

limnam · 19-02-2024 12:29pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121787332#Comment_121787332

Lyric's numbers are pretty much always increasing.

https://www.rte.ie/radio/lyricfm/news/2023/1109/1415562-rte-lyric-fm-welcomes-thousands-of-new-listeners/

I'm not suggesting it's all down to Marty. But he definitely has an impact on people turning on Lyric who otherwise may never have.

I don't see how changing the slot to something more sophisticated at that time helps

People are generally not sitting down at 7 am for a critical listening session.

They're on the kids lunches/getting ready for work/commuting etc.

Expunge · 19-02-2024 12:43pm

They're not "always increasing".

You're basing that statement on a press release from........lyric fm? C'mon, will ya.

No one's talking about a "critical listening session". Just some consistency in the musical output would be a help. Playing Steely Dan, Alison Moyet, Wham etc with a some classical lollipops rammed in between is simply not good enough. Off with him to Gold if he wants to play those hits.

And the faux reverence for Puccini? Give me a break will ya.

He has an outside gig with the Travel Department a couple of times a year to have lunch with the unwashed scum on their escorted tour and give them a "wiki" introduction to whatever opera they're going to in Rome or Verona or wherever. Envelope in the arse pocket. Thanks very much.

limnam · 19-02-2024 3:17pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121787584#Comment_121787584

huh? The figures are from the JNLR books?

Not to be trusted?

Whats the real numbers?

RINO87 · 19-02-2024 5:19pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121784240#Comment_121784240

Delighted with this, didn't catch at the weekend so looking forward to listening back.

I used to drive a lot when his midnight show was on Today fm, made me stop the car and just take it in a few times!

Expunge · 20-02-2024 12:01pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121788389#Comment_121788389

Yes, those numbers from 2023 point to some increases in some programmes Year on Year and Book on Book.

Were they down or up the year/ book before?

The point is the numbers go up, then down and then maybe up again. They are not always increasing, as you suggested.

The daily lyric numbers lurch from 3 to 4 per cent and back again every few books.

That's fine if it's doing what it's supposed to be doing. Not if they're trying to stink the place out with an ageing pound shop Terry Wogan tribute act with hair plugs, top quality "Banter" and Tears for Fears.

Just like Toy Show the Musical, why the f**k can't they just stay in their lanes and deliver the product they are mandated to deliver?

Maybe if RTE could just start there, they could begin to rebuild their reputation.

GSF · 20-02-2024 10:06pm

Classic fm seem to deliver populism without deviating from the classical music format. Not sure why they can’t just playlist upbeat popular stuff at breakfast and mood playlist it by day with the more niche stuff in the evenings and weekends?

tinytobe · 20-02-2024 10:20pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058014972/rte-considering-future-of-lyric-fm

They are just trying to make a political case for a universal household charge.

medoc · 21-02-2024 2:05am

It’s a pity DAB never took off here. RTÉ need a 5th main national station easily available to cater for the vast majority of the market’s needs, and there is no space on FM. Radio 1 - news, sport, talk and current affairs. 2FM - the youth. Lyric - classical and arts. RnaG - Irish language. Gold - the people “too old” for 2FM. With the exception of RnaG the fm stations are trying to be all things to everyone at the same time. Marty on Lyric, sport on 2FM etc.

RoTelly · 21-02-2024 10:36am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121795585#Comment_121795585

Remember Richard Downes report, laughable really. Lyric was never going anywhere, but Dee Frobes dropped DAB. How much was DAB costing RTÉ to run?

limnam · 21-02-2024 11:39am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121794734#Comment_121794734

Classic FM is pretty much a classical music station.

Lyric FM is not.

RTE considering future of Lyric FM

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