Phantom - More changes for the worse in mid Sept.

Ah no, Sunday mornings are great

only heard about this today from another Phantom DJ, can't believe it, WTF is going on with the management there?
James and Derek's shows are 2 of the best on Phantom by a mile.
why in the name of god would i want to listen to a repeat of Alison Curtis interviewing someone about some BS topic on a Sunday night, instead of good new music like there currently is.

sure why pay people to play good music when you can pay Jason Byrne and Eamonn Fennell to have "wacky banter" instead.

is it any wonder that the station has been going to **** and losing listeners since they pushed all the decent music shows to stupid times, and the day time is full of generic chat shows that could fit in just as easily on TodayFM or 2FM....


in other news, Michelle Doherty is leaving Phantom completely too.

I think the new management have already proved they're not interested in your opinion.

silaf wrote: »

Guys this is terrible, I only discovered Pearls show a few weeks ago and it is by a long distance the best show I have ever heard on radio.

When is her final show? Can anyone tell me if Pearl works for any other station? Does she have an internet radio show? Is there any way we can continue to listen to what she does?

Thanks

Pearl did a stint at some stage in the '90s with Radio Caroline from Bayside, Sutton, before joining Phantom when it was a pirate. She has been with Phantom ever since, including its two temporary licence runs in 2003 and 2004. Since the launch of the full licence, Pearl has always been on Sundays - used to be be 11:00am - 1pm. I have to assume her main source of income is elsewhere.

As regards the general changes in the weekend schedule, I would worry about the direction the station is going, particularly the idea of more repeats. If the remaining programs are playimg more mainstream stuff, why would fans of alternative-oriented music bother listening to it at all? I hope Phantom survives because if it goes there will be less opportunities for imaginative radio on our airwaves.

ghostdancer wrote: »

98FM apparently..@RichieMcCormack 2h
First shift at the @98FM desk-o-sport today. Preparing 'first day'/Tibor excuses for breakages already. .

So Richie will be at 98FM's sportsdesk. In the days of the syndicated newservice INN (Independent Network News), Phantom used to have a couple of people double-jobbing between INN and Phantom. One of them was Richie McCormack. At the time, Richie was presenting a couple of times a week (and producing Stadium Rock on Saturdays) on Phantom and was also doing the sports news for INN (which was relayed on Phantom).

Just for completeness: Dara Brophy used to be on after Pearl on Sundays at 1pm, but he also was a newsreader for INN (again relayed on Phantom).

Richie goes back to the temporary licences (first from October 2003). I suspect he was there for some of the pirate phase as well. This is going to be a big move, especially as he has AFAIK never been with any other station.

So after the dust has cleared from the big clear-out, who will be left from the original lineup of presenters for fully-licenced Phantom launched in 2006.

Assuming that Shane Galvin and James Byrne will be gone, this would appear to be who will be left from that original lineup: John Caddell, Richie Ryan, Ray McGowan, Cathal Funge, Nadine O'Regan, Laura Lee Conboy and Jack Hyland... unless Orlagh Donnally was the original presenter of Carraig Crua.

With the exit of Pearl and possibly Richie McCormack, the only presenters left from the pirate days (AFAIK) will be: John Caddell, Richie Ryan, Ray McGowan, Cathal Funge, Jack Hyland and Alison Curtis, as well as PD Keith Walsh. This group, minus Alison and Keith, will also be the only ones left who were involved in the temporary licence runs.

keltchick wrote: »

This is such sh*te, Love Pearl's show and Pure Morning And Richie McCormack. HATE Jason Byrne & Claire Beckwith a passion.
What the hell will I listen to now. Any good pirates out there these days??

I feel your pain!

I guess the crux of the issue here is what people want and what do you deliver to them?.
Put people on air with a certain taste in music/wit/charisma/outlook/background/way with the banter (****ing even a certain accent winds up some of the more delicate listeners it seems!) and it's (apparently) bound to be divisive with the public
some folks will love the DJ,to others it's audio equivalent of Bovril.
for sure it's a balancing act,and no doubt an unenviable task for the station management to tackle but this just seems like a very short sighted approach to it all

I guess my point is,do you want the stations to all become utterly beige with the dullness of presenters who all play it safe to appease the masses or do you stick your neck out and say "**** the begrudgers "

I'd rather my radio had personality,and an identity-both in playlist and staff

it used to be that I could tell our radio was on Phantom during the day because I heard the likes of Grandaddy or Nick Cave coming out of the speakers,I didn't need a dial to tell me what station that was;it was hardly Larry pumping out this kinda stuff was it?
(not to slander Larry,the man's a legend!) these days the playlists are just becoming so ****ing boring and derivative!

in my teens I listened to the likes of Donal Dineen into the wee small hours because it was the only real outlet for what I can only call "my music" when Phantom got the license I practically skipped through the streets at the thoughts of it

Good tunes,new music without having to become an insomniac!

well if you ask me the stations bosses are pissing away a perfectly good station and for what? higher ad revenue? it's a logical fallacy because they aren't going to gain new listeners by moving the playlist more mainstream Ireland's listener base is too small to really generate any big revenue money but they could really carve out a niche on-line if they had the gumption
look at the likes of 6music for the beeb,Triple J in Australia,or KCRW in the states-huge online listenership there for the taking

besides the playlist,if they also kill off the the DJ's who give the station it's personality.you are going to end up in a no man's land somewhere between Nova and Today fm with a disjointed listener base and no real focus on just who you are pitching the station too.
let Today FM earn the owners the cash and let Phantom plough their own furrow and get on with what matters-playing good music!!

unfortunately it's looking like I'll be listening to even more NPR and digital stations from elsewhere

I second bbc6 music, sunday is great, I only listen to that now on phone or laptop. All Irish mainstream stations are woeful. Cerys show on Sunday is always really good... have found loadsof new music listening to bbc6.. the only downside is some of the accents and the british news over and over.

Declan A Walsh wrote: »

Pearl did a stint at some stage in the '90s with Radio Caroline from Bayside, Sutton, before joining Phantom when it was a pirate. She has been with Phantom ever since, including its two temporary licence runs in 2003 and 2004. Since the launch of the full licence, Pearl has always been on Sundays - used to be be 11:00am - 1pm. I have to assume her main source of income is elsewhere.

As regards the general changes in the weekend schedule, I would worry about the direction the station is going, particularly the idea of more repeats. If the remaining programs are playimg more mainstream stuff, why would fans of alternative-oriented music bother listening to it at all? I hope Phantom survives because if it goes there will be less opportunities for imaginative radio on our airwaves.

eh no she was on Xfm

Ragnillum wrote: »

Just made aware via twitter that orla donnelly and that clown eamon fennel will be doing the morning show for the next three weeks..Absolute disgraceful that this pair are givien that slot considering the drivel that is random access and derek byrne tara gleeson etc being axed..people with actual music knowledge being looked over for people (fennell) that know nowt about the music their supposed to be presenting!

at least it's only for 3 weeks. wonder who its going to be then, someone who's unavailable until then perhaps? i'll give it a chance in the morning but going on their Sunday afternoon slot, I'm not expecting much....

Derek will still be covering for people every now and again too it seems, just no Lounge after tonight, which is a pity as it's probably my favourite Phantom show.

this is very disappointing news...

in my opinion Irish media entertainment is dull and boring (besides boards), it seems like its all derivatives of RTE muck decided by dopes in Donnybrook but phantom had an identity that was far more connected to what was cool and interesting and could deliver this to its listeners reliably. Now it seems like the RTE types are moving in and enforcing their media model on us listeners... there will be nothing left on the radio to identify with... sh*t news...

thank you for the music:P p.s im keeping my phantom car sticker as a memento of a great radio station

hopefully only 14 more shows of that drivel that was on this morning.