2022 (the brown sauce is free)

Lots happens in the radio industry each week so here’s a summary of the week we just enjoyed.

Here’s What Happened

Corks Red FM ended up in the spotlight this week, and it was all over some brown sauce.

Before we begin I just want to clarify that our version of events is based on the story as told by the pub. At time of writing we don’t have other responses, but it’s always good to take these things with a pinch of salt….. i mean….. a squirt of brown sauce.

The story goes that a customer went into Gallaghers Pub in Cork, at which point a new member of staff made an error. They charged the customer €1.50 for some brown sauce, which is actually supposed to be free. ‬⁩The €1.50 is the price for the relishes.

As soon as the pub realised their mistake, they contacted the customer. They apparently offered him a free sandwich on his next visit as an apology. The customer then said that he had a pub himself, he understood that these things happen, and it seems the whole thing was sorted.

But it wasn’t over. The customer sent the receipt to Red FM who posted it on social media, without providing the context above. The pub understandably got ripped to shreds for charging for brown sauce and this resulted in the new member of staff who made the error becoming upset.

Who knew brown sauce could cause so much drama.

So here’s the question, should the radio station contact the pub to ask about the situation before posting, or should the image of a receipt be enough. Red FM got some criticism on social media as a result of this, so I’m interested to see what you think.

On the one hand reaching out is clearly a better option, but on the other it takes a lot of time and resources to check every little post. So, what you think?

Go vote now on our Instagram story.

Twitter thread from the pub is here

You can find our Instagram here

Wireless Group have launched a new radio station as a collaboration with a number of LGBTQ+ organisations. The station, known as Pride Vibes, is available on the apps of all the existing Wireless Group broadcasters, and on PrideVibes.ie

The station is sponsored by Voltarol, and has BeLonG To on board as charity partner. The station has live presenters, good quality production elements, and basically everything you’d expect from a good quality internet station.

The stations launch comes just over a week after the falling out between RTÉ and Dublin Pride. It seems that pride organisations are taking much more of an active involvement in their media strategy now, but that’s just speculation really.

For now we have a new high quality internet station on air, what the future holds as far as LGBTQ+ media relations goes is anyones guess though.

Visit the station website here

Read last weeks Radio Land post where we covered the RTÉ Dublin Pride situation here

Finally this week, RTEs head of news and current affairs is stepping down from his role. Jon Williams will leave RTÉ at the end of July, when the current season of the Six One news ends on RTÉ Television.

This will probably result in some changes over the next while as Jon’s replacement makes his or her mark, but it’s really impossible to predict what the future holds for RTÉ News. My only hope is that Jon’s successor continues to produce content with high standards of journalism, and continues to push forward on the digital front.

“In 2017, we faced significant challenges and set out to future-proof RTÉ News & Current Affairs, identifying three editorial priorities: to become a genuinely ‘digital-first’ news organisation; to deliver more regional content; and to work more closely as ‘one News and Current Affairs’ division. Fast forward five years, and last week’s Reuters Digital News Report demonstrated that, today, not only is RTÉ the most trusted news source in Ireland, but RTÉ News is also the clear market leader online, while cementing its place as the number one choice on radio and TV.. We’ve gained new, younger audiences by creating and curating different types of content for social platforms. We’ve strengthened our weekend evening bulletins – frequently the most watched of any RTÉ programmes – with an increased presence outside Dublin. And whether it’s RTÉ Investigates, our recent deployment to Ukraine and the work on climate change, today the newsroom and current affairs are working more closely together than ever. RTÉ News & Current Affairs was Ireland’s lifeline during the pandemic, with our trusted team providing the antidote to the fake news of anti-vaxers. We brought innovation to our coverage of the 2020 General Election. Our reporting of Brexit continues to be indispensable to many, not just in Ireland but across Europe – and in Britain too. We were on the ground as Russian troops crossed into Ukraine, reporting on the humanitarian crisis there, and here. Ní hamháin i mBéarla ach i nGaeilge freisin, rud a léirionn an rói tablachtach a bhíonn ag foireann Baile na hAbhann gach lá, ag bailiú nuachta i mBéarla agus i nGaeilge. RTÉ News is the first Irish news organisation to be independently audited as part of the Journalism Trust Initiative and awarded the European standard for trusted journalism. And we’ve worked with the NUJ, and others to ensure that RTÉ’s journalists are safer as they go about their work – whether the threat is online or outside. We’re in the process of doubling RTÉ’s footprint overseas and we’ve begun to become a more diverse news organisation, on air and off. I’m proud that the Six One News was the first news programme in Ireland to be presented by two women – only broken-hearted that Keelin didn’t get longer to enjoy her success. Nine years after I left London for New York and then Ireland, it’s time to go home. I chose to stay in Dublin during the pandemic, alone and unable to see those I love for long periods of time. I don’t mind admitting that I found that hard – and like so many others, it forced me to reassess my priorities and to prize family. I’m grateful to so many people in the field, in the control room, in Dublin, across Ireland and beyond. The truth matters. Ireland is a better place for RTÉ. We stand on the shoulders of giants and to have had the opportunity to lead RTÉ News and Current Affairs has been the greatest privilege. I’m proud – and grateful beyond measure – for all that we have achieved together. I know RTÉ News and Current Affairs will continue to do great work. And know that I will be cheering you on from afar.”
Jon’s note to staff announcing his departure from RTÉ

Best wishes for the future Jon from us at Radio Land

Read the RTÉ press release here

Quick Bits

Dermot And Dave on Today FM has a new sponsorship deal with Indeed

The death was announced of former RTÉ journalist Liam Cahill, may he rest in peace

GoLoud has launched a new podcast, Around The World in 80 Gays. No that’s not a typo

Suzanne Kelly on Why Public Media Matters

The Law Society of Ireland has spoken about the need for timely, accurate journalism

RTEs Online services including all radio streams went offline for a time this week. Funny to think of poor will Leahy talking to himself on RTE Gold

QRadio Belfast has a new spin to win game

A body was found on the grounds of RTÉ this week

Graham and Nathan

I know we said last week we’d look more at the lad’s leaving Spin this week, but basically there’s nothing to report.

That’s it

And that’s the summary for this week. Come back to radio land next week for more radio news📻 and be sure to follow us on Twitter and Instagram for extra stories.

This Week In Radio 18/6/2022 (Dublin Pride and RTÉ)

Lots happens in the radio industry each week so here’s a summary of the week we just enjoyed.

Here’s What happened

There really is no other place to start this week.

Before I begin I need to make a few things clear. This story has been absolutely huge, and so many people have commented about the situation over the course of the week. There have been comments from RTÉ and Dublin Pride, but there have also been statements from politicians, Trans rights groups and many more.

As much as I’d love to cover everything, unfortunately that’s not possible. I’m going to cover the most important parts but there will be significant parts of this story that I simply won’t have the time to research and include.

If I don’t get to cover a side of the story that you feel is important please don’t feel ignored. I will link to as much coverage as possible at the end. Thanks for your understanding.

Okay, With that all said, let’s talk about RTÉ and Dublin Pride.

Dublin Pride ends partnership with RTÉ

Over the last while, there have been discussions on Radio 1’s Liveline programme which caused upset for some members of the transgender community, as well as wider members of the LGBTQ+ community.

This led to a statement being issued by Dublin Pride, in which they announced that they were ending there media partnership with RTÉ

Dublin Pride is announcing the termination of our media partnership with RTÉ. Over the past three years, we have worked together with the national broadcaster to increase positive representation of LGBTQ+ people on TV, radio and online, and to see the good work of so many people undone is saddening in the extreme and negates much of the efforts made to date. It breaches trust with our community and causes untold hurt. Dublin Pride is both angered and disappointed by the recent unacceptable, triggering and extremely harmful anti-trans “discussions” that have been given a platform on Joe Duffy’s Liveline on RTÉ Radio 1. As an official media partner of Dublin Pride, but more importantly as Ireland’s national broadcaster, we expect better than for RTÉ to stoke the flames of anti-trans rhetoric. We are proud members of Trans Equality Together, a new coalition led by TENI, LGBT Ireland and BeLonG To, and we are committed to accepting their lead in this issue. At their request we have not made a statement until now, but have remained in close and constant contact with them throughout the last few days to ensure that any actions taken by Dublin Pride respect the voices and feelings ofthe trans people in our community. RTÉ is our national broadcaster. LGBTQ+ people and our allies make up the majority of people in Ireland We are the majority shareholders in RTÉ, and we have a right to hold it accountable for its actions. We expect a response on how they will make amends for this situation and are committed to continuing the fight for equality, fairness and respect for all members of our LGBTQ+ family.
Statement from Dublin Pride

This understandably caused a lot of media coverage and it was clear that a response from RTÉ was on its way. The following morning, it arrived.

How RTÉ responded

RTE posted a statement to the Press on Wednesday morning, the morning after Dublin Pride ended there partnership.

RTÉ is disappointed with the decision to end a partnership we had developed together with a range of bodies over the last three years. Standing with the LGBTQ+ community, during Pride month sends an important signal that RTÉ is here to serve everyone, and over the last three years RTÉ has sought to include these communities and extend understanding through a range of specially produced content, campaigns and partnerships. Public discussion – sometimes uncomfortable, difficult, and contentious – is central to RTÉ’s prescribed purpose. RTÉ is acutely aware that discussions on issues such as gender and identity are deeply personal to many. It is important we listen to them, their families and those close to them, and it is also important that we allow our audiences engage with and understand the issues involved. RTÉ will, consistent with its statutory obligations, respond to any formal complaints concerning the broadcasts. RTÉ will continue to stand with our LGBTQ+ staff and the wider community during Pride month and beyond. In time, we hope that we will once again get the opportunity to continue to develop our partnership with Dublin Pride.
RTE’s statement

From here it was basically up to the public to pick their side. On one hand you have people who feel that the rights of trans People and those in the LGBTQ+ community should be a given thing that isn’t up for discussion in the 21st century, and on the other hand you have those who believe the media should have the right to discuss all points of view, including those which some people may find distasteful.

Where you land on that spectrum is something you need to decide for yourself.

The Big Reactions

The most notable reaction is probably from government. RTE were originally called for a committee appearance to discuss the issue, but the Irish Examiner are now reporting that this won’t happen. Politician’s are reportedly happy for RTÉ and Dublin Pride to discuss the issue themselves, and they feel this is a better outcome compared to a committee appearance.

There have been other reactions too, such as the reported 1000 complaints received by RTÉ, or the numerous comments from individual politicians. We’ll link to as much coverage of all this as possable below.

More to come

I’m sure this story will continue for a while considering the scale, but we’re going to leave things here for now. Feel free to check out the links below and see what you think.

Irish Examiner are reporting that RTÉ will not appear before a government committee

A trans support network is calling for better balance on RTÉ shows

Leo Varadkar has spoken on the issue

Loads of other responses here too

Other Radio News

This week we got the 2022 Reuters digital news report, which was published by the bai.

There are loads of interesting facts, but no major surprises. Well, there was one surprise, but I’ll get to that in a minute.

So what did we learn? The BAI compare us to other countries a lot in the report but I’ll focus just on Ireland here.

More people get their first news in the morning from smartphones compared to radio. 35% check the phone, while 31% listen on radio. Interestingly, 15% get their first news on TV in the morning, I didn’t expect such a high number for morning telly honestly considering it’s just the news channels and Ireland AM providing TV news in Ireland.
57% of Irish people said they were either extremely or very interested in news, but this is a big drop of 13% from last year. This might be covid related but we can’t be sure.
Most people still trust news, with 52% either agreeing or strongly agreeing that they feel you can trust most of the news most of the time.
83% of people said they check the news on a daily basis
RTE is still Irelands most trusted news brand, followed by the Irish Times

There is so much info in this report so you can have great fun flicking through all 78 pages. The main thing that surprised me was older audiences have more of a desire to consume climate change related content, I didn’t expect that at all.

I’m sure the report will raise questions about radio stations competing more on smartphone’s but it’s good to see that things are still doing relatively okay.

The full report can be found here

The BAI’s press release can be found here

Finally this week, the presenter of Country Roads on Midlands 103 has been fined for driving at twice the speed limit. Joseph Cooney contested his fine in court as he says he didn’t see the sign, and that the sign could cause an accident.

Cooney brought significant evidence to court, but the judge felt that she had to apply the law based on the facts. She didn’t increase the fine, and left it at €160

If you want to read the detailed coverage of proceedings, you can do so at the link below.

Mr Cooney is working with a councillor to have signs added to ensure this doesn’t happen again.

Read the full story here

Quick Bits

Graham & Nathan are leaving Spin, more on this next week

The Obamas’ new TV drama about a podcasters visit to cork starts filming this week

Ronan Collins has returned to his show on RTÉ Radio 1 after a month long break

IRadio has a new partnership with Mondello24

Community Radio Day took place this week

98FM presenter Suzanne Kane wants to host more Ireland AM on Virgin Media Television

The Quinn Irish Radio show will broadcast to Ohio from Ballina this weekend

RTE Radio 1 Extra aired a 29 and a half hour continuous dramatisation of Ulysses during the week

Bonus Story

And that’s the summary for this week. Come back to radio land next week for more radio news📻 and be sure to follow us on Twitter and Instagram for extra stories.

This Week In Radio 11/6/2022 (Everyone loves new jingle’s)

Lots happens in the radio industry each week so here’s a summary of the week we just enjoyed.

Here’s what happened

There are new jingles on air at RTÉ Gold. The new package, which has been created by Wisebuddah went on air this week. Aidan Leonard, Senior Producer at RTÉ Gold told Radio Land about the new package, and how RTÉ are continueing to support the Gold Brand.

The New Imaging package has been created with the same company that produced the last package over 4 years ago. Shane Freeman who is our Creative Audio Manager here in RTE worked with our team and with Wisebuddah to deliver a new package for the Summer of 2022. This relationship has proven to be a successful one for all concerned and Wisebuddah’s partnership with RTE Gold first time round a few years ago meant that we were more than happy to go back to them again for the updated package which we started running just over a week ago. This new package has allowed us to freshen and strengthen our Imaging and while there is some specific imaging created for the Summer and for our Weekend schedule the rest of the package is being used across all strands. We are really happy with the new sound as it is a perfect match and compliments our output on RTE Gold. Finally, I am happy to confirm that RTE continues to support the brand in every way that it can. The introduction of this new Imaging supports this.
Aidan Leonard from RTÉ Gold

Personally I’m a fan of the new package. It’s upbeat and positive, and I think it fits the brand well. There’s no public demo of the package online yet, but you can here the new elements in use on air now Via the Radio Land Listen page or on RTÉ Radio Player.

Listen to RTÉ Gold on our listen page here

Here’s presenter Rick O’Sheas tweet about the new package

Learning Waves are giving journalism graduates the chance to work and train in a radio station for 5 months. 10 graduates will get to work in independent stations around the country and learn how to produce their own content.

Applications close on Monday 13th June, so people don’t have long to apply. The placement will get underway on the 20th September 2022. Radio stations can also apply to participate in the programme.

This is a fantastic opportunity for graduates trying to get into the industry. Speaking from my own experience I know it’s a tough industry to break into, so these projects are important for giving people the much needed foot in the door.

Best wishes to everyone taking part from us at Radio Land

Get the details here

Finally this week it’s time for a quick update on the ongoing story between South East Radio and Wexford County Council. This story has been going on for ages and we’ve covered it in depth before, so if you need a refresher feel free to check out our past coverage.

Check out our past coverage here

The latest update is that the IBI (independent broadcasters of Ireland) have called for an inquiry into the conduct of Wexford County Council.

They’ve written to minister for local government Darragh O’Brien to ask what action he plans to take, and they’ve also sent the letter to the minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media Catherine Martin.

The letter has also gone to the Taoiseach, who has already commented on the issue a while back. We’ve gone through his comments in our previous coverage.

So really just know that the story continues to move forward. Who knows when and how it will end, but it’s certainly not done yet.

Read the story from the Irish Times here

Quick Bits

Newstalks new chief reporter has spoken about his new role and his favourite news story to cover

Tracy Clifford has said radio listenership doesn’t define her, and that she’ll always be a Perfectionist On Air

The company behind the Irish Podcast Awards has been sold

Classic Hits have crowned Irelands best Classic Hit, I don’t agree with their Choice but I’m in my 20s so whatever

Roz & Emma are filling in for the 2 Johnnies on 2FM while the boys film a show in the states

There was an interesting article about radio sessions in the Irish Examiner this week

Dublin South FM have launched a new community podcast studio in the Dundrum Town Centre

Newstalk helped a couple sort a wedding venue this week

Today is RTEs national day of creativity for young people

Irish Reddit had a rant about how awful Irish radio is, but thats hardly unusual at this point

Final tiny thing

You might have noticed that we’ve changed our title format slightly to include a subtitle, do you like the change? If so we’ll keep it, if not we’ll ditch it. You can vote on our Twitter now.

You can have your say here, thanks for your feedback

And that’s the summary for this week. Come back to radio land next week for more radio news📻 and be sure to follow us on Twitter and Instagram for extra stories.

This Week In Radio 4/6/2022

Lots happens in the radio industry each week so here’s a summary of the week we just enjoyed.

Here’s what happened

Radiocentre Ireland has published a breakdown of advertising revenue in the radio industry for 2021 and Q1 2022. The data has been sourced from all Irelands radio operators, so this is probably as detailed and accurate as it gets.

So what did we learn from this? Well let’s split this into two categories, the main stuff, and the unreported but still interesting stuff.

Main stuff

This stuff has been posted in the main press release, so you may have already seen these numbers on Radio Today or some other publication.

Total radio advertising revenue in 2021 was €145.1 million. This is more than previously thought which is a good sign for the industry
€117.3 million of that came from regular ad spots. Meanwhile, all the more fancy stuff such as sponsorships and other branded content partnerships brought in €24.2 million which is smaller but still a big chunk of the market.
€3.5 million came from digital stuff. Clearly a lot of growth potential here.
things grew in q1 2022, so hopefully this years full numbers will also be quite healthy. 21% higher spot revenue, 24% higher branded content stuff, and a great 48% digital boost.

So all in all not bad. That digital number is much lower than I’d like and even though it looks to be the fastest growing segment, it’s clear a lot could be done to grow that. Overall though, they’re not bad numbers.

The unreported but still interesting stuff

This is stuff that didn’t make the cut for the press release, but is still stuff I find interesting.

€39,663,782 came as a result of direct relationships with brands, but a massive €105,412,161 came from agencies. This really shows how reliant radio is on its bigger advertisers.
While all areas of advertising tend to grow in the run up to Christmas, spot advertising increases more than other categories. Between July and September 2021, agencies spent €20,804,763 on spot ads while direct relationships brought in €7,747,215 in spot revenue. This grew big time from October through to December though. €27,791,817 came from agencies while direct relationships brought in €10,135,306 worth of spot ads in that period. Really big jumps there.
January to March was the worst performing period in all categories with just one exception. Agencies spent more on digital ads in this period than they did between April and June. €587,227 in q1 Vs €570,059 in q2. This is the only point at which q1 spend is bigger than q2 spend, and this is only seen with agencies and not with direct relationships.

There’s loads of interesting stuff in the report so feel free to have a look at the link below. It would be great to get more detail such as sponsorships Vs OB’s or podcasts Vs stream pre rolls, but this is certainly a great step forward in transparency for the industry. Great job Radiocentre.

Do you have an interest in the business side of radio or are you only into the on air stuff? Let us know over on our insta story.

Read the report here

Now it’s time for the one off radio land quiz of the week. It’s the quiz of the week that happens for one week only.

I’ll give you the clue and all you have to do is give the answer, it’s simple. You’ll get the idea.

Ready?,,, okay…. This is a large building. There’s one in Mountjoy, there’s one in Castlerea, and there’s one in Clover Hill. What is it?

Think closely. Have you got your answer?

The answer is of course, an Aldi. Or at least that’s the response Galway Bay FM got when they asked that question as part of their breakfast show quiz this week.

That wasn’t the only wrong answer either. from pool tables having six balls to racehorses with stripes in Africa, this poor woman really just wasn’t having a great day.

Unfortunately for her, the moment has now gone viral on Twitter with over 69,000 views at time of writing. Maybe it might be worth another shot in a few months.

Listen to the moment here

Finally this week, RTÉ JR Radio have released a new podcast series called the neighbourhood. The series consists of 9 stories which are narrated by Oscar-nominated actor Ciarán Hinds.

It’s far from the first RTE childrens podcast, with podcasts on everything from art to zombies. They attract big names too, Ciarán Hinds starring in The Neighbourhood, and Ryan Tubridy showing up in Cereal.

So, is The Neighbourhood any good?

It’s not as good as Cereal, but that podcast was next level. It’s certainly well written and well edited, I think the sound effects budget could probably have been higher, as a lot sounded like your typical royalty free sounds. That said though, the music choices and general sound design was good.

It’s important to remember though that I’m a man in my 20s listening to kids podcasts with an adults mind, and kids will obviously respond differently to this than I will. I don’t think your 5 year old cares too much about royalty free sounds, and if they do your definitely raising them well in my opinion.

Great job RTÉ on the kids podcasts lately, it’s great to see our public broadcaster embracing new forms of kids entertainment in this way.

Listen to the Neighbourhood here

Listen to Cereal here

Quick Bits

The BAIs new commercial broadcast licensing plan has been published, nothing major to report

2FMs nightly sports show Game on is now available for sponsorship, 6months costs €30,000 while 12 months is €50,000

Iradio are holding their first ILoveIrish gig this weekend

Tommy Marren of Midwest radio has written a new comedy

The BAI will be launching the Reuters digital news report on the 15th of June, this usually has some interesting info in it

Ronan Collins will be back this month after he took some leave

There are Marty Whelan chocolate bars in the wild. They were apparently given to guests at an RTÉ sponsorship breakfast this week

And that’s the summary for this week. Come back to radio land next week for more radio news📻 and be sure to follow us on Twitter and Instagram for extra stories.

This Week In Radio 28/5/2022

Lots happens in the radio industry each week so here’s a summary of the week we just enjoyed.

Here’s What Happened

The 96FM Giving For Living Radiothon is back for 2022. The event, which raises money for cork Cancer services, returned on Thursday and will run until this evening.

The 2022 event is raising money for

The Mercy Hospital foundation
Marymount
The CUH
Cork Arc Cancer support house
Breakthrough cancer research

The event always raises loads of money for some great causes, and also creates some fantastic radio along the way.

Best wishes to everyone involved, hopefully this year will be another massive success.

Click here to learn more or donate

Claire Byrne has stepped down from her TV show in order to focus on her radio gig. Claire has hosted Today with Claire Byrne on Radio 1, replacing Sean o’ Rourke in the slot from 2020.

She’s been hosting Claire Byrne Live on RTÉ One Television since 2015, but now that show is ending to allow Claire to focus on her Radio 1 job. RTE are developing ideas for a new show, so it will be interesting to see what replaces it.

This news didn’t really come as a surprise for those of us who follow the industry. Claire has been very honest in the past, explaining how she felt she wasn’t spending enough time with her family. she spoke about how she knew she was in a very privileged position, but also that she found her two jobs exhausting.

Hopefully Claire is able to manage things a bit better now and hopefully we get a great new show replacing Claire Byrne Live on TV.

Read Claire speaking about work life balance here

Read the RTÉ press release here

Finally this week, I wanted to share an article from the Irish Times. Usually something like this might end up in quick bits, but there’s simply too much information here for that.

We’ve talked many times about the debate surrounding Irish music on Irish radio. But many still comment on the issue. We got an Irish Times article on the subject this week and we learned a lot from it.

We got an insight into IMRO royalty payments
We heard about the breakdown of airplay for signed artists versus independent artists
And we got interesting perspectives from those in both the music and radio industry.

I’d highly recommend having a read of the article linked below. Somehow I think this is a debate that will be continuing for years to come.

Read the article here

Quick Bits

Radio Land transparency update

Pj Coogan from 96FM talks about the culture that made him

The climate change sound and vision round that we reported on recently has now opened

An Irish radio presenter Nuala McGovern has joined the BBC World Service

Irelands Eurovision entry Brooke Scullion has spoken more about how radio needs to support Irelands Eurovision efforts

RTE Lyric FM will have its own stage at this years bloom garden festival

Speaking of Lyric, weather as well as traffic updates are now up for sponsorship

And that’s the summary for this week. Come back to radio land next week for more radio news📻 and be sure to follow us on Twitter and Instagram for extra stories.