The decision by RTE 2FM management to turn their afternoon radio schedule into a talk free zone has resulted in a backlash from listeners of both Nikki Hayes and Rick O'Shea. A Facebook group was set up to keep the talented presenters talking. Over 300 people (at the time of writing - 18th January 2009) are members of the group. Each and every one cares about what the Irish national broadcaster is doing to the afternoon schedule. Irish bloggers have also lent their voice to the campaign to get Nikki Hayes and Rick O'Shea talking again. These are their words. To join the Facebook campaign CLICK HERE
The Irish Times On The Record The If I Knew You Wanted A Jukebox, I’d Have Baked A Cake award goes to…. 2FM. Per yesterday’s Sunday Tribune, management have decided that the station’s afternoon shows - ie Nikki Hayes and Rick O’Shea - are to be talk-free zones. Instead of the usual features and banter between the tunes, the DJs will now simply say “that was that” and “this is this”. Having spent a couple of years actually building, developing and maintaining audiences for these shows through listener interaction (something every single show on every single radio station tries to do), the 2FM grand poobahs (Michael Cahill is the lad credited in the piece as delivering this dastardly plan) have decided that the future will be a chit-chat-free one. Sure, isn’t that what we thought digital radio was all about? And actually, seeing as this is really an effort to cut costs (less talk means less researchers, dontchaknow), why stop at the afternoon shows? Maybe Michael Cahill should take a look at the morning shows as well? There must be a couple of thousand euro to be saved by getting Gerry Ryan to play his favourite 2FM sessions. You also have to love the subtle spinning of Cahill as the man most likely to succeed John Clarke when JC calls it a day. If the incoming Head of Radio at RTE, Clare Duignan, has any gumption, she’ll nip that one in the bud and start lovebombing Liam Thompson to return to Montrose or give Mark McCabe the job. 2FM needs to be shaken, not stirred.
Unarocks Another bad move from 2FM It's easy to slag off the national broadcaster's yoof station, when you have complete non-yoofs like Gerry Ryan featuring as the most important dude on their schedule, but their latest move to ban talk from daytime programming is just ridiculous. Ken Sweeney wrote about it in yesterday's Sunday Tribune. What are they thinking about removing non-music items from Nikki Hayes and Rick O'Shea's programmes? Rick's programme is one of the best radio programmes on Irish radio. It's well-researched, interesting, stimulating, audience inclusive, intelligent and what daytime radio should be all about. Rick has built a solid, loyal and passionate audience because of the topics he covers, the interesting way his programme looks at things, and because he wisely views radio as a two way form of interaction by constantly bouncing off the audience and allowing them to contribute, comment and get involved with whatever item he's covering. Seriously 2fm, get it together.
The Sunday Tribune Idle chatter set to return as 2fm bans all daytime talk RTÉ pop station 2fm is to dumb down its afternoon schedule by banning any talk from its shows and ordering its DJs to play music only. The Sunday Tribune has learned that from this week, DJs Nikki Hayes and Rick O'Shea will drop non-music items from their shows. The move will result in just one researcher working across three separate shows presented by Hayes, O'Shea and Drivetime presenter Will Leahy. "A couple of weeks ago the DJs were brought in by RTÉ management and told there wasn't going to be any more talk in the afternoons on 2fm", an RTÉ source told the Sunday Tribune. "It's going to be all music from now on." The man overseeing the decision is former 2fm DJ Michael Cahill, who recently took charge of the station's daytime programming, and who is tipped to take over from John Clarke as head of 2fm. The news is said to have gone down badly with staff. "Both Nikki and Rick's shows offered listeners smart intelligent content," according to one source. "Rick in particular had interviews with authors, movie reviews and invited listeners to ring in on certain topics. Nikki and Rick won't be saying anything more now than 'that was a record by such-and-such. Next up is such-and-such,' which is what every other radio station in the country does. It's wrong, especially when you consider RTÉ is supposed to be a public-service broadcaster." Unconfirmed reports claim that 2fm's sudden focus on music could be related to a new 2fm website being launched this year where listeners will be able to buy music online. "If you're listening online and 2fm plays, let's say, The Kings of Leon, you'll be able to click a button which allows you to buy the track through the 2fm website," the source said. "The more music 2fm plays, the more they can sell. In the current climate, everything in RTÉ has to pay its way." In response to queries, an RTÉ spokeswoman said: "RTÉ 2fm is and has been primarily a music radio station. This has not changed. Staff levels in 2fm will be as they were in 2008." She denied that Michael Cahill had been responsible for the decision to opt for the music-only format. Asked if there were any plans to sell music on the new 2fm website, she said: "The new 2fm website is in development at the moment."
Darragh Doyle Of all the surprisingly stupid management decisions The end of Rick O' Shea's radio show? At least in its current format anyway. I read this, via @damienmulley over on On The Record Per yesterday’s Sunday Tribune, management have decided that the station’s afternoon shows - ie Nikki Hayes and Rick O’Shea - are to be talk-free zones. Instead of the usual features and banter between the tunes, the DJs will now simply say “that was that” and “this is this”. Having spent a couple of years actually building, developing and maintaining audiences for these shows through listener interaction (something every single show on every single radio station tries to do), the 2FM grand poobahs (Michael Cahill is the lad credited in the piece as delivering this dastardly plan) have decided that the future will be a chit-chat-free one. Sure, we thought that was what digital radio was all about? It's bizarre. In a society reliant on MP3 players, web players like Blip.fm and last.fm, iPods, iTunes, CDs, downloads and so on, do people really listen to afternoon radio for the music? Fine, I kind of know Rick off air as well, but I listened to his show before I'd met him. It's the crossover between the show and his blog, the show and his twitter and the rapport he has with his listeners that make it interesting. This is the show that got random people to wink at each other. It brought us the story of that lady who travelled from America to find her "one-night stand" guy. It brings single people together for cinema nights out and was very on the ball with movie reviews and interviews. It was a pop culture show and, in truth, one of my only links to what was happening in that world. Even more he was one of the only "mainstream media" DJ's who took "advantage" of the followers he had who are bloggers and twitterers and fellow geeks. He catered towards us, mentioned our blogs, invited some on to talk about their projects and gave us a boost. It's quite sad he won't get the same opportunity to do that now. We have a surfeit of radio stations for such a small country. 98FM and FM104 are just that bit too tabloid for me, Radio 1 that bit too staid, Newstalk is good but a bit too serious. Today FM is what I'd listen to for the morning presenters which made Rick's show such a pleasure to tune into, a break away from dull and dreary afternoons. To my mind, the songs were mostly requests, old familiars with the odd new number and with that element of comfortable listening that required no major involvement. Bubblegum for the ears almost.
It's bewildering that the decision was made by a former DJ, no matter what his reasons were. This seems a complete lack of regard for the audience - an audience, which as Jim pointed out, is built and maintained - and remarkably short sighted. Will I be tuning in to hear Rick play music? Possibly. Not probably but possibly. Jim makes a great suggestion about Mark McCabe being in a far better position to direct 2FM: ... a confident pair of hands who would be quite happy and determined to make the changes necessary for the station to survive. That's what the station needs if it stands any chance of still maintaining any kind of relevance in the next 10 years. It can’t be just more continuation of the old order on the grounds that G Ryan is such a great advertising magnet. Why is it that 2FM management can't seem to cop on to the needs of their audience. Or maybe it's just me. Maybe I'm too online. Maybe people do listen to afternoon shows for the music. Do you?
Unarocks I listen to 2fm's Rick O'Shea show for Rick O'Shea Today, Rick O'Shea's radio programme changed to mostly music. It's incredible really. At a time when RTE insists on blabbing on about the importance of their 'personalities' etc, paying/justifying massive salaries to radio staff like Gerry Ryan (who in no universe belongs on a youth station), they simultaneously completely withdraw the emphasis on the personalities of their most interesting employees. Rick O'Shea is one of these. His programme is generally stimulating, funny, interesting, interactive, revealing and thought-provoking. Now? Pink - 'So What', Beyonce - 'If I Were A Boy'. A few links. The news. The sport. Entertainment news. It's an insult to a person of Rick's capabilities, experience and skills as a radio presenter to turn him into someone who just presses play. Why now is 2fm taking this approach? They have just launched 2XM, a digital station with an emphasis on music. Surely, then, they should develop 2fm separately to the demands that are now being met on that digital station (which, seems to me, to just be loads of music.) So if 2XM is about the music, then why aren't the good things about 2fm being reinforced? Talk about a lazy way out. And even the music they are playing offers nothing new. It's just playlisted pop. Do the people who make decisions at 2fm not understand that if young people want to listen to music, they plug in their iPod or whack on Last.fm? Do they really just want the afternoon slots at 2fm to turn into a soundtrack for customers at Spar or petrol stations? Because that's what will happen now with these rudderless and badly thought out decisions. If 2fm is looking to lose listeners to Phantom Daily, Spin Hits with Steve K, hell, Tony Fenton on Today FM! then they're certainly going in the right direction. If you agree with what I'm talking about, you can join the Facebook group which makes some similar points. And you can also email complaints@rte.ie. Yes, Rick O'Shea is a mate, but even if he wasn't, I'd still be ragin'.
Golez.net 2fm steal Rick O'Shea's voice Word spilt out over the weekend that Rick O’Shea’s show is to be cruelly robbed of its talk segments. From next week, both his and Nikki Hayes‘ shows will be a pareddown, record-spinning wastelands. What an utter disgrace! The best parts of Rick’s show were talk segments - the letters from readers, the curious web finds, the interviews and Headspace. If anything, Rick’s show needs more talk, not less. In stark contrast to Gerry Ryan’s incessant cocks and titties talk, Rick’s charming and dulcet tones are the perfect accompaniment to daytime toil. They wake you gently from that post-lunch slumber and help you through until 5pm. Last Sunday’s Tribune reported that the move appeared to be motivated by tight budgetary conditions with research resources being cut: The move will result in just one researcher working across three separate shows presented by Hayes, O’Shea and Drivetime presenter Will Leahy. The Trib continues by suggesting that the man behind the move is 2fm’s heir apparent, former DJ Michael Cahill. If this is the way that his reign on 2fm’s airwaves is to begin, are we to believe that all chat will be wiped off the station? Perhaps he could save a few shillings by recording computer voices introducing tracks. What, no likey Stephen Hawking? Tough! To be honest, it looks to me like RTÉ is hurting from its loss of sponsorship on some its shows. 2fm reportedly failed to find a sponsor for Gerry Ryan’s daily morning show. That was a loss of over €100,000 a year in revenue. The new regime of cutting talk and developing a website just to sell music appears to be hugely flawed. Most kids download straight from torrents. Older folks are iTunesing, but are probably tuned to specialist stations like Phantom or specialist music shows catering to their tastes. In times where talk radio stations like Newstalk have hit a vacuum of creativity and originality, 2fm ought to be adding something different into the mix. There are dozens of dedicated music stations out there. How about offbeat talky shows, kind of like The End but on radio? Is this turning of a new leaf also an admission that 2fm’s stable of DAB stations is a failure, as aren’t they supposed to be havens of music 24 hours a day? 2fm, give Rick back his voice. It was the best asset you had in your daytime lineup. Forget about titty talk, give us our Headspace. Update: You can join the Facebook group If It’s Not Broken Don’t Fix It: Keep Rick O’Shea and Nikki Hayes Talking to show your support.
Mulley.net Rick O'Shea is not a Castrato, give his show back its balls I’m completely biased in this because Rick O’Shea is a good friend but I’d listen to his show if he was a mate or not. Except his show isn’t a show anymore. It’s a playlist with a voice that doesn’t get enough coverage. As you may have read on some blogs and in the press, 2FM made a very silly decision to take an axe to Rick O’Shea’s afternoon show along with the shows of Nikki Hayes and Will Leahy. Rick’s show was a modern radio show, meaning it was interactive, it was guided by pop culture and whatever zeitgeist was happening, it read texts out, it got people to do funny things, it spread the 2FM wings out from radios and into the general populace and the ratings showed it was working quite well. The future of Radio is not the “broadcast out and that’s it” model, the future of radio is about reaching out and getting back and reaching out again. Radio needs to be guided by the voices of those that are listening. We don’t need a Carson Daly radio model. And now the personality and the soul of it has died. The music lives on but nobody wants just music anymore, as someone said, our iPods will do that for us, we’re much better at being our personal DJs. They won’t take his blog away though or his chat and banter with us the audience at the Blog Awards or the Web Awards so we can still have fun with Rick there. You can join the Facebook group If It’s Not Broken Don’t Fix It: Keep Rick O’Shea and Nikki Hayes Talking to show your support. Or has Una says, email complaints@rte.ie
Anthony McG How to lose listeners and alienate people The news broke a week or so ago now and people have had their say since. I twittered about it at the time but didn’t write a full blog post on it. Consider that fixed. 2FM have taken the ridiculously short sighted decision to axe the interactive and talky parts of Rick O’Shea’s show. His show is not the only one to suffer but his is the one I listen to so I’m mentioning it. Full disclousure: I consider the guy a good friend. From a purely financial perspective, the decision to axe researchers will save money in the short term. Undoubtedly. What 2FM are not taking into consideration though is the value of the format Rick was adopting. He fostered genuine communication and banter with the public via a number of different channels (text, Twitter, his blog etc). In an age where every young person has an MP3 enabled device (phone, iPod), the key advantage that radio has is personality and interaction. That’s what Rick brought to his afternoon show. That’s what they’re taking away from him. There’s a Facebook group but, as Mulley says, they rarely change the world (alternatively email complaints@rte.ie). Here’s hoping that they see the error of their ways and start thinking long term.
lecraic.com 2fm needs to tune into its feedback loop on January 19th The late Randy Pausch tells the story of a football coach he had when he was a kid. A great big hulk of man, he seemed to pick on Randy who was “wimpy, and the smallest kid on the team”. After one particular practice, an assistant coach came up to Randy and said : “Coach Graham rode you pretty hard didn’t he?” Randy could barely muster a “Yeah”. “That’s a good thing,” the assistant told me. “When you’re screwing up and nobody says anything to you anymore, that means they’ve given up on you.” During his last lecture, Randy said that it was important to get a feedback loop and listen to it. The hard part IS listening to it, but it needs to be done. 2FM need to listen to their feedback loop. The decision to silence Rick O’Shea and Nikki Hayes in their afternoon slots is quite bizarre. It seems 2FM management really go out of their way to piss listeners off. I can’t count how many times Rick in particular has been moved. He was on breakfast with Ruth Scott in ‘05 and then replaced by Marty Whelan after only 5 months on air. That pissed me off and I wrote to RTE at the time to voice my opinion, but got no reply. After a stint on night time, Rick got a new drive time show at 6pm in the evening. This started some time around July 2006. This was great for me, and made the commute home in the evening so enjoyable. Then in March 2007, 2FM decided the rejig the schedules again by moving Rick’s show from it’s evening slot to make way for Will Leahy. I was uber pissed off at this as I don’t get to listen to radio during the work day. I didn’t bother voicing my opinion to 2FM but now I HAVE A BLOG and I can get my voice heard. 2FM need to get a clue. The management probably sit analysing and poring over the JNLR’s and look at Today FM and wonder why they are so successful. Here’s a clue – THEY DON’T KEEP FIDDLING WITH THE SCHEDULES… They give their presenters space to breathe and inject their personality into the station. Remember when Matt Cooper took over the Last Word? His ratings weren’t great. Some in the media wrote him off. But Today FM management stuck by him and they have gone on from strength to strength. If Matt was with 2FM he’d never have been allowed to build an audience. Although I don’t get to listen to Rick in the afternoon since he made the move from the evening slot, I think it’s a waste of talent to have the man lining up discs and introducing them. Join the Facebook campaign and/or email complaints@rte.ie on Monday January 19th and become part of the feedback loop for 2FM. Let’s hope they listen.
K8 the Gr8 January's Dog's Bollocks I’m going to try and keep this short and sweet, but you must understand that there’s a lot of passion being supressed. This post could go on ’till next Autumn for all the potential content involved, but time’s short and the Chinese is on its way, fair play to him. January’s Dog’s Bollocks award goes to Mr. Rick O’Shea. Dog’s Bollocks? What the F….? Rick’s radio show has been my touchstone for humanity for the longest time. He saw me through freezing weather in my forlorn days of window cleaning… his banter kept my soul nice and toasty. It also broke the ice somewhat given my situation - a bunch of belligerent blokes with a female driver, my territory here (you understand) was somewhat ’spurious, but Rick levelled us to the same domain with perfection. Then came my taxi driving boredom. From hackney to cabbie, the lost hours… those spent biting nails and scanning newspapers, waiting desperately for someone to fancy the thought of being driven anywhere… somewhere… the suspense of the next fare was healed by Rick O’Shea and his inane questions questions that levelled Ireland to the same base instincts, the same issues, the same mistakes. I felt so at home, so entertained… I actually cursed fares that interrupted my concentration on Rick’s show between 2pm and 5pm. Now it’s gone. This is the facebook protest if you’re into that sort of thing. (I hope the link works!) 2fm have seen it fit to call a halt to chat radio. They seem to think that they’re the only radio station playing pop music, that they have the edge on popular radio, but the sad thing is (from my point of view), is that the only thing they have going for them is Rick, and Nikki Hayes, the popculture guru that can be heard before Rick’s slot. These are the shows that determine real entertainment, something worth listening to. They call out to the general public, they hand the day’s subject matter to us, to you and me, and in my opinion it’s genius. “What’s the last thing you tore up?” “When’s the last time you told someone you loved them?” “What’s the most embarrasing thing you’ve ever done?” It’s the closest thing to a radio blog… inviting the public to create an atmosphere that nobody else can match… it grounds us all and lets us know that we’re not alone, that we’re all human underneath. I miss it so.
Rick’s slot is not gone yet, but his show is now lacklustre. He has no more questions, he plays music that everyone else plays, his voice carries dampened undertones as though his baby has left home for good. I hope he doesn’t mind me saying this, but his show (since he returned from New York) has joined the ranks of banality and I sense that this isn’t his fault. He’s been shot down. Why? Fuck knows. Cut Gerry (perve) Ryan’s salary, bring back Rick. Oh ok, I love Gerry too, but seriously… he’s not worth that much. Ray D’Arcy fills my slot far more adequately most of the morning time, so to speak. Long live Rick O’Shea, he is indeed the Dog’s Bollocks. Goodbye 2fm, you’ve lost a listener.
Tales from West Cork Keep Rick O'Shea and Nikki Hayes talking Cut backs at RTE have resulted in the bosses cutting down on the number of producers on their radio shows and this has hit the 2FM afternoon shows of Rick O'Shea and Nikki Hayes. This means that these shows will no longer have any nonmusic features (interviews with celebs, movie reviews, etc.) that set these shows apart from just listening to your iPods. There is a new Group on Facebook put together to show support for these two radio shows and keep them talking like they should be. Join the If It's Not Broken Don't Fix It Keep Rick O'Shea and Nikki Hayes Talking group. It's time to fight these semi-state bodies that make such drastic changes without considering what we, the people, the consumer, really want.
Shadows at sunset I don't usually complain, but... As suggested by Damien Mulley... to complaints@rte.ie date 13 Jan 2009 15:27 subject New Afternoon Plan on 2fm Good afternoon, I would just like to add my voice to the huge number of emails I understand are flooding into you guys in RTE since this article alerted the public, bloggers and Facebook troops to the new afternoon plans on 2fm. I am sure you have heard it all before so I will not waste your time by ranting here, I will just ask you to note the disappointment of many including me, at your decision eliminate the quirky and different nature of Rick O'Shea's show, choosing instead to turn it into an iPod session. It's tough enough for us all in a recession-filled January without sapping a bit of fun out of the afternoons. I respectfully request that you reconsider your decision. Kind regards, MJ Out of Office AutoReply: New Afternoon Plan on 2fm Thank you for contacting complaints@rte.ie Your e-mail will be responded to as soon as possible. RTÉ Corporate Communications Go raibh maith agat as ucht do theagmhála chuig complaints@rte.ie Cuirfear freagra ort a thúisce agus is féidir linn. ***Update*** Response: Thank you for your e-mail. Your comments in relation to the Rick O'Shea Show will be included in our Audience Log of calls and e-mails, which is circulated for information to senior management in RTÉ Radio and is reviewed at the weekly meeting of the Editorial Board. We appreciate you taking the time to make your views known to us. With best regards, RTÉ Information Officer
Ballyboughal.net Make the wheel a square? …as the opening line of the Rick O’ Shea anthem goes. So why is this such an appropriate opening line? Well, they’ve stolen Rick. They? 2fm. Who makes the ludicrous decisions? somebody who obviously doesn’t listen to the people. The people? The listeners. If I only wanted music I’d turn on lyric fm. If I only wanted talk I’d turn on Newstalk. But… have you ever felt down, upbeat, loved, unloved, that little bit aaaaaaaagh or that little bit wahaaaaaaaaay dude:) and that song just nips it right it the bud. But you know it needs pretext, it need relevance, it needs for us to feel it, to love it and to want it… it needs that ‘jerry maguire’ moment. It needs for one to close their eyes and see it in their heart. I’m not the only one. Damien has written it. Una rocks knows it. They feel it here, Darragh really feels it and according to Mulley, the RICK CAMPAIGN is spreading. Cupid has done it big time here. I’m sure there are loads more… but this is just a taste of the flavour in my mouth. It reminds me of the offside decision being reinvented - women never understood it and now not even the referees understand it. Well change offside in that sentence to rick and that is how we all feel. Do us all a favour and reverse the decision that should never have been made.
Cupid Stunt RTE 2fm murder Santa, kittens Well they may as well have. They’ve turned some of Ireland’s most talented radio presenters into wedding djs. I’ve been a radio head and a 2fm listener since I was knee high to a grasshopper. I remember hiding under the blankets with the radio listening to Lorcan Murray and my favourite show for ages was Gerry Wilson’s night time phone in where his listeners educated me on all sorts of insane stuff like ouija boards and other naughty things. I’m well used to my favourite shows just disappearing though, so the latest news that the 2fm head ‘honchos’ (lead by that guy with the personality of a cardboard turnip that does the sunday jukebox thing) have decided to clip the wings of some of the most talented presenters on radio, while disappointing, is not a huge shock to me. Remember, these are the same people that stabbed Marty Whelan in the back and cancelled his show while he was off on his family holidays. Anyway, other people have put it more passionately and eloquantly than I ever could, so go read these Sunday Tribune - Idle chatter set to return as 2fm bans all daytime talk Darragh Doyle - Of all the surprisingly stupid management decisions… K8 The GR8 - January Dogs Bollox UnaRocks - Another Bad Move from 2fm UnaRocks - I listen to 2fm’s Rick O’Shea show for Rick O’Shea On The Record - Gong! Gong! Gong! First media awards for 2009 already in! And go sign up for the Facebook group And go send 2fm a virtual steaming turd via email
Maxi Cane Radio Telefís and go fuck yourself Is more or less what what the genius management at RTÉ / 2fm have told their listeners. If you haven’t already heard or read or come out from under your rock, Rick O’Shea and Nikki Hayes have had their shows dumbed down and stripped of all personality. I first heard of it on TheChrisD and I was disappointed. Sure I thought to myself, “What’s the worst they can do by adding a few more songs?”. Fuck the shows up, is what. Not just a few more songs, but all songs. No chat, banter, pop culture goodness that we love coming from the two presenters that made 2fm, nay the whole RTÉ farce suffer-able. Now we have to listen to what you can get anywhere else, shite pop music. This is in a cost cutting measure as researchers will now not be needed to help out with the topics covered in the previous popular formats of both shows, and I don’t doubt that by the end of the year the two biggest pricks on Irish radio, Pat Kenny and Gerry Ryan will receive raises. Why not cut the researchers and chat topics from their shows? I know I’d listen a lot more if they did that. Now I know that it has also happened to Will Leahy, but I must confess to never hearing his show as I was always out of the car by that time and inside feeding my face by that stage. Nevertheless, I can guarantee that his listeners will also be extremely disappointed about his changes. I type here before you and ask you to join the army of followers who are utterly disgusted at RTÉ’s gross misjudgement of a situation. Short on cash so the slash the shows that people listen to. Michael Cahill is being named as the brainchild behind it all and I don’t doubt for a minute that he is. All people get a taste of power with a promotion dangled like a carrot in front of them and they try to impress with decisions that just make them look foolish and out of touch. Well done.
There are articles open here and here where you can leave additional comments and there is also a Facebook group to join and show support. I was actually going to list all of the blogs that have been running posts about the whole thing, but there are so many. You’ll see them all linked on the Facebook page anyway. I have already emailed RTÉ and received the cowardly “Your mail has been noted” response without an actual acknowledgment but I swear I’ll give them such a sore arse if they continue to ignore me. I will be linking to their page and emailing them again with this page. Do the same and let’s get a great afternoon of radio back on track.
Head Rambles If it ain't broke, then break it Back in 1971, I went to work in RTE. It was a great place to be then. The place was run by programmers and engineers and it was all one big happy family. It was run on a very casual basis, and because there were few rules and restrictions, the staff responded by giving their best. I loved it there, and I worked my arse off along with everyone else. We had a pride in our jobs and in what we were doing and were all very happy. Over the years, it changed. Slowly but surely, the programmers and the engineers were elbowed out, and the accountants took over. In the early days, if you came in late for work, no one minded, provided you got the job done. The accountants were different though. They were clock watchers, and punctuality was far more important than anything else. The people who used to be erratic about their timekeeping but who worked their balls off were hauled over the coals. The slackers who were punctual got all the praise. Morale took a downturn over the years. The accountants eventually got their teeth into everything and money became God. If a programme was good but the accountants weren’t happy with the returns, it was axed. Slowly but surely, programmes sank to the level of the lowest common denominator. If it was cheap, it was good. The motto of the station became “If it ain’t broke, then break it”. Rick O’Shea and Nikki Hayes are the latest victims of financial rectitude. The accountants have decided that somehow they can shave a few cents if Rick and Nikki cut the cackle on their radio programmes and just play records. Being accountants, they don’t realise that the cackle is what makes the programme. Rick and Nikki worked very hard to build up an audience and they were damned good. That’s gone now. The programmes are becoming as bland as the rest of the shite that the other stations put out. But the accountants are happy. I retired from RTE in 2001. I couldn’t wait to get out. It had become a depressing place to work in. Those fucking accountants has destroyed the place and are continuing to do so. Bastards
Raptureponies 2fm thinks I'm thick I’ve always thought it, but now I can tell they’re openly acknowledging it. Otherwise why would they monumentally cock up their day time radio like they have. 2fm have decided to change some of their daytime shows to music only. Meaning Nikki Hayes and Rick O’Shea won’t be doing anything except ‘this is Journey’ (good God) and ‘coming up we have Beyonce’. Oh Good God, why even bother!? No texts, no interaction, no listener problem solving, no fun internet stuff, no movie reviews and interviews, no finding and talking to the guy with the horse travelling across the country, no stories that the listeners write, no more on air drinking vinegar with Miriam O’Callaghan, no more word games, no more (in my opinion) intelligent, fun stuff. I didn’t listen for the music, I listened for the bits in between the music. And I can find that music anywhere else. No more interesting, thought provoking, fun talk. I can only conclude that 2fm IS trying to alienate it’s apparent target audience as far as I can tell. Deep Breath (and I know i’m late getting involved in this.) You can see there’s a few more people not happy about it either.
Ian Walsh Rickgate! I've been living in limbo for the last couple of days and have only picked up on this story today, and I thought to myself wait now this can't be true. Then I only have to look around on the various bloggers to see it is, and hear them vent there anger against the national broadcaster RTÉ and in particular 2fm for its decision to gag both Nikki Hayes and Rick O'Shea two of the stations best DJ's ! I personally think Rick's show is the best on 2fm because it has everything a radio should have, good music, film reviews, book reviews, randomness, headspace & intelligent conversation on a wide range of topics. Rick was one of the main reasons I decided to set up a blog because I felt that it was a way for me to voice my opinion, I love reading his blog daily and I have learned a lot since I began reading it. Without all the 'chat' in between songs its going to be very different and no more off things like this - Dimitri the Lover Please, please, please let your voice be heard, and voice your anger to complaints@rte.ie and also join the Facebook Campaign ! If It's Not Broken Don't Fix It RTÉ !
Peter Donegan Oh brother, where art thou? I did write about it. But when I went via Damien’s Blog, the daily fluffy’s showed a constant stream of people around the world wanting our brother back? So why is the news hitting the Donegan Landscaping pages. For a second - my writings here are of those related to landscaping. It maybe slightly removed from nature the odd time… but you’ll find it is related. But this one just got personal. Very personal. My Brother, Rick, looked out for me. He stood up for me. He was there when I needed him. That may have been when I almost knocked over his turn tables, but he was there. It may have been when I needed him to write an article on gardening. But Rick went one stage further. When I needed him most. With less than 48 hours to spare and when everyone was laughing. He and his team made it happen and I for one weekend turned from laugh-at-the-geek-freak to rockstar. It was of course my pink boat story. But it goes even further than that. It is when that someone says they love you or you fight for the first time; it is when someone drives over your daffodils or someone gives you roses; it is that feeling that you can’t explain… it is those words that mean so much that make that song personal to you; that, that makes you cry at your office desk for apparently no reason. As the song says ‘it’s only words’ - but when someone takes those away we are left with meaningless music. Like a garden with no flowers. It becomes less meaningful. So what happened. To quote Damien Mulley: 2FM made a very silly decision to take an axe to Rick O’Shea’s afternoon show along with the shows of Nikki Hayes and Will Leahy. Rick’s show was a modern radio show, meaning it was interactive, it was guided by pop culture and whatever zeitgeist was happening, it read texts out, it got people to do funny things, it spread the 2FM wings out from radios and into the general populace and the ratings showed it was working quite well. And now the personality and the soul of it has died. The music lives on but nobody wants just music anymore, as someone said, our iPods will do that for us, we’re much better at being our personal DJs. Am I the only one - well aparently not: there’s maxi, cupid, boughal, shadows at sunset, tales from west cork, cackaloo, lecraic, anthony, mulley, golez, una rocks, tribune, darragh, una and the irish times… It is now known as ‘rickgate‘. What can you do? Email complaints@rte.ie and tell them. You pay their wages. Ask Pat Kenny to do nothing for 3 hours and play music… not a bad idea, now that I think of it. We pay the wages. Do it RTE. And while we’re making the decisions ’round these parts give me back my brother… For the moment I guess I am [one of many] a man of costant sorrow… Oh brother, where art thou?
Another nightMair blog Shite Im not a morning person. I dont sleep well hence I habitually hit the snooze button 2-3 times each morning trying to squeeze the last few minutes of sleep out of the waking day, then have to rush around like a fiend to get the morning ritual done and out the door without being late for work each day. So it came as a complete surprise to find myself actually getting up an hour earlier than required. Why? Because I had discovered Rick O’Shea on RTE 2FM in Dublin. I had stumbled upon Rick’s blog on WordPress by accident awhile back, and knew he was a DJ but had never given his afternoon show a listen. One day I was home from work sick, so found the ‘listen online’ button and gave it a spin. I was hooked from the start. Rick’s show was witty, charming, inventive, interactive. He would do things like have school children call in for quizzes and prizes, ask people to text him with answers to the daily question, and give listeners shout -outs from the DJ booth. Interspersed with this was the music of course - Pop music, top 20 at that (definitely NOT my type of music). From that morning on, Rick O’Shea became part of my mornings - I”d get up at 6 or 6:30 am just to listen (time zones are a bitch) and I”d listen all through my breakfast, cup of tea, hair washing, teeth brushing and makeup applying. Many a day I was actually running late because I didnt want to turn Rick’s show off, and it didnt end till 9am my time! So.. it was a shock to find out last weekend that RTE 2FM in their ‘wisdom’ has decided to gag Rick due to ‘budget constraints’ - he’s no longer allowed to include all the things that made the show what it was. His function from this week hence, is to simply spin the tunes, and inform the listeners inbetween songs, what the last song was and where it sits on the numbers chart. How boring. How commonplace. I tried to listen this week - its not the same. I hate Pop music. What utter shite (as the Irish would say). There is a facebook campaign and complaints can be mailed to complaints@rte.ie - and yes, they’ll answer your email - they did mine. Hopefully they’ll actually listen or they may have no listeners left!
nightMair creative The sad state of radio worldwide Radio is becoming all about money and not about the listener or quality of programming. This is once again evident in the decision that RTE 2FM has made recently with the Rick O’Shea and Nikki Hayes’ shows. I began listening to Rick’s show about 6 months ago, stumbling upon it quite by accident but liking the banter of this soft spoken witty DJ with an Irish accent. Due to time zones, I’d be having my breakfast with Rick while he made getting home at the end of a workday, easier for his local Dublin listeners. Rick’s show enabled the listener to text or email in - answers to life’s burning questions, contests for school children, even reuniting a visiting American woman with an Irishman she had met and literally fell in love with on her last vacation - all she had to go on was his name. Rick’s show was unique in a sea of boring radio programming - and I looked forward to it each morning. As stated though, RTE 2FM has decided to cut the budget and has done so by reformatting the show to music only with no talk except to introduce the next song and tell listeners where it lies on the hits chart. This has enabled the station to cut researchers from three to one, hence saving coin. But at what expense? What RTE 2FM dont realize, is that listenership also generates revenue. Our two most successful stations here, CFOX.com and ROCK101.com both have the lion’s share of listeners, both locally and also Canada-wide. Why? The personalities of the DJ’s, the vibe of the shows, the availability of the listeners to be interactive with what’s happening on air… all things that RTE 2FM seem to be missing in the equation. Hopefully they’ll wake up, smell the coffee and reinstate Rick (and Nikki) to their former glorious selves on air. You can join the Facebook Campaign, or email your displeasure to complaints@rte.ie I did.