radio.ie

In the UK, local radio has been changing. This might exclude Northern Ireland, but over the years heritage local radio stations have been purchased by big radio groups and rebranded as effectively a national brand. X, Heart, Capital, Smooth, Kiss, Magic, Virgin and Absolute.

Gone are the Red Rose Radio, Radio City (Liverpool) and Piccadilly that I would hear on the AM radio band back in my youth. These stations served their cities “Serving the City” (an old Radio Dublin ident. Local meant local, voice, content, weather and traffic. Local name and loyalty. But that all changed over the last 15-20 years. But, up until now, they held on to local breakfast and local drivetime in the evening. But all of that is about to go, to be fully centralised national sounds.

The Changing Face of Local Radio: Understanding Global’s Consolidation Strategy by Rob Watson at Decentered Media explains how this will impact society.

The implications of this shift extend beyond programming to the very foundations of social and cultural democracy. By concentrating media production and distribution in a few centralised locations, the industry limits the plurality of voices and perspectives that define a healthy democracy. Local radio has traditionally been a cornerstone of this plurality, offering platforms for diverse communities to share their stories, experiences, and concerns. The centralisation of media undermines this role, reducing opportunities for civic engagement and cultural representation.

Rob Watson, Decentered Media

This might not be mirrored in the North of Ireland (Northern Ireland) or in the Republic (ROI) but the consolidation of ownership has happened in Ireland with Bauer, Wireless and Q Networks having bought and consolidated in the past 10 years. Currently networked programmes are not common, but recent decisions by the regulator about networking of programmes for mid morning on Q102 coming in from London could open the flood gates to syndication across stations owned by a few large networks. In the past there were requests to syndicate The Last Word across Today FM and Newstalk, these request were turned down by the BAI.

Back in the UK there was changes to the regulation of Community Radio in 2024 which seemed to reduced the oversight of regulator on key commitments in broadcasting contracts. Perhaps the loss of commercial local radio is the opportunity of Community Radio to give identity and voice to areas that want voice and identity. Here participation of the people is required. Will there be sufficient take up of this opportunity. Does the scale of community radio match the needs of local franchise areas? Does local business need local advertising or should city and county councils support media hubs in areas, delivering true and genuine community development, and where community radio naming becomes geographic to the area served.

It is always sad to see the demise of radio even if it was expected to happen. But as there is change happening, there is opportunity to build on the legacy of local and breathe new life into civic social audio content with an ownership structure that cannot be bought, sold or flipped.

PS: There is a new Red Rose Radio online / DAB

in a summer 2024 report it points out that urban and suburban North Dublin has a news desert. An area where news is not served.

Currently, there is little evidence of news deserts in Ireland. Typically, local media cover a specific county and cater to the rural, suburban, and urban areas of that county. The Future of Media Commission noted that each county is served by a local newspaper and, outside Dublin, local radio often accounts for the majority-share of radio listenership. While this situation sounds positive, the reality may not be so healthy as local media encounter many challenges. Nevertheless, it is the rapidly growing suburbs of Dublin city that are at most immediate risk of being news deserts. These suburbs lack a media presence commensurate with their size. Many were served by “free newspapers” that often prioritised entertainment and local events rather than news. In the suburbs of North County
Dublin, these and related outlets have closed down, which makes this area a news desert.

Uncovering news deserts in Europe: Risks and opportunities for local and community media in the EU

The report is correct that local commercial media has declined. With local radio in Dublin City being presented from London 3 hours every morning on one station, the move is stark. But it has long been the norm, that local politics is not the topic of discussion on mid morning or breakfast radio in Dublin. If you want to hear a local TD or Councillor interviewed on radio in Dublin it will be about a local matter and on Community Radio of which there are 6 in Dublin. Phoenix FM (West Dublin), Dublin South, Dublin City, Near FM (North East), Liffey Sounds (South West) and. Raidio na Life (city wide Irish language station).

Also about 10 months before this report was released the independent Dublin Inquirer spread its beat from just Dublin City to also include Fingal. Dublin Inquirer is subscription supported and covers local democracy issues.

Dublin Gazette and Northside People are still available free sheets but the amount of hard journalism within these has declined over the years. The loss of North County Leader and Fingal Independent along with Malahide Gazette leave a gap in the local print market.

This comprehensive report about Irish media covers advertising trends also. During the Covid 19 pandemic there was a huge up swing in State Advertising and this has continued beyond the lockdowns. On radio, govt. funded ad campaigns can represent 60% of adverts per ad break. None of this avertising is placed on community media.

State advertising rules are unclear. There is no legislation defining the procedures for state advertising and no public register of how such advertising is distributed. The annual Liberties Rule Of Law Report 2023 notes that greater clarity is needed regarding the criteria and processes that determine which media outlets receive state/public advertising. Moreover, the report raises concerns about the use of commercial brokers to place advertisements on behalf of the state and state agencies. In particular, “one agency is owned and controlled by a company which itself owns a significant number of regional newspaper titles.”

With all of the funds mentioned in the Irish section of this report yet to start as 2025 starts, it will be interesting to monitor the impact the FoMC funds will bring to local and community media in Ireland. A definition of local media is also required as we transition to platform neutral funding.

Peace is the word. Trotsky scolded Marconi over his claims that broadcasting would end all wars. Technology is passive, it can carry positive and negative messaging. So while the mere invention of radio wont deliver war or peace it can be used for either.

As an avid anorak growing up in the 1980s the Voice of Peace was a regular news item on FRC shows I would listen to. There was something about the Middle East on fire from all out war, and a group of radio hippies in a ship in the middle of the Mediterranean broadcasting a message of peace to the people of the region.

November 2023 I made a tribute to the Voice of Peace. Hear it again here. And as a bonus some additional retro recordings of the peace ship project.

As chairperson of Craol and certified anorak – I get to visit radio stations and actually have a valid excuse to enjoy it!

This December I had the chance to visit Together FM which is online 24/7 from Ballyfermot in Dublin 10. Located in the spacious civic offices Together FM also boasts a satellite studio in nearby Cherry Orchard.

I got a tour of the Ballyfermot studios and met the keen and dedicated staff. The station are working hard to get a broadcast licence in 2025.

With very accessible studios -they are bright and air conditioned! The only window is to a control room (not pictured) where the editing and main station playout happens.

Together FM broadcasts across the week with a concentration of first air programmes at the weekend. The programmes are all prepared in advance and are broadcast as live (or with minor edits) at the scheduled time.

After the studio tour I had a great in depth discussion with some of the board of management of the station who told be of their plans for getting licenced and growing the station within their local area.

From what I have seen Together FM are busy and dynamic about their project and they have many of the characteristics of an exemplar station already adding social benefit to their area. I wish them the best is their quest and I will be back for their famous South Dublin hospitality in early 2025.

All Irish Community Radio Stations in one place!

This version of the radio player is branded for Craol and lists all Full and Parttime stations and is sympathetic to http and https streams. Not all streams have shifted to https in this sector.

In October Charity Radio closed after more than 10 years online. I will write up a longer post about this great station over the Christmas break.

One of the missions of Charity Radio in its earlier years was to give voice to charities and their fundraising.

As a hat tip to that mission started by its founder Mark O’Toole (RIP), here is a dynamic auto curation of the latest charity podcasts “sounding great and doing good”.

https://charity.radio.ie

Let’s be honest RADIO is a medium that was traditionally heard but not seen. The creativity was in story craft and radio imaging (the acoustic identity of the station, jingles, sweepers, liners, beds etc.) But as convergence hits radio the need to look good as well as sound good is something radio either does well or avoids like a plague.

Some stations like Dublin Digital Radio really get the image of radio well. Too well for some radio traditionalists. They have artwork per show done with such detail it could well be album art, and sometimes the art is per episode of show with new funky art expressing the vibe of the show. Think about it, if your favourite band’s latest LP was a white label in a black cover (think New Order – Blue Monday with no colour) well you wouldn’t be impressed would you? and if every other LP or Single had the same bland image? not good.

So why do it? Radio is converging. You generally do not get radio from a traditional radio set anymore (note: 1). I know this will piss off radio purists who tell me radio comes from a transmitter and is heard on a receiver and that is the only radio that is radio. Wrong. Radio is a word. Like Cinema Films Movies Flix Cineplex are all words for big screen entertainment. Radio is one word for Transmission, Mode, Apparatus (TX & RX), Content, Industry & Style. It is not confined to broadcast radio, radio style that is presented like a broadcast but delivered online live or on demand, that’s radio too. This radio has options for art work, as does DAB+ on modern radio sets. Websites and Social Media (not seen before 1992 and 2002) are ideal places to promote radio with pictures.

As the loss of artwork hurt music as we moved from LP to CD so too does lack of images to support radio. It diminishes the impact radio can have in a converged media world. Online radio is a URL. Each URL used is a vote for that link in a world with billions of links. Why does this matter? in the past your radio on the dial was in a city was competing with 20 or so other stations that were allowed to be on the dial through licencing, congestion or distance (geography). Nowadays the competition locally is only limited by those that want to compete with you and 40,000 other radio stations online around the globe. You need to look good while sounding good. And its not just once off, outsourced artwork, its the everyday ability to look good.

As radio content gets valued for its low cost of production, friendly presentation and loyal following it is making its way onto TV screens. BBC Two Television on the UK 9am – 12pm is a relay of BBC News most of the year, TV is expensive and news is plentiful. RTE Radio 1 is on the RTE News Channel multiple times per day, radio on TV is effective and cheap. So expect radio studios to scrub up as they get seen more on HD TV screens.

While some radio will always be better suited to being “theatre of the mind” and heard but not seen, media budgets will dictate that quality radio content must get an outing on TV and Social Media. Some radio stations are merging into TV productions like France Inter or Sud Radio both in France (the later allowing 12 hours of roll back radio).

And its not just Radio on the TV that is happening, News Channels that were TV are doubling as radio and vice versa. Think GB News and Talk TV in the UK.

If you are looking to improve your radio project take a look at your album art and your visual opportunities (I am thinking BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge). There will be more ways to express your brand, image, identity, attitude, logos and your supporters images too.

Finally allow convergence in. Being a purist has its advantages – but if you remain true to ideals long discarded by the audience you might have an Ivory Tower to transmit from but nobody with a radio set to hear you.

Notes:

1. JNLR shows radio sets have a 70% reach of and connected devices have 56% reach. While these number vary from my own experience, there is a distinct variance in cities to rural when it comes to hours / radio / non radio audio content so I would expect variance in device too. All my local anecdotal evidence is more than the opposite of the JNLR figures. And an 8% rise for connected devices would reverse the JNLR lead for radio over connected devices. Such a rise would be over 6 device categories, Smart Phone, Smart Speaker, PC, TV, Tablet, Other. Smart Speaker ownership is rising 8%+ YOY.

From Bowling Alone to Upswing (but perhaps the books should be read in reverse order) Community needs people to join clubs. Why are people joining less clubs. Is it all down to TV viewing. To understand how society need community to work, how the big state or small state needs people to be active in their communities to avoid the chaos that would descend if we all stayed at home. Join or Die is now on Netflix and is long listed (eligible) for an Oscar.

Community Development needs Community to work. Media as a toolbox helps people build their Community. For Community Media to be strong, Community needs to be strong. Joining is better than Dying. Join today.

I want to form a media literacy “book club”, where the the book can be films like this, or TED Talks or podcasts. Media to be discussed. A 2025 not so side project.