Author: Brian Greene

radio listening was a group event. family time. now radio is personal. the broadcaster is thinking of one listener at a time or in total. the chance that 2 or more people will listen to radio together is rare. but we do listen together, just not in the same room or car or building. we all listen to radio alone but together through the radio.

what is radio doing to utilise this power? are we all individual and there is no such thing as community? (was Thatcher right?) or can radio use social to link people (listeners) with people (more listeners) for a greater good? we know radio can do that. who is willing to give it a try.

update 09/05/2018
What can radio do to harness this power. On Saturday night last RTE Radio harnessed the power of radio across the world in a broadcast link up with outside broadcasters in fields and woods and beaches to record and broadcast the dawn chorus of birdsong. This is an annual broadcast that is a feast of audio. What if such radio link ups were used for peoples voices on important topics.

Climate Change / Homelessness / War / Migration / Data Protection / Mental Health (this list could be longer) What if radio stopped talking at its listeners and started listening to the voices of its listeners. A Big Phone In Show. NO. If the Citizens Assembly showed us anything, it is that ordinary people can grapple with tough topics and deliver reasoned understanding and civil discourse that shapes legislation and the constitution in Ireland.

Radio is a platform. We need to remove the top down megaphone mentality and start to hear the listeners. Digital provides the opportunity to listen and hear (and they aren’t always the same thing) what audience has to say on everything. Community / Local / National / Global radio needs to get the hell out of its studio and meet its people.

Why now? The world became a small place – 25 years of world wide web and we are all connected. 2018 was the year Facebook was turning to community (until it got distracted with data leaks), Movements are global #metoo #blacklivesmatter #TakeAKnee spread at the speed of tweets. Worldwide issues need wide access for everyone to input their views and ideas. Radio can capture this and process the throughput.

We need to begin hearing the listeners.

I came across the music of Peddyr Cubberley in an interview on Manx Radio back in April 2017. I was in Dublin in the car listening to 1368KHz (Manx Radio) and Peddyr said that radio brought the music from Ireland to his ears in Isle of Man and it fostered in him a love of Celtic music which is native to Isle of Man and Ireland. (not a verbatim transcript from the broadcast but a general sense of what was said).

This idea intrigued me. And it really shouldn’t. Irish audiences listened to Radio Caroline North anchored off the Isle of Man. My good Friend Graham on the Wirral caught the wave of A Woman’s Heart listening to Moloney After Midnight on 1278KHz RTE Radio 2. So radio with medium has reach, daytime and a different nighttime reach, as my friend John Walsh puts it, medium wave has geography. It broadcasts from a point and radiates outward overseas (it likes salt water) crosses borders and reaches people outside of its target geography.

I asked Peddyr if he would answer some questions about how music travels on medium wave and being part of our shared heritage.

BG. When did you first hear radio from Ireland.?

PC. 1970s.

BG. What stations / shows / genres did you hear? any level of detail is useful including years / decades.

PC. RTE Radio 1 – Gay Byrne / Long Long Note / Mo Cheoil Thú (Ciarán MacMathúna), most things trad. 1970s to date.

RTE Radio 2 from it’s launch in ’78 was it? Dave Fanning, Larry Gogan etc. 1980s

Radio Nova – Declan Meehan, Colm Hayes, Bob Gallico & Sybil Fennell (News). Can’t remember who else. Nova had a big following in the IOM in those days, so much so that I remember that they even came here a couple of times with their roadshow! 1980s.

BG. In your opinion how useful is Medium Wave radio for the propagation of traditional music in our Islands?

PC. 50/50 I’d say. Much further reception than VHF, hence being able to listen to stations on AM/MW that couldn’t reach on VHF. Downside is, it’s prone to interference and fade at night, often being ‘bled over’ by European stations. Largely irrelevant today with the advent of online streaming globally/smartphone apps.

BG. With the closure of Irish Medium Wave radio in 2008, how has this impacted on the reception of traditional music in your life?

PC. A little negative, as some shows couldn’t reach some parts of the Island on VHF alone. No problem at home as can use online streaming/catch up/ podcasts etc. Just disadvantaged in the car really, but I can live with that!

BG. Does online broadcasting supplement broadcast transmissions of the past or is there a loss of continuity in the platform change?

PC. I think it does. It can richly enhance traditional broadcasting.

BG. Any additional comments on this subject beyond the questions above?

PC. A few years ago, the then Director General of RTÉ Cathal Goan, visited the Isle of Mann and held a meeting (as I understand it), to look into the possibility of having RTÉ TV/Radio relayed throughout the Island due to it’s small relatively population, and shared Gaelic linguistic and cultural heritage. I haven’t heard anything about this since. I guess the idea got dropped since 2008 when the ‘credit crunch’ happened.

My thanks to Peddyr for sharing his views on Medium Wave Radio.
here is some music from Peddyr Cubberley with some stunning drone photography of the Isle of Mann

Peddyr’s music is also on Facebook.